The 50¢ Piece

The close encounter might have cleared 50's mind, but it did little to soothe the frazzled nerves of Columbia execs. Plenty of rappers flirt with street life, but nine bullets was just too stark a reality check. 50 was dropped from the label. Undeterred, he hit the mix-tape circuit again, releasing tracks on compilations from underground kings like DJs Kay Slay and Cutmaster C. Although 50's street stock was just beginning to soar, he'd already attracted the attention of another rising rapper, Ja Rule.

''A friend of mine robbed him. I didn't have anything to do with it,'' says 50 of the late-1999 jewelry snatch. ''When you come from where I'm from, you're gonna know somebody that robs people.'' Allegedly, Ja's crew stabbed 50 as payback -- a puncture that 50 mockingly says required only three stitches. Like everything in hip-hop, the feud soon became more about credibility than criminality. Ja labeled 50 a ''snitch'' for allegedly filing an order of protection against members of his crew. 50 impugned Ja's thug credentials; he insists it's Ja's sugary pop-R&B collaborations with J. Lo and Ashanti that have made him a superstar. ''That kid is a fraud,'' 50 says. ''Ja Rule grew up a Jehovah's Witness. While we were selling crack, he was knocking on people's doors every Saturday.''

The feud led 50 to release ''Wanksta'' (''You say you a gangsta, but you never copped nothin'/You say you a wanksta and you need to stop frontin'''), which generated so much heat on the street that the majors were forced to get over their quivers. J Records, Jive, Warner Bros., Universal, and Capitol all came knocking. ''It was like a psych evaluation,'' 50 recalls. ''I sat down with [an Atlantic Records exec]; this guy was shaking in his chair, for real.''

Around this time, 50 sent a collection of his street tracks to Eminem's longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg. He passed the tape to Em, who immediately summoned 50 to L.A. That same day Eminem called L.A. hip-hop station Power 106 and proclaimed 50 his favorite rapper. ''Eminem was all about the music,'' says 50. ''He signed me knowing there was a possibility he was purchasing a problem.''

In June 2002, 50 inked a $1 million deal with Shady/Aftermath Records, and was soon laying down cuts for the ''8 Mile '' soundtrack. ''Wanksta'' became a radio smash and the 50 Cent buzz built to unanticipated proportions. 50 and Em, it turned out, were a match made in hip-hop heaven.

With ''8 Mile'''s runaway success, Eminem's already broad audience got broader. If the scrappy Detroit MC was worried that ''TRL''-driven celebrity had vanquished any chance of genuine street cred, his anointment as Hollywood's newest golden boy only deepened the problem. Championing 50 Cent could help build respect and win over the inner-city skeptics who've been all too eager to dismiss the paleface. ''I definitely bring a new audience to Eminem,'' says 50. ''There are some people who wouldn't listen to an Eminem record because they're just being biased. Those people in the hood -- now they love him because he brought me.''

For 50, the benefit was obvious: an endorsement that would drive his record beyond the hood and into the homes of the same suburban kids who made millionaires of Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, and DMX. Add to that the chance to work with Em partner, Aftermath chief, and peerless hip-hop hitmaker Dr. Dre, and the move was a no-brainer.

While their partnership has already expanded Eminem's entertainment empire, 50's future -- platinum record sales notwithstanding -- is less clear. Judging from his rhymes on ''Get Rich or Die Tryin','' the artist is stuck in a rut of guns and drugs and death. There's no other story to tell.

''If my life wasn't like this, I would have nothing to rap about,'' 50 says. ''Don't expect me to change because my record has taken off. It took 26 years to get this way. I get one CD, one year to change? That's not gonna happen.''

It certainly hasn't happened yet. When Jam Master Jay was murdered in his Queens recording studio last October, police questioned 50 Cent. ''They looked for his enemies and couldn't find any, so they looked at his friends and found me -- and they know I'm no angel.'' And on Dec. 31, he was arrested in Manhattan on two counts of gun possession, charges 50 denies.

Not that 50 isn't ready to trade his past for a more secure future. ''I hope my life is different from now on,'' he says. ''Trouble seems to find me, so I'm kinda anticipating not everything being beautiful, or going my way. But it feels like it is right now. So far, so good.''