SIXSHOT: When did you start rapping?
50 CENT:  I rapped without taking it seriously when I was 14 or 15…I started taking it seriously in 1999.

SIXSHOT: Who did you listen to growing up?
50 CENT:  LL, Run DMC, KRS One.  I was a big KRS One fan. At least back when he was aggressive. Before he got into all that teaching and bullshit.

SIXSHOT:  How did you get put in the rap game?
50 CENT: Jam Master Jay was the first person I went into the studio with. I got introduced to him through a mutual friend. I told him I rapped. I hustled my way into it. I was just playin around. I guess he saw the potential.

SIXSHOT:  How did you feel when you started spitting in front of
people...let alone a legend like Jam Master Jay.
50 CENT:  When you hustling if you can generate some paper, I’m with it. I’ve never been a shy person. I always voice my opinion and say what I want. I don’t have no problem saying what I think.

SIXSHOT:  How would you describe your style?
50 CENT:  Reality music. If I had to call it something. I don’t stick to one thing. I go on how I feel when I’m in the studio. Everything is not hard, everything isn’t easy. It's hot.  I'm aggressive.  That's what my street CD's are about.  That's why I put guns on the cover.  They haven't seen guns on album covers since [BDP's] Criminal Minded.  So I gotta capitalize off of doing that in the street.

SIXSHOT:  Have you ever been a battle rapper?
50 CENT:  I never really battled a lot. I didn’t really see the money in it. You have a group of artists that do that. I fell into that a few times, but I never saw any money. If I want to be an artist I’ll get a paintbrush.

SIXSHOT:  You used to box right?  What made you drop the gloves and pick up the mic?
50 CENT:  I box a little something. Before you graduate to shootin’ you fight. I had a little rep in the streets like “you don’t want to fuck with him”.

SIXSHOT:  How would you describe your understanding of life in the hood.
50 CENT:  Hard.  The hood is a lot of times a reflection of prison. People are preparing and conditioning themselves to go to prison. For instance, it was like if you wanted to get somebody you shot them, then it started to change, because in prison people kill with knives. For a while it was just Jamaicans using knives. Now it's everybody.

SIXSHOT:  You eventually hooked up with the Trackmasters.  How did that happen?
50 CENT:   Met a dude named Corey Rooney, through a mutual friend, he introduced us. So I went to Columbia and they had to buy me out of my contract. They gave me a 65,000 advance. I was still signed to Jam Master Jay's label, out of that 65,000, Jay got 50,000, the lawyers 10,000, I got 5,000.   I was still selling crack. That’s no joke. I’m still trying to eat at that point.

SIXSHOT:  It was around that time that you did "HOW TO ROB AN INDUSTRY N****".  Where did the concept for that song come from?
50 CENT:  The concept is to the kids in the hood, robbery is not out of the question. That’s how "How to Rob" came about. Kids watching the dudes on T.V. with these bigger diamonds can relate to that shit.  You broke at home, watchin' your T.V., and you see these rappers shinin'.  Your motivation is to go get that guy with the bigger diamond.....I guess i'm that guy with the bigger diamond now [laughs].

SIXSHOT:  Power of the Dollar was pulled due to heavy bootlegging. Did you know who was behind the bootlegging?
50 CENT:  Yeah, I know who was behind the bootlegging.

SIXSHOT:  Columbia pulled the album, dropped you, what was the drama about?
50 CENT:  Columbia didn’t understand me They were telling me not to cut my hair, they wanted me to be ODB for "How to Rob".  My next single was supposed to be Thug Love with Destiny's Child.  How were they going to have me do that song looking like ODB?  They wanted to control my image. After "How to Rob" came out Mariah Carey called up and asked me to apologize about putting her business out [in the street] and they said I would. I ain’t apologized about shit.

SIXSHOT:  You got into it with a beef with a number of the more recognized hip-hop artists over "How to Rob", specifically Jay-Z.
50 CENT:   I really wouldn’t call it a beef. Look, It wasn’t personal, it was something real, but I added something creative to it by putting the artists in there. It never went past the artist boundries. He did this thing at summer jam where he said something about me in a rap, and I look at it like this: he did it because he respects my abilities as an artist. Any artist can say anything about anybody, but Jay-Z ain’t going to respond to everybody that try to get at him. He’ll only respond to an artist whose skills he respects. When he did that at Summer Jam, I looked at it as he gave me a title shot without me going through the ranks. But It never went
past artist boundries. If an artist says something personal, or attacks family or something that’s different. If I said something about his nephew who was in school or something like that, then that would be something on the street level. On a personal level. I never went there.

SIXSHOT:  It's well known that you and Ja Rule don't like each other.  Where did the beef with Ja originate?
50 CENT:  The boy got robbed, I knew the kid that robbed him. [Ja] gets robbed a lot. He saw me in the club joint with the kid who robbed him. But he was treating me bad, but wasn’t stepping to the kid who robbed him. That nigga is a clown. And that fat ass nigga Irv [Gotti] is a bitch. [Irv] never did anything to make a nigga out of the hood respect him. Nothing. Nothing he ever did made me scared to call him a bitch. Murder Inc? That shit is Charlie's Angels. One nigga [Irv Gotti] with three hoes around him and shit [Ashanti, Charli Baltimore, and Ja Rule].

