Mega Music Talent

Archive for July, 2009

The Klezmer music is the traditional Jewish music originated in Eastern Europe in the last centuries. In fact, the term Klezmer is a yiddish word which is a contraction of two Hebrew words, “kli” and “zemer”. The meaning of kli is instrument, tool, while zemer definition is air, melody, song.

So the Klezmer is the instrument of the song, the vessel of the voice. At the origin, the word klezmer was employed to designate the itinerant Jewish musicians (the plural is “klezmorim”) who were playing at weddings and celebrations, traveling from village to village. The Jewish folk music had many cultural and geographical influences. Although being essentially an Ashkenazi music the impact of the Oriental, Greek, Turkish, Jewish and non Jewish communities living in the Ottoman empire was not negligible.

Wherever they were, The musicians picked up music from the people living around them, the Gypsies, Romanian, Ukrainian, Moldavian, Lithuanian, Polish and many others. But in spite of or maybe thanks to all those external influences the Klezmer kept his particularity, his characteristics and his unmistakable sound. At the beginning of the 20th century, this music style was indexed as Jewish music, Yiddish folk music or even as “Bulgar”, but gradually the word Klezmer began to refer to the style and the repertoire.

It is probably Moshe Beregowsky, a Russian-Jewish ethnomusicologist who used for the first time the term Klezmer as the music performed by the Klezmorim. In the seventies, while the Klezmer revival occurred, the word was definitively adopted as the generic term for the musicians and the music style.

Hence, while the music itself is a few centuries old, the word Klezmer is a kind of neologism. In fact the juxtaposition of klezmer and music is a tautology, a redundancy. Although the Klezmer is a secular music, its roots are religious, liturgic. The fact is that globally and in every culture, music has always a religious or mystical origin. It is a way to accompany the rites or the ceremonies, to reach a state of trance and to approach the divinity.

Klezmer is not an exception, the Psalms of King David in the Bible are maybe the first apparition of structured music. The Klezmer adopted also the intonation and the voicing of the cantor at the synagogue. The Klezmer is not playing, but rather he is singing through his instrument, hence first the violin and then the clarinet were the instruments of predilection for the Klezmer, because they are very close to the human voice.

The art of klezmer is an art of interpretation, many players can play the same tune, the same melody, the same nigun (nigun in Yiddish means a wordless melody), but it will always sound different, because each musician is expressing his deep emotions and revealing his own soul. Giora Feidman, the great clarinet Klezmer player called this “the inner voice”. Maybe the Klezmer is the most appropriate musical expression to show off sentiments, feelings, sensibility. It can be joyful, it can cry, it can burst out laughing or burst into tears.

But in spite of this ambivalence, there is always a message of hope.

Author Bio: Arik Nitsan is a clarinetist who is specialized in Klezmer and world music. For more resources on clarinet and Klezmer, visit his website : clarinet-klezmer

A singing contest can be anything from your local karaoke contest at the public house to trying your hand at an X Factor audition. Either way the same attitude, confidence and talent will eventually rise to the top and win. It is important to follow these key points to help give you the best chance at winning a vocal contest.

Chose the right song
If you know you have a limited vocal range or that a particular style of song would suit your voice, then you must play to your strengths and pick a song that reflects something of you and sounds good at the same time. Look at many different songs at first and don’t be stuck with one track in mind and be afraid to try something else. Get family members or friends who can be completely honest with you to give you some advice on which track show cases your vocals in the best light.

Build Your Confidence
Have a little me time before a competition, pamper yourself with a facial and buy a new outfit but make sure that you dress for maximum confidence. Again, getting some advice if you’re not sure would help you. Then spend some time being a little flirty and build up some personality and charm. A bit of charisma will really help your performance stand out as being considered more playful or simply even more likeable can really be the difference between people who have the same vocal talent as one another (if it comes down to it).

Professional Training
Go through a referral from someone who you know has used a vocal coach and get some professional training in vocal techniques, these will help you work on breathing, posture and how to give the best possible performance you can give. It will also build your confidence and help you perform, rather than just sing.

