<P> In the hospital Jackson signed a publishing deal with Columbia Records before he was dropped from the label and blacklisted by the recording industry because of his song, "Ghetto Qu'ran". Unable to work in a U.S. studio, he went to Canada . With business partner Sha Money XL, Jackson recorded over thirty songs for mixtapes to build a reputation . In a HitQuarters interview, Marc Labelle of Shady Records A&R said that Jackson used the mixtape circuit to his advantage: "He took all the hottest beats from every artist and flipped them with better hooks . They then got into all the markets on the mixtapes and all the mixtape DJs were messing with them ." Jackson's popularity increased, and in 2002 he released the mixtape Guess Who's Back? . He then released 50 Cent Is the Future backed by G - Unit, a mixtape revisiting material by Jay - Z and Raphael Saadiq . </P> <P> In 2002, Eminem heard Jackson's Guess Who's Back? CD, received from Jackson's attorney (who was working with Eminem's manager, Paul Rosenberg). Impressed, Eminem invited Jackson to fly to Los Angeles and introduced him to Dr. Dre . After signing a $1 million record deal, Jackson released No Mercy, No Fear . The mixtape featured one new track, "Wanksta", which appeared on Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack . Jackson was also signed by Chris Lighty's Violator Management and Sha Money XL's Money Management Group . </P> <P> Jackson released his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin' (described by AllMusic as "probably the most hyped debut album by a rap artist in about a decade"), in February 2003 . Rolling Stone noted its "dark synth grooves, buzzy keyboards and a persistently funky bounce", with Jackson complementing the production in "an unflappable, laid - back flow". It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 872,000 copies in its first four days . The lead single, "In da Club" (noted by The Source for its "blaring horns, funky organs, guitar riffs and sparse hand claps"), set a Billboard record as the most listened - to song in radio history within a week . </P> <P> Interscope gave Jackson his own label, G - Unit Records, in 2003 . He signed Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and Young Buck as members of G - Unit, and The Game was later signed in a joint venture with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment . In March 2005 Jackson's second commercial album, The Massacre, sold 1.14 million copies in its first four days (the highest in an abbreviated sales cycle) and was number one on the Billboard 200 for six weeks . He was the first solo artist with three singles in the Billboard top five in the same week with "Candy Shop", "Disco Inferno" and "How We Do". According to Rolling Stone, "50's secret weapon is his singing voice - the deceptively amateur - sounding tenor croon that he deploys on almost every chorus". </P>

When did get rich or die trying come out