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Born Curtis Jackson, the one-time boxer first stood
on the brink of national success in the late '90s.
Columbia -- or, more specifically, Columbia-affiliated
rap production team the Trackmasters -- hooked up
with 50 Cent in 1999. The young and mostly unknown
Queens rapper recorded the song "How to Rob"
with the accomplished production duo. Throughout
"How to Rob," 50 Cent detailed how he
would rob famous rap artists like Master P and Timbaland.
The song became a kind of novelty hit, and theTrackmasters
teamed with 50 Cent to record a debut album for
Columbia, Power of the Dollar, and a prospective
breakthrough single with Destiny's Child, "Thug
Love." An unfortunate string of events then
ruined 50 Cent's chance to break through: heavy
bootlegging soured Columbia's attitude toward the
album and, then, on May 24,2000, therapper suffered
from multiple gunshots, one to the jaw and several
in the legs. Though Columbia had already released
"Thug Love" as a singlealong with promos
of the album to the press, it pulled Power of the
Dollarfrom the market and dropped the injured rapper
from his contract.
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