Be Original
When you’re performing having someone you admire in mind when you sing can sometimes mean you start trying to sound like them too, which quite frankly, if not done correctly, just sounds bad. Stay true to your voice, your accent and your tone, even if you can do a great impression, it doesn’t mean that you should.

Emotions
Putting the right amount of emotion into a song will give it an authentic and heart-felt vibe but trying to put too much in can really ruin the vocals, whereas none at all can just make the sound seem flat and boring. So recording either just your voice or an actual performance will help you watch and listen to where your strengths and weaknesses are and see if you should change the level of emotions or feelings in the song to help it come across better to the audience or judges.

A judges opinion may not always reflect how an audience feels about the performance you give but you cannot please all the people all the time, but trying to maximise the impact and likability of your performance will certainly help you win votes from any judging panel. Don’t give up either!

Author Bio: Marcus is a avid karaoke enthusiast who loves to partake in karaoke events. Marcus works for Sing To The World, who specialise in CDG Karaoke discs as well as karaoke software and selling various karaoke system in the UK.

Yes! Yes! I know “All You Need Is Love” is a John song, but I thought it sounded better than “Let it Beet” or “The Long and Winding Rutabaga.”

All this vegetable talk is in regards to Sir Paul McCartney’s recent appeal for everyone to go meatless on Mondays.

The ultimate goal of these meatless Mondays is to cut down on the amount of gaseous emissions from farm animals and thus slow down the effects of global warming. Apparently farm animals “emit” more greenhouse gases than all the world’s cars combined-sounds like we need hybrid cows not hybrid cars.

While it sounds a little odd to ask people to give up their Whoppers in order to stop bovine flatulence, Sir Paul has been a vegetarian for decades. Besides, this type of culinary activism certainly hasn’t hurt the sale of Paul McCartney tickets.

Sir James Paul McCartney was born on June 18th, 1942 and is a former Beatle. McCartney is a multiple Grammy Award-winning English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, film producer, record producer, painter, and animal rights activist. He gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.

This summer Paul is everywhere.

Just announced, the former Beatle is selling New York tickets for an added third show. This new date, the last of three Big Apple performances (July 17th and 18th), is scheduled for July 21st at the New York Mets’ new ballpark, Citi Field.
These dates continue McCartney’s tradition of performing at the Mets’ home stadium. In 1965, the Beatles were the first music act to perform in the Mets’ former home, Shea Stadium.

During Billy Joel’s “Last Play at Shea,” Sir Paul joined “Soused Billy” for one last sing-a-long before they tore the place down.

Now, Paul McCartney will be the first music act to perform at the Mets’ new digs.

While it’s definite that McCartney will play at the new Citi Field, rumors are swirling about Paul McCartney Boston tickets for two shows at venerated Fenway Park. Just imagine combining two great things, McCartney and Fenway!

The park’s management has filed for a license to host two concerts, both with pyrotechnics, for August 5th and 6th. Those dates just happen to coincide with a Red Sox road trip.

Insiders believe Fenway management is waiting to reveal McCartney’s first ever Fenway concerts until a June 22nd public hearing.

Fenway and Shea aren’t the only historic North American performances Sir Paul has on his schedule in 2009. Paul McCartney Halifax tickets are on sale for a July 11th performance-his only concert in Canada in 2009.

Sir Paul’s gig in Halifax overlaps the famous Tall Ships Nova Scotia Festival. Promoters are expecting 60,000 fans to see McCartney rock the ‘Fax.

Even at 67, Sir Paul McCartney is still delighting fans with his legendary music and he’s still making rock and roll history. And just like when he was a Beatle, he’s still trying to change the world, only now it’s one meatless day at a time.

Author Bio: Ryan Hogan writes for Best Show Tickets, a website that sells all kinds of sports, theater and concert tickets like Paul McCartney tickets.

This is a very common question amongst beginning guitarists. Often, these new players see thick guitar chord books or one of those chord chart posters with seemingly hundreds of chord diagrams, and they become overwhelmed. But guess what? It is true. All you really need to know are 3 chords. Let us find out which ones and why.

