 Cortes James Jackson III was born on the 6th of July, 1975, in Queens, New York City, United States. He was initially raised by his mother, a drug dealer who died in a fire accident when he was eight. After the death of Jackson's mother, his father abandoned him, leaving the little boy to be looked after by his grandmother. As a naive child who lacked parental guardians and lived in a poverty-stricken neighborhood, Jackson started taking care of himself independently. However, he did this by engaging himself in serious crimes. He and his grandmother were languishing in poverty and in a bid to realize some money for their well-being, Jackson started dealing drugs at the age of 12 and usually took drugs and money to school. In his 10th grade, during his high school years, Jackson was caught by a metal detector in the school. He was embraced and arrested for indulging in such unlawful activity. At the age of 19, in the year 1994, Jackson was nabbed for selling drugs to an undercover police officer. His home was scouted a few weeks later and 10 hours of cracked cocaine and heroin were found as well as a pistol. Jackson was sentenced to nine years in prison but, fortunately, he didn't stay that long in jail. He later earned his GED after he was sentenced to self-six months in a boot camp. According to him, he didn't consume the drugs, he only sold them. After he was released, Jackson named himself 50 Cent, a nickname which means change. 50 Cent was the name of a local armed robber. Jackson said he chose the name since he was exactly like that man, someone who independently provides for himself by any means possible. Jackson later left his rough and unideal lifestyle to become a better and decent individual. Right from his childhood, he had always loved music. A friend introduced him to some rap artists and music producers who taught Jackson how to rap, write and record songs. He did the music for some years, hoping to be successful at it. Although his career didn't bring in much income, he was able to keep the wolf off the door. When Jackson was on the verge of success, a catastrophic event occurred. He was shot nine times at a close range by an assailant and left for dead. Jackson had gunshots in his hip, arm, hand, chest and cheek. He was bed-reading in the hospital for 13 days and used the walker for about six weeks. After recovering fully six months later, Jackson went back into music again, which signed a deal with Columbia Records. But the label turned him away later on and blacklisted him with the recording industry because of a song titled Get A Quran. This made Jackson move to Canada where he recorded about 30 songs. Eminem, a music star who had a personal record label, had one of Jackson's songs and really liked it. Jackson was signed to Eminem's label and he began his journey to become one of the most best-selling and famous rappers of all time. Jackson globally recognized as 50 cents is currently one of the wealthiest figures in the entertainment industry. In life, pain remains an inevitable condition that one must experience. Be it mental or physical, everyone deals with pain each day. However, it's of high importance that you come to the realization of something significant. Pain builds strength in you and makes you stronger. Angelina Jolie said, without pain, there would be no suffering. Without suffering, we would never learn from our mistakes. To make it right, pain and suffering is the key to all windows. Without it, there is no way of life. The reason why you are currently suffering is to perhaps help you learn from wrong deeds and how you can make them right. There is no way you can be successful without undergoing pain. Before the windows of success can be opened onto you, be prepared to pass through pain. Mary Tyler Moore said, pain nourishes courage. You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you. For you to be courageous, you must have experienced pain. Pain brings out the toughness and bravery in you so you can be strong enough to climb the pinnacle of greatness. W.M. Paul Young said, transformation without work and pain, without suffering, without a sense of loss, is just an illusion of true change. There is no way you can transform without experiencing pain, loss or suffering. Your success will forever remain an illusion and fantasy if you refuse to adapt to the painful side of life and embrace difficulties where need be. Don't forget pain builds strength in you and makes you stronger.