EBONY and Mass Appeal celebrate 50 years of hip-hop with a special commemorative print issue featuring the culture’s leading disruptors. In a whirlwind three-city photoshoot, we tapped rap icons 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Lil’ Kim, Rick Ross and Swizz Beatz.
Get Rich or Die Tryin’ made him famous, but 50 Cent’s preternatural instincts and adaptive nature have made him a rarity: one of the culture’s continuous success stories. Once considered rap’s top villain during the days of promoting his explosive 2003 debut, at 47, he is now a consummate professional. It’s all in keeping with Curtis Jackson III’s drive to achieve a loftier ambition no one could have predicted: becoming the TV industry’s biggest mogul.
“It feels really great to be on the cover of EBONY magazine. It would have been ten times better if my grandmother were here to see it.”
-50 Cent
On a crisp spring day, a Brooklyn studio is bustling with around 30 people, all here for the star at its center. 50 Cent stays booked and busy. In fact, he took a brief break from filming a forthcoming project and flew in for the day to make this shoot happen. “It feels really great to be on the cover of EBONY magazine,” he shares. “It would have been ten times better if my grandmother were here to see it.” This was a career highlight that he could not miss.
In a gritty alleyway, 50 moves through tailored looks styled by Rachel Johnson with ease, a process captured by Keith Major’s lens. Draped in elegant fall suiting and luxe accessories, 50 cuts a mean silhouette. As he celebrates the 20th anniversary of his explosive debut with a history-making tour, the rap veteran has done more than just get rich—he’s reinvented himself.
In his EBONY cover story, writer A.R. Shaw talks with the mogul about what it means to evolve. Check out the behind-the-scenes action in this exclusive video and click here for the full digital cover experience.
The Hip-Hop 50 commemorative print issue is on sale from September 19, 2023 to December 19, 2023. Get your copy at magazines.com, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Walgreens, Target, Publix, Safeway, Kroger, Books A Million, and more, plus select retailers in London and South Africa.