SIXSHOT:  Do you think Ja and his camp have tried to blackball you from the industry? He was recently quoted as implying that he has beef with Dre and Em for signing you.
50 CENT:  I think that they were to a point. I was a risk to their investment. [Murder Inc.] don’t want me to tell my story because it jeopardizes everything they’re trying to do over there. They would rather have a wanksta. The streets know I’m real. Because anything could happen to a real nigga. My hood conditioned me for this. The trouble. I got shot, I bounced back. If you make a comparison line for line, I will out write Ja Rule under a wall. They’re going from radio station to radio station telling everybody some bullshit [lie] about I got a order of protection against them.  So after they do their little bullshit on the radio, I do a follow up call shittin’ on them, disrespecting them. Thanks for the publicity Murder Inc. You can’t buy that kind of pub. My only thing is, this is only my official debut, why are they scared of me? Dre will blow out any beat Irv gotti buys from any other producer. Dre got beats tailored made for my style. He’s got shit he made for NWA that fits me perfectly.

SIXSHOT:  You got shot multiple times on the eve of your album release.
Was that rap-related?
50 CENT:  That was the streets.

SIXSHOT:  There was a bidding war for 50 CENT.  A lot of labels wanted you and were throwing around crazy deals.  Why did you choose Shady Records over the other labels?
50 CENT:  I knew I wouldn’t be censored. I knew I’d get a fair shot at doing what I want to do, and get exposure.

SIXSHOT:  Your new album, how would you describe it? Lyrically?Thematically/Stylistically? Production wise?
50 CENT:  Honestly, It’s the best thing I’ve done to date. I’ve got party joints, you know I got shit for the streets.  I don’t’ want to blow how I set it off, but I got something for everybody.

SIXSHOT:  Your single Wanksta, what is about? What is a wanksta?
50 CENT:  Gangsta’s are inspired by finance. Wansksta.... Ja is a fuckin Wanksta....that nigga is bitch made for real....A wanksta is a fraud.

SIXSHOT:  What do you think about the Eminem/Benzino feud?
50 CENT: That ain’t even a feud. That’s Benzino's attempt to get some shine. Em said “I didn’t even meet this guy…we never had any action with Benzino where he had a problem." I heard Benzino's shit on his album where he's like "50 get your loot and stay out of it", because he knows I rap for the hood. I look at it I understand it. The truth is he can get a little attention for going after Em, but seriously, even after you get everybody to listen, you
better have some quality shit there, because you’re fucked if the rest of the quality is missing.

SIXSHOT:  What are your favorite tracks off the new album?
50 CENT:  My favorite joint is called Heat. Me and Dre. Dre got some shit with him musically. Like I said before, he got some shit from NWA [era] that matches me so perfectly.

SIXSHOT:  Besides Shady/Aftermath, do you have a clique you rep?
50 CENT: Shady/Aftermath. G-Unit Records is my company. I’m negotiating a deal, probably wont’ be done until my first week of sales.

SIXSHOT:  What guest appears on your new album?
50 CENT:  Eminem, I’m gonna be on Obie's album. Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks, Trina's gonna be on a song called "Magic Stick"; I don’t want to blow it.  There are going to be a lot of surprises.

SIXSHOT: How has the album been recorded and produced?  How much have Dre
and Eminem contributed?
50 CENT:  Me and Dre did 12, Me and Em did 6, 4 of those ended up on the 8 Mile Soundtrack. Right now the creative process is crazy.  I mean we're flying coast to coast doing songs whenever we can.

SIXSHOT:  Who will you be working with in the future?
50 CENT:  Well due to Mighty Mouse, AKA Ja Rule, burnin bridges with so many people you can expect to hear 50 rappin with DMX, Jay-Z, Snoop...

SIXSHOT:  Do you listen to any non hip-hop artists? Are you going to hook up and collaborate with any non hip-hop acts?
50 CENT:  I’m not sure if I’ll going into that now. But Marilyn Manson, I met him once and he's got some shit.  Lincoln Park is aight, I'll probably work with them down the line.

SIXSHOT:  You’re from Queens, you’ve worked with the Bravehearts in the past, any plans on working with them, Nas, Mobb Deep, Nature, or any other Queens MC’s in the future?
50 CENT:  Hell no. Fuck no. We won’t be working with those motherfuckers [Bravehearts] again. Mobb deep is a possibility.

SIXSHOT:  What's the name of the album and when will it be released?                             50 CENT:  The album is called "Get Rich or Die Trying" and its release date is February 11, 2003.                               

SIXSHOT:  Are you touring?
50 CENT:  I'm doing some shows right now, but will probably do more dates after the album comes out.

*Disclaimer: Exclusive 50 Cent interview and text was conducted by Robert Ennis of SixShot.com.  No part of this interview may be duplicated without written permission from SixShot.com.  The interview content or text layout may not be altered in any shape or form.