It’s been 10 years since 50 Cent first bumrushed the game with his mind-numbing debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Surpassing gold status in less than a week (selling more than 800,000 copies), with seven entries on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and four Grammy nominations (among a long-list of others), Fif’s 2003 opus successfully cemented the former crack slinger as a rap phenomenon. Opening with his signature 50 cents coin drops, and closing with the reflective “Gotta Make It to Heaven,” GRODT allowed us a look inside the paranoid mind of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson: the South Jamaica, Queens hustler, shot nine times only to survive, get dropped from Columbia Records and later hold court on Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records. His cold-bloodedness on the mic seeped throughout the album— whether he was being contemplative (“Many Men,” “Gotta Make It to Heaven”) or menacing (“Don’t Push Me,” “What Up Gangsta”). His attempt at winning the hip-hop outsiders (mainstream folks) even worked, with the Dr. Dre produced smash “In da Club” and Nate Dogg-featured “21 Questions.”

All in all, the rapper’s debut proved to be pivotal in the rapper’s career, taking him from the corners of the bloodsoaked streets of South Jamaica, Queens to becoming a rap goliath turned businessman. Not bad for a self-proclaimed ‘Bad-Guy.’

With that being said, XXL celebrates 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 10-year anniversary with a special ‘By the Numbers’ breakdown.—Ralph Bristout (@RalphieBlackmon)

More 50 Cent stories:

Previously: From the Archives: 50 Cent, “Still I Rise” [Originally Published on September, 2001]
Previously: From the Archives: 50 Cent Speaks on “How To Rob”