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8:00 PM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2018
PAVILION
50 CENT
†
†
Ravinia debut
50 CENT
Curtis James Jackson III, a native of New York,
adopted the moniker
Cent a er multiple
brushes with the law in the early
s. He be-
came acquainted with Run-DMC’s Jam Master
Jay in
and honed his lyrical skills, making
one of his rst recorded appearances on Onyx’s
disc
Shut ’Em Down
. Soon a er that, Jack-
son began working with the hip-hop production
duo Trackmasters, through whom he signed
with Columbia Records. By early
, he had
released three singles from his planned debut,
Power of the Dollar
—including “How to Rob,”
which comically described how he would rob
several big-name rappers—however, his shoot-
ing two months before its release led the label to
shelve the album and drop him from its roster.
Returning to the underground mixtape scene,
Jackson ourished while working with producer
Sha Money XL and his newly formed hip-hop
collective G-Unit, releasing the mixes
Guess
Who’s Back?
and
Cent Is the Future
in
.
He quickly regained his following and expanded
to include Eminem, who got Jackson signed to
his Shady Records and Dr. Dre’s A ermath. Af-
ter the mix
No Mercy, No Fear
, Jackson returned
to formal recording, contributing “Wanksta”
from that mixtape to Eminem’s soundtrack
to
Mile
and cra ing his long-awaiting debut
disc,
Get Rich or Die Tryin’
.
e mainstream
success of that single, making
Billboard
’s top
, set the stage for
Get Rich
’s “In da Club” to
become a number-one smash. Further major
hits “ Questions” and “P.I.M.P.” kept the heat
on while Jackson cooked up G-Unit’s rst disc,
Beg for Mercy
, and his
follow-up,
Massacre
,
another number-one seller with the hits “Disco
Inferno,” “Candy Shop,” and “Just a Lil Bit.” A er
the massive commercial exposure of
Massacre
and the semi-autobiographical lm
Get Rich or
Die Tryin’
, Jackson took a step back until
’s
Curtis
arrived with “I Get Money” and “Ayo
Technology.” A er
’s
Before I Self Destruct
,
Jackson split with his label and shelved his forth-
coming album
Street King Immortal
. He released
Animal Ambition
in
, around the same time
he began starring in Starz’s
Power
.
is perfor-
mance marks the Ravinia debut of Cent.
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