50 Cent Says Surviving Nine Gunshots Changed His Entire Career

For 50 Cent, surviving being shot nine times wasn’t just a turning point in his personal life — it reshaped his career and set the stage for one of hip-hop’s most iconic albums.

In a recent interview with Fox News, the rap mogul and entrepreneur opened up about how the near-fatal shooting influenced his 2003 debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

“It shifted my concept,” he explained. “My first album concept was Power of a Dollar, and then I went to Get Rich or Die Tryin’. The stakes just got higher.”

After being dropped from Columbia Records during his recovery, 50 was left with no major label backing. But instead of quitting, he built his own lane — forming G-Unit and flooding the streets with mixtapes that eventually caught the attention of Eminem. That connection led to his signing with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records and the release of his breakout single, Wanksta.

50 recalled how Wanksta spread without traditional industry support, telling BET.com during the song’s 20th anniversary:

“That record was organically connected. It was being picked up by DJs on their own. There was no record company saying, ‘Play this.’ It just took off.”

With DJs like Stretch Armstrong championing the track, the momentum grew strong enough to spark debates inside Shady Records about whether it should appear on the 8 Mile soundtrack. 50 pushed to keep it as his own — a decision that paid off.

Reflecting on the era, 50 noted how different the grind was before social media.

“We were in a different climate, so I couldn’t do anything new artists can do now. They go record and upload to YouTube or Apple Music. I had to trick bootleggers into stealing it so they could reproduce and distribute it for me, ‘cause there were no other outlets.”

What started as a setback ultimately became fuel. The shooting, the struggle, and the hustle all came together to birth one of the biggest hip-hop success stories of the 2000s.

Watch 50 Cent’s full interview below.