50 Cent has revealed his first major purchase after being signed to Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment for $1 million by Eminem and Dr. Dre in 2002.
Speaking to Apple Music’s Rebecca Judd while backstage at the London leg of his Final Lap Tour earlier this month, 50 revealed he bought a gift for a much-loved family member.
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He said: “I bought my grandmother a C220 Benz. I’ll never forget because when I got the car, I got it right away is the first thing I bought when the deal was done.”
50, who was raised by his grandparents after his mother died when he was eight, also admitted his grandfather wasn’t pleased with the gift as he was stuck with their old car.
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“And then I went on the tour and I came back and my grandfather was on the porch and he was having a moment. So he was like, ‘I just went to work. I went to work, hurt my back, came back, and she done brainwashed my kids.’
“And he was talking about my grandmother because he was looking at her car in the front yard and he didn’t have a car. He had the older car and he said, ‘I went to work, hurt my back. Until my back hurt, everything.'”
After the huge success of his debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ which sold over 1.5 million copies in its first two weeks, 50 Cent began splashing the cash in even bigger ways, including buying Mike Tyson’s 52-room mansion in Connecticut.
“We went on a world tour and we came back. I had $38 million in my account,” he recalled. “The IRS are coming, [so it’s like] — buy it. Whatever you want, buy that shit because they’re just going to take the money anyway. You need expenses. That’s when I ended up buying the Tyson estate, the house and stuff.
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“I needed expenses. I didn’t know what would create a bigger comfortability for me at the time. And then anybody that you talked to in finances would look at it and say, yeah, you can… If you buy a property, it’s $3 million or $4 million and you just made $38 million. And yes, this is good for your taxes actually, that you made the purchase and you should buy some cars.”
With his seminal debut album turning 20 this year, the G-Unit mogul also reflected on its legacy and enduring popularity, saying: “If you had asked me to make a wish in 2003, I would’ve just wish that my music was a hit. I didn’t see 20 years ahead in music like that.”
