50 Cent shared a photo of himself in Juvenile Detention when he was 15 years old while alluding to his troubled past.
The rap icon is among one of the most successful rappers turned businessmen in the music industry, and his artistic ability is just beginning as his creative genius as a television producer shows how multitalented he is.
50 Cent‘s journey, though, has not been without its challenges that are not exactly unique to him as an African American man. The rapper delved into the past as he shared an earlier memory as a teenager when he was in a Juvenile Detention Center.
The “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” rapper posted a throwback photo of himself at a juvenile detention center when he was just 15 years old.
In the caption, 50 Cent reflected on the harsh childhood he experienced growing up in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, a neighborhood that is plagued by gang violence and drug dealing that led to his earlier decisions in life. He also paid tribute to his late grandmother, who was there for him.
“Yo i was 15 in this picture,” he wrote. “on the South Side you have to grow up faster. I made a lot of mistakes I was already in juvie, I remember my Nana coming to see me, she is my angel. she love me unconditionally.”
The rapper has spoken about his past many times, even as he is now an inspiration for many people. His life was one characterized by hardship. He was raised by his mother, a drug dealer who later died in a fire while he was 8 years old. He was then raised by his grandmother and began boxing at a neighborhood gym at 11 years old. But his life wasn’t as simple as it sounded. At 12 years old, he was selling crack cocaine even as his grandparents thought he was in after-school programs.
While that became a constant part of his life, he was also his grandmother’s “baby” as he once said when talking about toughing it out in the streets at his age but being loved by his grandmother. In 2015, he spoke about living with his grandmother – “I was outside hustling but I still had to talk my grandmother into letting me walk home from school myself. I said to her ‘Look, I’m bigger than you know.'”
His grandmother passed away in 2014, and he noted that her death had a phenomenal impact on him. “she was the love of my life.”
He has also shared many hilarious moments he shared with his grandmother with his fans, including one in a tweet while he was at her house and she made him take out the trash- “I can’t [believe] my grand mothers [sic] making me take Out the garbage. I’m rich f**k this I’m going home I don’t need this sh*t.”
