‘I Was Crazy’: 50 Cent on 20 Years of ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 

50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, turns 48 this week as he prepares to embark on the "Final Lap" tour across North America, Europe and Australasia. (AFP)
50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, turns 48 this week as he prepares to embark on the "Final Lap" tour across North America, Europe and Australasia. (AFP)
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‘I Was Crazy’: 50 Cent on 20 Years of ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 

50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, turns 48 this week as he prepares to embark on the "Final Lap" tour across North America, Europe and Australasia. (AFP)
50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, turns 48 this week as he prepares to embark on the "Final Lap" tour across North America, Europe and Australasia. (AFP)

As 50 Cent heads out on a world tour marking the 20th anniversary of hip-hop classic "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", he told AFP it's probably his last on this scale.

"I won't be able to tour like this again. My film and TV production stuff doesn't allow me," said the rapper, who will soon be seen alongside Sylvester Stallone in "Expendables 4".

He took "a huge pay cut" to shift from music to TV a decade ago -- most notably with hit show "Power" -- but saw it as a strategic business decision.

"My audience is older. With my film and TV work I'm speaking to my core audience directly. I don't want to lose them... They made me a success."

50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, turns 48 this week as he prepares to embark on the "Final Lap" tour across North America, Europe and Australasia, with more dates due to be added in Asia and beyond.

It has already sold more than 600,000 tickets, which the ever-modest "Fiddy" says with a chuckle "would be impressive for other guys, but I'm 50 Cent".

The one thing that could lure him back after this would be if his old mentors -- Eminem and Dr Dre -- came with him.

"If I could get Em and Dre out the house, that would get me back touring but I don't think that'll happen," he said.

'Wouldn't stop growing'

Launched in February 2003, his debut was one of the fastest selling records of all time, boosted by a colorful backstory of true-life gangsterism, including time in prison and an attempted assassination in which he was shot nine times.

Debut single "In Da Club" is still a huge hit thanks to its evergreen refrain, "Hey, Shorty, it's your birthday".

And the rapper is still 114th on Spotify's worldwide rankings despite not releasing a studio album since 2014.

There was debate over which single to launch at the time, with Dr Dre pushing for "If I Can't".

"But I thought, no, we gotta go with 'Go Shorty, it's your birthday'. Coz every day is someone's birthday and makes the song relevant again," said Jackson.

"And it wouldn't stop growing. I got a plaque now because it's been played a billion times on Spotify. We weren't even listening to Spotify back then."

He remembers the moment, sitting on a tour bus heading for Washington DC, when he heard that the album had gone past 800,000 sales in the first week.

"At the time I thought if I could pray for just one thing, it was for that record to be a success. But one thing I learned about myself is I just want more wishes," he said, laughing.

"There was so much success and energy it started to feel like I could have whatever I want. The album was called 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' and I was, like, 'No, let me die later. This feels great.'"

All the adulation and partying went to his head, of course.

"If they had clinically tested me at the time, they would have said I was crazy."



‘Alien’ Franchise Crafts New Creatures for ‘Alien: Earth’ TV Show

Noah Hawley attends the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
Noah Hawley attends the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Alien’ Franchise Crafts New Creatures for ‘Alien: Earth’ TV Show

Noah Hawley attends the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
Noah Hawley attends the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, September 15, 2024. (Reuters)

Both new and familiar alien lifeforms lurk around in the Disney series “Alien: Earth,” based on the original 1979 Ridley Scott "Alien" movie.

“By bringing the story to Earth, we're shifting to, ‘can humanity itself survive, right?’ And then it becomes a question of, ‘well, what is humanity, and do we really deserve to survive?’” director Noah Hawley told Reuters.

“These creatures that are coming, are a kind of representation of the natural world reasserting its dominance, right? Reminding us that we're still part of the food chain,” the "Fargo" creator added.

"Alien: Earth," which begins streaming on Hulu and FX on Tuesday, follows a group of travelers with various jobs that are drawn into action when a spacecraft carrying alien samples crash-lands on Earth.

It is set two years before the first “Alien” movie that introduced audiences to actor Sigourney Weaver's character, Ellen Ripley, and the terrifying alien called a xenomorph.

Other than the xenomorphs that fans are familiar with, there are four other deadly creatures on the crashed spacecraft.

"These creatures have some, to varying degrees, great recognition factor," said producer David W. Zucker.

"They're sort of perverted versions of insects and otherwise that we can recognize. So, I think that brings it into an even more sort of visceral place, not to mention, touching upon certain sensations that we're already familiar that they can invoke,” he added.

"Don't Worry Darling" actor Sydney Chandler portrays the show’s lead named Wendy, a metahuman with the body of an adult human and the mind of a child, who leads a team that also has adult bodies with childish minds, called The Lost Boys, onto the crashed spaceship.

"Kids are great acting teachers. They're so present, they're so honest, instinctual, they do what their body tells them to do or what their mind thinks of right away,” Chandler said, referring to her approach to Wendy's child-like mannerisms.