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Page 1
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50 shows his teeth, but he ain't mad ...
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Page 2
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West Coast honeys treat 50 like a wanksta ...
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Page 3
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Everybody takes shots at the man on top ...
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Photo Gallery
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50 Live At Hot 97 Block Party
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On Da Set Of "In Da Club"
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50 Cent: Money To Burn
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He's dealt crack. He's been shot nine times. Now he's the #1 rapper in the world.
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-- by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Sway Calloway and Minya Oh
"No matter how successful you are or how far you get into the limelight," 50 Cent insists, "you still gotta take precautions."
And tonight in New Jersey, nobody is safer than the rapper born Curtis Jackson. Onstage at the Asbury Park Convention Center, 50 is flanked by about 30 members of his G-Unit crew, most of them wearing bulletproof vests. "G-Unit in the house!" a topless 50 yells.
However, many of 50's friends are not in the house. They're stuck outside, being hassled by cocky security guards at the VIP entrance. "You know what they're checking for, right?" a guard asks one of them. "Guns."
Around the other side of the building, those who only know 50 through his music are having a harder time getting in, despite having paid to see the show. The fire marshal has declared the venue is filled to capacity.
The lesson for tonight is, if you want to see the MC who makes fun of wankstas, get there early. As king of the streets and the charts, 50's in demand in a way the hip-hop world seldom sees. The 26-year-old is that rare artist whose music and image reverberate beyond his genre without too much effort or consequence from his core, thrusting him into the role of reluctant pop star.
But 50 Cent is a different kind of reluctant pop star. Like his bosses, fellow street-credible pop stars Eminem and Dr. Dre, 50 has piqued the buying public's interests not by asking for the masses' acceptance, but by making melodies and rhythms that hypnotize and by telling stories so vividly and effortlessly that they resonate universally.
And like Dre and Em, 50 hasn't forgotten his roots. He's still making mixtapes, doing street remixes of other artists' current hits, and when he's really feeling a tune, like Busta Rhymes' "I Know What You Want," he remakes the whole song so it sounds like his own. DJs and fans are sticking to their MO as well, embracing everything he puts out.
Unlike Dre and Em, however, 50 doesn't seem like he'd rather be in the studio than in the limelight. The Southside Queens native is relishing his moment.
"I'll show you my teeth so much you'll get tired," 50 joked recently about his incessant smiling. "You'll be like, 'Man, is everything they said about him true? Because he's out there showing his teeth like he's happy.' "
"When [you meet] him, people will make you think he's gonna be mean," said Lil' Mo, who's known 50 since 1999. "I got his autograph for my little brother. That's how I have it with him, we're peoples. Now when I see him I'm like, 'You're all right. If y'all ever wanna come over, I'll make you a plate.' "
"What I appreciate about 50 Cent is he's brought back something that left when Biggie died, and that's people can go out and have a good time and party," said Mary J. Blige, who worked with the MC for her upcoming album, Love and Life. "They can go to the club and dance to something that feels good. Right now other than Jay-Z, that's the only thing that exists like that."
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Photo: Shady/Aftermath
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