Denz
02-14-2003, 02:54 PM
The debut album from Eminem cohort 50 Cent, 'Get Rich Or Die Tryin', has sold more than 872,000 copies despite having been rushed to shops early to combat piracy, two days short of a full week.
The sales confirm the album as America's Billboard number one and make it the best-selling debut on record since official SoundScan figures were first recorded in 1991.
If 50 Cent follows in the footsteps of his label boss Eminem the album will go on to sell and sell.
Eminem's 'The Eminem Show' was also rushed released but went on to sell 1.3 million copies after its first full week in shops.
50 Cent's popularity in the U.S. has been driven by the underground hip-hop mix-tape culture which has given audiences a chance to hear his music prior to release on tapes mixed together by hip-hop scratch DJs.
His notoriety was cemented by a string of freestyle performances in which he aimed verbal ire at targets like Jay-Z, Master P and Sticky Fingaz. The hype built to frenzy as details of his former gangster lifestyle emerged through the media and comparisons with 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. were drawn.
Press attention has focussed on the alarming number of times that he has been wounded by gunfire: 50 Cent was injured by bullets no less than nine times in the year 2000.
The sales confirm the album as America's Billboard number one and make it the best-selling debut on record since official SoundScan figures were first recorded in 1991.
If 50 Cent follows in the footsteps of his label boss Eminem the album will go on to sell and sell.
Eminem's 'The Eminem Show' was also rushed released but went on to sell 1.3 million copies after its first full week in shops.
50 Cent's popularity in the U.S. has been driven by the underground hip-hop mix-tape culture which has given audiences a chance to hear his music prior to release on tapes mixed together by hip-hop scratch DJs.
His notoriety was cemented by a string of freestyle performances in which he aimed verbal ire at targets like Jay-Z, Master P and Sticky Fingaz. The hype built to frenzy as details of his former gangster lifestyle emerged through the media and comparisons with 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. were drawn.
Press attention has focussed on the alarming number of times that he has been wounded by gunfire: 50 Cent was injured by bullets no less than nine times in the year 2000.