50 Cent, who burst on the scene with songs like “How to Rob,” and “In Da Club,” says he “didn’t care about the trophies” in the early stages of his career. That included the coveted marker of music industry success, a Grammy award.
For the Aftermath/G-Unit recording artist, the Queens rapper cared mainly about “the checks” and making sure he earned as much money as he and his team could based on his celebrity status.
His chart-topping album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” was not just a hit, but a mantra that he believes may have been too “rough” for those who had the most sway in the Recording Academy, the governing body for the award.
In a recent interview with XXL, he shared his theory on why he was passed over in the best rap category for 2003’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” and Best New Artist during the 46th Annual Grammy Awards. “In Da Club” also received to separate nods for Best Rap Song and Best Male Rap Solo Performance.
50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, explained his “content” was too “raw,” for their liking.
“My experience is a little bit abrasive to conservatives,” he added when reflecting on why he was not favored.
“It didn’t matter to me in that time period — I was like ‘f—k it.’ Don’t give me the trophy. So what. … They didn’t give me Best New Artist and I sold 13 million records. That’s the largest debuting hip-hop album,” the 48-year-old added.
Two decades later, fans continue to celebrate one 50’s career-defining debut.
“Get Rich Or Die Tryin is a top 3 rap album of all time. Fight me.”
“Get rich or die tryin one of the hardest albums ever.”
“Get Rich or Die Tryin is a top ten rap album of all time. Go argue with yourselves is you disagree…..”
Spotify has listed it as one of the top albums from the 2000s. His life story includes growing up in poverty in New York and surviving being shot nine times. His gangsta or shall we say “Wanksta” image and authentic background were too much for some, 50 argues, and many didn’t “want kids to be 50 Cent.”
“I was pretty rough around the edges, you know. I’ve grown since then,” he admitted. “But if you look [at who I was]… I kind of understand why they would be afraid that their kids would want to be 50 Cent.”
It has been over 20 years since his debut album was released, and he still believes the trophies will never come his way, despite how successful he is.
“They picked Evanescence as best new artist over ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’,’ and it was the largest debuting hip-hop album with 13 million records,” he stated in 2022. “So when we came with ‘Power,’ and it outperformed the other projects, but they don’t acknowledge it, I just looked at it like I won’t get the trophies when I’m supposed to.”
50 plans to keep working toward lifetime achievement wards, which he believes will come, “at the end when they look at everything. So you just keep working.”
Out of 14 nominations, the Power” co-creator has only won one Grammy for his contribution to Eminem’s 2009 track, “Crack A Bottle,” featuring Dr. Dre.