When songs are written, they are written in something called a key. A key is represented by a letter on the musical scale, for example the key of D, or the key of G. Within the key, and therefore the song, there are three primary chords. These are the chords you need to know. If you want to strum your guitar and sing along with your favorite songs, all you need to do is find out these primary chords.

What you will then do is listen to the song and play those three chords along with the song. You will very soon figure out the order. It’s even better if you have the song chords in front of you. Just go online and look for tabs or chords for the song. Often, you will see the song lyrics with chords above certain words in the lyrics. This indicates where you will change from playing one chord to the next. (The chords, like keys, are represented by letters in the musical scale such as A or F.) From here on out, all you have to do is figure out the strum pattern of the song.

At this point you are probably thinking, Wait, songs are written in different keys; I then have to know the primary chords for every key, right? This is a very intelligent question. The answer; however, is no. What we will look at now is how to find the primary chords for a key. Then I will show you how to transpose those chords to any key.

This point is best illustrated with an example. Remember there are three primary chords to a key. We will use the key of D in this example. The three primary chords in this key are D, A, and G. How do I know this? I used a simple formula that works for any key. What you do is list out the major musical notes (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) starting with the key letter. In this case it is D, E, F, G, A, B, C. The formula is 1, 4, 5. Start with D as 1 then count to the fourth and fifth letters. So you have D, G, and A as the three primary chords. This process works for any key.

Suppose you only learn these 3 chords and you find a song with the primary chords F, C, and G. What key is this? Let’s use the process above to find out. Well F and G follow each other in the alphabet, so they are obviously the fourth and fifth letters. Therefore, C is the first letter and the key. Now, how do you, who only know D, G, and A chords, play a song in the key of C? Simple. Transpose the chords by using the formula. In the key of C, the 1, 4, 5 formula gives C, F, and G. In the key of D, the 1, 4, 5 formula gives D, G, and A. So in place of C, play D. In place of F, play G. In place of G, play A. Then just strum along to the song.

The cool thing is you can do this for any chords in key. Whenever you see chords different from those you know, simply transpose them to the three chords you do know. Of course, the more chords you know, the better and more diverse guitarist you will be. You should make an effort to learn and use as many chords as possible. But to strum along with just about any song, you only need to know three chords.

Author Bio: About the author: Jason Loup is an accomplished guitarist with over 14 years experience playing guitar. For a limited time, you can download his 4 part, professional quality, beginning guitar course absolutely free at www.TheGuitarUniversity.com.

The piano musical instrument has come a long way since its discovery hundreds of years back. The original edition has now been simulated and enhanced innumerable times, following-on in a big quantity of diverse piano designs and with the most recent technology, digital pianos have emerged and turn into a well-liked substitute. But which one is exactly for you? That depends significantly on what you plan to do and how much would you be willing to shell out. Yet, there are many advantages and disadvantages for both sides.

THE ACOUSTIC PIANO

The acoustic piano is a complex configuration. When the keys are pressed the result is that a string vibrates whish is responsible for sound production. This is improved by the piano’s soundboard providing a rich, accurate piano sound, and quite appreciated at concerts and recitals. On the other hand, an acoustic piano needs a lot of room, maintenance and funds.

When choosing an acoustic piano, there are many things that you need to think about. First, is that it requires a standard tuning, especially during weather changes or if the piano is transported from one place to another.

Second while it requires regular tuning and maintenance, nothing beats then sound of an acoustic piano making it a worth it investment.

Third, acoustic pianos let any musician to play softly or loudly, depending on the kind of piece being played and the mood it portrays.

Fourth, acoustic pianos are heavy and huge and take a lot of space because of its size.

Lastly, acoustic pianos are generally expensive. Most affordable ones are usually full of defects and not worth buying at all.

THE DIGITAL PIANO

The digital piano is a duplication of an acoustic piano. Unlike an acoustic piano, the digital piano uses a device, which is usually a recorded notes from an acoustic piano that produces sound. Digital pianos are the most preferred instrument by bands as they are handy and very light.

Just like an acoustic piano, there are many things to consider when buying a digital piano. First, is the price generally, digital piano are cheaper compared to acoustic pianos.

