Follow The Leaders: 50 Cent
50 Cent is set to prove his street king credentials.
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Follow the Leaders: 50 Cent - 50 Cent is set to prove his street king credentials at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards. The Queens icon is performing onstage on rap's biggest night, Sept. 29 at Atlanta's Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center. But Fif didn't end up taking over the HHAs, set to air on October 9 on BET, by accident: He's been putting in work for more than a decade now. Read on to check out just some of the highlights of 50 Cent's journey to the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards. (Photo: Foc Kan/WireImage)
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Get Rich or Die Tryin' - With an already legendary backstory — surviving nine gunshots, beefing with Ja Rule and Queens gangsters — 50 Cent first set the world on fire with his 2003 classic Get Ready or Die Tryin', which sold more than 8 million records with timeless bangers such as "In Da Club" and "Patiently Waiting." (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella)
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Fif Makes a Killing - 50 cemented his superstar status with his second album, 2005's The Massacre, which sold 1.14 million copies in a week — the third best opening week for any hip hop album in history. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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50 the Leading Man - Fif added actor to his résumé with his 2005 semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Since then, he's gone on to star alongside Al Pacino and Robert Deniro in Righteous Kill and launch the film company Cheetah Vision, which landed a $200 million, 10-picture funding deal in 2010. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Spike TV)
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G-Unit Is an Army - 50 Cent didn't take over the game alone — he was backed by his G-Unit crew-cum-record-label. With Fif at the helm, G-Unit helped launch the careers of Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Game, and later signed vets including Mobb Deep and M.O.P. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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50's a Business, Man - 50 is not only one of the most successful rappers of all time, he's also one of hip hop's best businessmen. His business empire expanded from a record label to include the G-Unit clothing line, the website ThisIs50.com, books, a sneaker line with Reebok, a headphone line and more. In 2007, he wowed the industry when he sold his stake in VitaminWater — procured in exchange for an endorsment deal a few years earlier — for $100 million. (Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)
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50 Makes a Difference - Last year, 50 Cent revealed his plans to feed millions of hungry kids around the world by 2016, launching an energy drink called Street King — a portion of each sale goes to providing a meal to an underprivileged child. (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for Motorola)
Photo By Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
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50 Conquers Coachella - Long known for his explosive live performances, 50 took over the Coachella festival earlier this year when Snoop invited him onstage to perform "What Up Gangsta," "P.I.M.P." and "In Da Club." (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella)
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50 Cent's Mixtape Takeover - Over the past year, 50's fueled the fire with a series of grimy mixtapes — The Lost Tape, The Big 10 and 5: Murder By Numbers — that recalled his early 2000s corner classics. (Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
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Fif Knuckles Up - 50 is expanding his ever-growing portfolio into boxing. After a famous friendship with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. — which led to short-lived promotions company TMT — 50 is apparently making moves with Mayweather arch-rival Manny Pacquiao. The two are currently in talks to start a new boxing promotions firm. (Photo: Michael Becker/Fox/PictureGroup)
