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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)
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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."

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Entertainment

Music World Mourns Ghana's Ebo Taylor, Founding Father of Highlife

Ebo Taylor, who kept performing into his 80s, was instrumental in introducing Ghanaian highlife to international listeners. Nipah Dennis / AFP
Ebo Taylor, who kept performing into his 80s, was instrumental in introducing Ghanaian highlife to international listeners. Nipah Dennis / AFP
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Music World Mourns Ghana's Ebo Taylor, Founding Father of Highlife

Ebo Taylor, who kept performing into his 80s, was instrumental in introducing Ghanaian highlife to international listeners. Nipah Dennis / AFP
Ebo Taylor, who kept performing into his 80s, was instrumental in introducing Ghanaian highlife to international listeners. Nipah Dennis / AFP

Tributes have been pouring in from across Ghana and the world since the death of Ghanaian highlife legend Ebo Taylor.

A guitarist, composer and bandleader who died on Saturday, Taylor's six-decade career played a key role in shaping modern popular music in West Africa, said AFP.

Often described as one of the founding fathers of contemporary highlife, Taylor died a day after the launch of a music festival bearing his name in the capital, Accra, and just a month after celebrating his 90th birthday.

Highlife, a genre blending traditional African rhythms with jazz and Caribbean influences, was recently added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

"The world has lost a giant. A colossus of African music," a statement shared on his official page said. "Your light will never fade."

The Los Angeles-based collective Jazz Is Dead called him a pioneer of highlife and Afrobeat, while Ghanaian dancehall star Stonebwoy and American producer Adrian Younge, who his worked with Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar, also paid tribute to his legacy.

Nigerian writer and poet Dami Ajayi described him as a "highlife maestro" and a "fantastic guitarist".

- 'Uncle Ebo' -

Taylor's influence extended far beyond Ghana, with elements of his music appearing in the soul, jazz, hip-hop and Afrobeat genres that dominate the African and global charts today.

Born Deroy Taylor in Cape Coast in 1936, he began performing in the 1950s, as highlife was establishing itself as the dominant sound in Ghana in the years following independence.

Known for intricate guitar lines and rich horn arrangements, he played with leading bands including the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band.

In the early 1960s, he travelled to London to study music, where he worked alongside other African musicians, including Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti.

The exchange of ideas between the two would later be seen as formative to the development of Afrobeat, a political cocktail blending highlife with funk, jazz and soul.

Back in Ghana, Taylor became one of the country's most sought-after arrangers and producers, working with stars such as Pat Thomas and CK Mann while leading his own bands.

His compositions -- including "Love & Death", "Heaven", "Odofo Nyi Akyiri Biara" and "Appia Kwa Bridge" -- gained renewed international attention decades later as DJs, collectors and record labels reissued his music. His grooves were sampled by hip-hop and R&B artists and helped introduce new global audiences to Ghanaian highlife.

Taylor continued touring into his 70s and 80s, performing across Europe and the United States as part of a late-career renaissance that cemented his status as a cult figure among younger musicians.

Many fans affectionately referred to him as "Uncle Ebo", reflecting both his longevity and mentorship of younger artists.

For many, he remained a symbol of highlife's golden era and of a generation that carried Ghanaian music onto the world stage.

Entertainment

'Send Help' Repeats as N.America Box Office Champ

Canadian actor Rachel McAdams and US actor Dylan O'Brien pose upon arrival on the red carpet for the UK premiere of the film 'Send Help' in central London on January 29, 2026. (Photo by CARLOS JASSO / AFP)
Canadian actor Rachel McAdams and US actor Dylan O'Brien pose upon arrival on the red carpet for the UK premiere of the film 'Send Help' in central London on January 29, 2026. (Photo by CARLOS JASSO / AFP)
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'Send Help' Repeats as N.America Box Office Champ

Canadian actor Rachel McAdams and US actor Dylan O'Brien pose upon arrival on the red carpet for the UK premiere of the film 'Send Help' in central London on January 29, 2026. (Photo by CARLOS JASSO / AFP)
Canadian actor Rachel McAdams and US actor Dylan O'Brien pose upon arrival on the red carpet for the UK premiere of the film 'Send Help' in central London on January 29, 2026. (Photo by CARLOS JASSO / AFP)

Horror flick "Send Help" showed staying power, leading the North American box office for a second straight week with $10 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The 20th Century flick stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as a woman and her boss trying to survive on a deserted island after their plane crashes.
It marks a return to the genre for director Sam Raimi, who first made his name in the 1980s with the "Evil Dead" films.

Debuting in second place at $7.2 million was rom-com "Solo Mio" starring comedian Kevin James as a groom left at the altar in Italy, Exhibitor Relations reported.

"This is an excellent opening for a romantic comedy made on a micro-budget of $4 million," said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, noting that critics and audiences have embraced the Angel Studios film.

Post-apocalyptic Sci-fi thriller "Iron Lung" -- a video game adaptation written, directed and financed by YouTube star Mark Fischbach, known by his pseudonym Markiplier -- finished in third place at $6.7 million, AFP reported.

"Stray Kids: The Dominate Experience," a concert film for the K-pop boy band Stray Kids filmed at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, opened in fourth place at $5.6 million.

And in fifth place at $4.5 million was Luc Besson's English-language adaptation of "Dracula," which was released in select countries outside the United States last year.

Gross called it a "weak opening for a horror remake," noting the film's total production cost of $50 million and its modest $30 million take abroad so far.

Rounding out the top 10 are:
"Zootopia 2" ($4 million)
"The Strangers: Chapter 3" ($3.5 million)
"Avatar: Fire and Ash" ($3.5 million)
"Shelter" ($2.4 million)
"Melania" ($2.38 million)

Entertainment

Rapper Lil Jon Confirms Death of His Son, Nathan Smith

Lil Jon performs at Gronk Beach music festival during Super Bowl week on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP)
Lil Jon performs at Gronk Beach music festival during Super Bowl week on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP)
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Rapper Lil Jon Confirms Death of His Son, Nathan Smith

Lil Jon performs at Gronk Beach music festival during Super Bowl week on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP)
Lil Jon performs at Gronk Beach music festival during Super Bowl week on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP)

American rapper Lil Jon said on Friday that his son, Nathan Smith, has died, the record producer confirmed in a joint statement with Smith’s mother.

"I am extremely heartbroken for the tragic loss of our son, Nathan Smith. His mother (Nicole Smith) and I are devastated,” the statement said.

Lil Jon described his son as ‌an “amazingly talented ‌young man” who was ‌a ⁠music producer, artist, ‌engineer, and a New York University graduate.

“Thank you for all of the prayers and support in trying to locate him over the last several days. Thank you to the entire Milton police department involved,” the “Snap ⁠Yo Fingers” rapper added.

A missing persons report was ‌filed on Tuesday for Smith ‍in Milton, Georgia, authorities ‍said in a post on the ‍Milton government website.

Police officials added that a broader search for Smith, also known by the stage name DJ Young Slade, led divers from the Cherokee County Fire Department to recover a body from a pond near ⁠his home on Friday.

"The individual is believed to be Nathan Smith, pending official confirmation by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office,” the post continued.

While no foul play is suspected, the Milton Police Department Criminal Investigations Division will be investigating the events surrounding Smith’s death.

Lil Jon is a Grammy-winning rapper known for a string ‌of chart-topping hits and collaborations, including “Get Low,” “Turn Down for What” and “Shots.”