50 Cent Timeline, 2005-2008

The story of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s rise to fame has been told countless times by countless people, chief among them Fiddy himself. (Aside from his derision for other hip-hop acts, there’s little else he actually raps about.) But the last couple of years have been so eventful for the “Candy Shop” proprietor that it may have been difficult to keep track of him. So in anticipation of the new 50 Cent album, Curtis, which comes out today, Paste offers this timeline of the rapper’s recent history.

November 9, 2005: In the vein of Eminem’s successful 8 Mile, 50 Cent stars as Marcus in the film Get Rich or Die Tryin’, a rapping drug dealer who is shot nine times when the lyrics in one of his songs irritates one of his rivals. The film is classified as only semi-autobiographical because, unlike in reality, the character played by Fiddy can rap.

November 11, 2005: On the heels of Kanye West’s well-publicized accusation that President Bush's slow response to Hurricane Katrina was due to racism, 50 Cent comes quickly to the president’s defense, saying, “The New Orleans disaster was meant to happen. It was an act of God.” So begins what many would see as an unlikely alliance between the rapper and our commander-in-chief.

November 17, 2005: Following the "success" of his film and its soundtrack, 50 Cent releases (at nearly the same time) a video game to complete his three-pronged media assault on the senses. 50 Cent: Bulletproof features the titular rapper and several other members of G-Unit in a search for the hitmen that attacked 50. Rated Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for blood, gore and sexual themes, meaning most stores won't sell copies to children under 17. 50 Cent argues, “Just because it is rated mature doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy it for your kids.”

The infallible logic behind the game seems to be that, given how successful rapper, basketball player and sometime-genie Shaquille O’Neal’s game Shaq Fu had been, what could he have to lose?

The answer, it seems, was massive amounts of credibility.

November 23, 2005: After GQ magazine names 50 one of its “Men of the Year,” the rapper comments on how George W. Bush is, “incredible . . . a gangsta.” Given Bush’s history of underhanded dealings with oil corporations, Fiddy's comment seems surprisingly on the mark. Unfortunately, he continues by saying, “I wanna meet George Bush, just shake his hand and tell him how much of me I see in him.”

April 28, 2006: In an interview with the Associated Press, Fiddy verbally attacks Oprah Winfrey, saying, “Oprah’s audience is my audience’s parents.” Still, some credit must be given, since earlier in the interview he said, “I think she caters to older white women,” which at least shows some awareness that 50 Cent’s audience is young white males.

August 29, 2006: 50 Cent: Bulletproof G Unit Edition, a follow-up to his earlier game, is released on the PSP. Consensus suggests the game is kind of like the earlier version but somehow not as good.

August 31, 2006: Again strangely backing the Republican president, 50 Cent declares that, “In some ways, I’m the George W. Bush of hip-hop.” He then calls Bush his homeboy. It's tough to deny, since both he and the president are known for attacking based on false-intelligence assumptions.

January 4, 2007: 50 Cent launches perhaps the most obscure part of his G-Unit marketing empire (which ranges from clothing to charity): the G-Unit Books imprint. So far its books include Death Before Dishonor, The 50th Law Blow and six other short novels. Every work in the line is co-authored by 50 Cent, showing that the man is not just a poet but also a novelist.

August 3, 2007: During his appearance on BET’s 106 & Park countdown, 50 Cent accepts an offer from the show’s hosts to engage Kanye West in a debate to decide who has the best album. West, after realizing that a better way of determining the superior album would be to listen to them, declines the invitation.

August 7, 2007: Due to West's declined invitation, Fiddy lays down a new challenge: "Let's raise the stakes. If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I'll no longer write music.” The third-person reference aside, it seems 50 may really be putting something on the line here. But wait. “I'll write music and work with my other artists,” 50 says, “but I won't put out anymore solo albums.” Doesn’t that kind of… completely contradict his earlier statement?

When several days later Kenny Chesney tells both rappers to watch out for him, the odd feud officially leaves the realm of "ridiculous," entering "batshit insane" category usually reserved for Prince, Iggy Pop and Ozzy Osbourne.