50 Cent - A Power Player

Rapper and entrepreneur 50 Cent got jacked by focusing on functional strength rather than a one-rep max.

- Zack Zeigler

CURTIS “50 CENT” JACKSON IS STANDING shirtless in a fighting stance, wearing a pair of rare gold boxing gloves signed by the late boxing icon Muhammad Ali. The image does more than demonstrate 50’s love of the sweet science—it symbolizes the fight he put forth to escape poverty and crime to become a power player in both music and media.

50’s against-all-odds success story has inspired countless youths who previously thought of themselves as boxed in by disadvantage to strive for more: Jackson grew up in Queens, NY. His mother was a drug dealer who was murdered when he was 8. In his teens, he began rapping and, like his mom, selling drugs. In 2000 Jackson was shot nine times—in the face, chest, hand, arm, hip, and both legs. Investigators believe a New York drug lord orchestrated the attack after taking offense to lyrics in 50’s song “Ghetto Qu’ran.” The physical recovery took months but would give 50 a renewed focus on fitness and health as he continued to create music. In 2003, his first studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’—produced by Eminem and Dr. Dre—sold 872,000 copies in the first week.

Now 41, Jackson still raps—he’s also an entrepreneur, investor, and actor and producer in both TV and film. Work on the fourth season of the Starz original series Power, on which 50 has a reoccurring role and is an executive producer, has kept him busy lately, but so have other greenlit projects: a variety show titled 50 Cent Presents and a scripted superhero-themed series, Tomorrow Today.

“My schedule is crazy,” 50 says. “When I film something, I have to sit still. I feel like I’m on vacation when I’m filming.”