Music On The Blog

50 Cent (aka Curtis James Jackson) has been an explosive figure in the hip hop industry since his major label debut in 2003. Despite a hard childhood and youth, he has managed to pull himself out of the streets with unique rhymes and an ear for finding other rap talents.

50 Cent became rap’s golden boy when he was signed for a reported one million with Eminem’s Shady/Aftermath label. Emininem and rap superstar Dr. Dre built upon 50′s already present talent to create the monster single “In Da Club.” This 50 Cent song was featured on his first major label album “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” which was released in 2003. The 50 Cent video for the song included appearances by both Eminem and Dr. Dre, which catapulted his success.

After the success of the album, Interscope records granted 50 cent with his own record label G-Unit Records. He immediately signed Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, childhood friends, for the label. He joined these artists in a group called G-Unit, which released “Beg for Mercy” in 2003. Later additions the label included Young Buck, Olivia, Mob Deep and Young Hot Rod. 2008 saw a second album from the G-Unit group called “T.O.S: Terminate on Sight”.

At the same time, he began work on his second studio release entitled “The Massacre.” The album sold 1.14 million copies in the first four days. The 50 Cent videos for “Candy Shop,” “Disco Inferno” and “How We Do” helped place those three songs within the top five Billboard singles in the same week. 50 Cent’s success is driven by his desire to overcome his rough childhood and the shooting in May 2000 that put his rap career on hold. He was born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York to a teenage mother. He was raised by his grandparents after his mother’s murder when he was 8. By 12, 50 Cent was selling crack on the streets and taking guns to school. After several arrests during his late teens, he started to become interested in music.

During the late 1990s, he appeared on several records by other artists and was signed to Columbia records in 1999. He recorded thirty-six songs in two weeks and was prepared to release “Power of the Dollar” when he was shot. 50 Cent was attacked outside of his grandparent’s home and was shot nine times. His shooter was never officially charged but was killed in the streets three weeks later. In 50 Cent pictures before and after the shooting, one can see the slight damage to his left cheek from the shooting.

Columbia records dropped the artist immediately, considering him too risky. However, this didn’t stop his desire to become a rap star. While 50 Cent was recovering, he recorded thirty songs for rap mix tapes, which helped him build his reputation. It was on one of these mix tapes where Eminem first heard his music.

In addition to his wide discography, 50 Cent teamed with Reebok in 2003 to distribute G-Unit Sneakers. He also has a G-Unit Clothing company. He made his way into the video game world with the 2005 release of 50 Cent: BulletProof. A follow up to the game, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, was released in early 2009. He has also appeared in the films “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”, “Home of the Brave” and “Righteous Kill”.

50 cent’s third album Curtis was released in September of 2007 and sold 691,000 copies in the first week. His fourth album, Before I Self Destruct is anticipated for a spring 2009 release.

About the Author

Searching for music videos online? Come check out the largest collection of music videos online featuring all of the most popular artists and bands including 50 Cent, Fall Out Boy, and Nickelback.

Guitars have been used with so much diversity in many musical forms. The instrument is known by many as a classical solo instrument and the basic musical instrument in rock music.

Get acquainted with this magnificent instrument; know its parts:

1. Headstock. This is found at the edge of the guitar’s neck. It is tailored with the instrument’s head for adjusting the pitch.

2. Tuners. The tuners keep the strings of the guitar stretched beginning at the base down to the knobs. Tuners likewise allow the guitar player to alter or modify the pitch either flat or sharp, depending on the player’s choice of music.

3. Nut. This is a tiny strip of hard medium or material which supports the strings at the intersection where the “headstock” meets up with the “fret board”. The strips can be made of plastic, bone, graphite, brass or any hard medium and indented to secure the stings in position. The nut acts as one of several endpoints assisting the tension of the string.

4. Fret board. Also known as the fingerboard, it is a lengthy wood plank inserted with frets of metal that composes the top of the guitar’s neck.

The fret board of a classical guitar is flat and is a little curved diagonally on an electric or acoustic guitar. The curve is calculated by the radius of the fret board that is the range of a “hypothetical circle” and which the surface of the fret board makes up a segment.

The smaller the radius of the fret board, the more that the curve is evident. When a string is pinched against the board, the string’s “vibrating length” is shortened thus creating a higher pitch sound or tone.

5. Frets. These are strips made of metal, particularly nickel alloy set in alongside the fret board that are positioned in conjunction with the string’s length that mathematically divides it.

When the strings are pushed down from the rear of the frets, this cuts the string’s length of vibration to emit different tones or pitches.

Bass Guitar Review

6. Neck. The neck is composed of the guitar’s fret board, frets, tuners, truss rod and headstock; all are fastened to a long extension made of wood. Usually, the wood that is used for the fret board will be of a different kind from that used on the remaining neck parts.

The firmness or stiffness of the guitar’s neck in accordance to its body is one determining factor of whether it is of good quality or not.

7. Body. The acoustic guitar’s body is an echoing cavity projecting the vibrations through the guitar’s sound hole which enables the audio of the instrument to be clearly heard even with no amplification.

In acoustic guitars, its body is a big determining factor in the overall sound it produces. The soundboard or guitar top is a delicately engineered and crafted component that is usually made out of red cedar, spruce or mahogany.

This very thin slice of wood, generally measuring only 2 – 3 mm thick, supported by different kinds of internal brackets, is the most pronounced and important element in influencing sound quality.

Most of the sound is brought about by the guitar’s top vibration as the momentum of the vibrating cords are transmitted to it.

8. Pickups. This is what really amplifies the cords sound. Most guitars have one to a maximum of three pickups. The kind of pickup is reasonably important, depending on a particular sound that you are aspiring for.

9. Pickguard. Commonly called the scratch plate, is a plastic guard or any laminated medium which protects the guitar’s top finish.

The pickups as well as almost all electronics in other electric guitars are framed and inserted atop the “pickguard”. On “acoustic guitars” and several “electric guitars”, the pickguard is directly inserted to the top of the guitar, and on guitars having carved tops; the “pickguard” is raised.

10. Bridge. On acoustic guitars, the key objective of the guitar’s bridge is to hand over or shift the string’s vibration to the “soundboard”, which then shudders the air within the guitar; thus increasing and strengthening the sound created by the cords or strings.

Go ahead, explore the parts of your guitar to better acquaint yourself with this wonderful instrument; test it too and see where it will take you. Enjoy!

About the Author

If you’ve enjoyed all the exciting information you read here

about Bass Guitar Review,you’ll love everything else you find at

Bass Guitar Review