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Controversy around 50 Cent long preceded fire

BY GLENN GAMBOA | glenn.gamboa@newsday.com

June 1, 2008

Curtis Jackson, better known as the rapper 50 Cent, is no stranger to controversy.

His list of high-profile feuds is lengthy, surpassed perhaps only by the number of outrageous things he says. He has carefully cultivated the persona of a bully, an anti-hero, a hip-hop gangsta of the highest order.

However, though the rapper-turned-actor-turned-business-mogul has built a considerable empire on generating that controversy and trading on his violent past, Jackson has stayed on the right side of the law since busting into the hip-hop mainstream in 2002.

The only thing sure at this point about the Friday morning fire that destroyed Jackson's 5,200-square-foot Dix Hills home, where his son, Marquise, 11, and his former girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins lived, is that it will restart debate over how much of Jackson's 50 Cent gangsta persona is real and how much is strictly for show.

Tompkins told reporters Friday, "I know this came from 50 Cent," referring to the fire that sent her, their son and four others staying in the house to the hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries. "I know he did it."

The house has been at the center of a legal battle between the rapper and Tompkins.

Jackson's attorney, Brett Kimmel, said in a statement, "Any suggestion that Mr. Jackson had anything whatsoever to do with the fire at his home is outrageous and offensive."

An investigation into the fire, which Dix Hills Fire Chief Larry Feld said was possibly "suspicious," has been launched. A representative for Jackson, who was in Shreveport, La., filming the movie "Streets of Blood" at the time of the fire, said, "[Jackson] is confident that authorities will be conducting a thorough investigation of the incident and is eager to review their findings."

His work on "Streets of Blood," a cop drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans that also stars Val Kilmer and Sharon Stone, actually is part of Jackson's plan to move beyond his career as 50 Cent. (Like many rapper-actors, he uses his real name in the movie credits.)

It's not clear how much more recording as 50 Cent he plans to do. Last year, he boasted that if he didn't sell more copies of his album "Curtis" than Kanye West sold of his album "Graduation" in the first week they were released, he would retire from recording solo albums. West outsold him, but Jackson is expected to fulfill his contract with Interscope.

While happy to talk about the struggles of being a CEO, Jackson remains more than willing to recount how he was shot nine times in a drive-by shooting outside his grandmother's home in South Jamaica, Queens, or how he was a teenage drug dealer, or how he first gained national attention with his underground single "How to Rob," where he went on about robbing everyone from Jay-Z to Bobby Brown. He's also a master at starting beefs with all sorts of rappers, from Ja Rule and The Game to last year's bout with West.

But Jackson told Newsday last fall that these days, he is definitely moving beyond his gangsta persona. He's more interested in maintaining all his business holdings. When asked about finishing No. 2 last year on the Forbes list of top hip-hop moguls, he said, "That won't happen again," pointing out that he expected to soon surpass Jay-Z for the top spot because the $32-million tally didn't include his estimated $100-million stake in Vitamin Water or the growth in his G-Unit companies.

He said then that his recent beefs didn't begin with him. "A lot of the reason that people feel like I'm in constant friction, in constant competition, is artists, given the competitive nature of hip-hop, won't allow you to just be in that top position," he said.

Even outside of the Dix Hills fire, Jackson's past week offered examples of how trouble has surrounded him, even as he tries to move beyond it. Police went to his Farmington, Conn., mansion Tuesday to arrest his employee, Dwayne McKenzie, 27, on charges of assault and strangulation, after a 22-year-old woman claimed McKenzie choked her and struck her with a belt during an argument at the mansion, according to The Associated Press.

On Thursday, MTV announced that it had picked up a still-untitled reality show starring Jackson that is a kind of hip-hop version of "The Apprentice," where 16 men and women compete for a full college scholarship by completing a series of street-wise business challenges. The show, set to air in the fall, ties in with Jackson's upcoming book "The 50th Law," with author Robert Greene, where he outlines the business practices he has used to become a success.

And Jackson has said part of his gauge of success will be that his son will not have to follow in his footsteps. He has Marquise's name, inside an ax, tattooed on his right biceps. "The ax is 'cause I'm a warrior," he told Blender magazine in 2005. "I don't want him to be one, though."

50's history of hip-hop beefs

REAL NAME Curtis Jackson

AGE 32

HOMETOWN Jamaica, Queens

CURRENTLY RESIDES Farmington, Conn.

EST. INCOME (2006) $32million

RECORD SALES "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (2003) 6 times platinum; "The Massacre," (2005) 5 times platinum; "Curtis" (2007), about 1.2 million.

NO. 1 HITS Three - "In Da Club," "21 Questions" and "Candy Shop"

BIGGEST RIVALS

Ja Rule and Murder Inc. (1999-present) - The beefing between the two Queens natives had been going on for months when 50 Cent released the track "Wanksta" as a direct insult to Ja Rule, who responded with several tracks on his album "Blood in My Eye." When 50 Cent was stabbed at the Hit Factory in 2000, he blamed it on Ja and his Murder Inc. crew.

Fat Joe (2004-present) - After Fat Joe appeared on Ja Rule's single " New York," 50 Cent counted him as an enemy. He took aim at him in the song "Piggy Bank," filled with gunfire and taunts. Fat Joe responded with "My Fo Fo," claiming that 50 is a police informant, jealous of success and "the fakest thug." Fitty countered earlier this year with a video of a mock funeral held in honor of Fat Joe's record sales.

Jadakiss (2004-2007) - Jadakiss' appearance on Ja Rule's "New York," also put him in 50's crosshairs and got him mentioned in "Piggy Bank." Jada responded with a string of songs, notably "Checmate" and "Ms. Jackson." Fitty countered with "I Run NY," but has since patched things up with Jadakiss.

Kanye West (2007) - After a series of delays, 50 Cent and Kanye West ended up with the same release date for their new albums in September, culminating in a monsoon of hype about it being the battle of control of hip-hop. As part of the beefing, which West basically sidestepped, 50 Cent declared that he would retire from recording solo albums if he didn't outsell West in the first week. West's album "Graduation" sold 957,000 copies and 50's "Curtis" sold 691,000 copies, but it's not clear whether he will record another solo album or not.

- Glenn Gamboa