From Rap Lyrics to Screenplays
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson didn’t stop at rapping about crime; he began producing the stories himself. After early film roles in the semi-autobiographical Get Rich or Die Tryin’, the war drama Home of the Brave, and the thriller Righteous Kill, he shifted his focus to what happens behind the camera.
He founded G‑Unit Films in 2003 and later Cheetah Vision in 2008, targeting low-budget action thrillers for international markets. Backed by $200 million in funding by 2010, Cheetah Vision learned how to stretch modest budgets into globally sellable content.
Creating a Crime Universe with Power
The real breakthrough came with Power. Developed with writer Courtney A. Kemp, the series premiered on Starz in 2014. Jackson served as executive producer and co-starred as Kanan Stark, a menacing mentor-turned-rival whose presence looms over the show’s moral universe.
The series followed a drug kingpin trying to go legitimate through a nightclub, mirroring themes Jackson himself knows well: the tension between the underworld and the boardroom, loyalty and betrayal, ambition and survival.
Ratings soared. By its second season, Power delivered Starz’s highest premiere yet with 1.43 million viewers, and it ran for six seasons to 2020.
Building a Television Franchise
Rather than end with the finale, Jackson and Starz expanded Power into a multi-series universe. He executive produced three spin‑offs:
- Power Book II: Ghost, following the next generation entangled in crime and politics.
- Power Book III: Raising Kanan, a prequel drilling into Kanan Stark’s origin story.
- Power Book IV: Force, centered on another fan-favorite character striking out on his own.
At the same time, Jackson helped launch BMF in 2021, a biographical series about Detroit brothers Demetrius and Terry Flenory, co-founders of the Black Mafia Family. Once again, he executive produced and performed the theme song, “Wish Me Luck,” alongside Charlie Wilson, Moneybagg Yo, and Snoop Dogg.
Beyond One Network
Jackson’s ambitions extended further. By 2010 he had sold projects to six different television networks within 18 months. In 2020, he developed two more series for Starz: a hip-hop anthology and a biographical drama about sports agent Nicole Lynn. In 2024, he announced Sean Combs: The Reckoning for Netflix, a documentary digging into abuse and trafficking allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
He even scripted his own acting future, joining the ensemble of Expend4bles and executive producing Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, a sequel to the 2018 heist film in which he had starred.
The takeaway is clear: 50 Cent no longer needs to be in front of the mic to shape the story. He’s writing the scripts, cutting the deals, and leasing studios for decades at a time. The hustler’s eye for opportunity now scans the TV schedule.