Second, digital pianos have less sensitivity in its keys, making it difficult to interpret piano pieces accurately.

Third, if you enroll in a piano class, you will find that most teachers recommend the use of acoustic pianos than digital ones. Therefore, most of them will not teach you how to manipulate a digital piano.

Fourth, digital pianos are very handy and light, they even have a carry bag for better handling.

Fifth, a high end digital piano contains features and styles in a wide selection. These include drum tracks and notes which were recorded from several instruments and kinds of pianos.

Sixth, unlike an acoustic piano, digital pianos need no tuning even when the weather changes significantly.

The debate between acoustic pianos and digital pianos goes on and on up to this point in time. Classical pianist claims that nothing beats the sound of acoustic pianos. However, digital pianos are commonly used especially for bands as they are very handy and don’t take much room for storage. They are also cheap compared to acoustics. So if you were to choose, which would you prefer – acoustics or digital?

Author Bio: Be the best piano student. Visit learnpianoreview.com and read reviews on piano lessons such as Instrument Master Piano review.

Once again my Dads birthday is here, and once again I have NO idea what it is I should get him. Another tie? Another pair of socks? We both are sick of the same old presents, the siblings are going for them, because they are safe, but I want to get him something different, something original that he will actually appreciate not just look at once and add to the pile at the bottom of the wardrobe.

I end up trawling the internet, trying to find a really exciting gift; absolutely nothing is catching my eye, until I start looking down the road of music. Now I could get him some more CD’s but I don’t know what new stuff he is into, and he has all of the oldies. I decided I should go and have a look through his record collection to get an idea of the music he is interested in.

As I was sorting through the dusty vinyls and tapes I realize he never listens to this stuff anymore, and not through choice we just don’t have the technology to play them. Record and tape players have been replaced by CD plays, MP3 players and iPods, the only time you will see a record player nowadays is in front of a DJ. Maybe I should buy him a record player? Too expensive? maybe there might be a way that I could possibly download all these songs and put them onto CDs?

Once again I’m searching through cyberspace, and I come across a nearby recording studio that will take all of the old vinyls and tapes and put them onto CD for me, perfect! So I chose a select few that I knew where his favorites shook away the dust and bagged them up.

The next day I made my way down to the recording studio to enquire about this service and how much I need to fork out for it. My music was taken by the nice recording studio worker and I was instructed to come back the next day to collect my new CDs! My brother and sister were hounding me about what I was getting him, my smug look told them that it was something pretty good but I wouldn’t spill, their presents were obviously not going to be as good as mine!

In the morning I wandered down to the recording studio to collect the music, they were all copied and set out ready and waiting for me. They had even created me a front cover for all of them wishing my dad a happy birthday! The original vinyl and tapes were also returned as good as new, and I made my way back home to wrap up my excellent birthday present.

My dads face when he opened my gifts and saw what his presents were was a picture. It was so nice to finally get him something that he really did appreciate and he was excited to receive. He spent all day listening to all the songs that bring back great memories and he was so happy to finally be able to listen to his favorite songs again. The present was definitely worth it and the recording studio did such a good job, to produce a high quality original birthday present, and save me and my pocket from downloading all the songs I have already got available.

Author Bio: Graphic Nature is a recording studio in hertfordshire that offers a whole range of recording and rehearsing facilities.

What defines a piano as being a piano?

A piano has a board of 88 black and white keys which operate hammer struck wires.

What does the word, “Piano” actually mean?

“Piano” is the shortened form of “piano forte” meaning literally “soft loud”. The term was coined in the mid eighteenth century when the harpsichord was developed with the addition of keys that could vary the volume of playing depending on how hard you hit them.

How does the action of hitting a key transfer into make a noise?

When a piano key it hit, a felt covered hammer hits a steel string. The hammer rebounds, which allows the string to continue to vibrate giving the piano its distinctive sound. The vibrations travel through a bridge to a sounding board so that it can be heard loudly enough. Only when the key is released does the hammer rest on the string again to stop the sound.

How many strings does a modern piano have?

The average modern piano has 230 strings, each of which has approximately 75 kilograms of tension. When combined, that would make a force of about eighteen tons, while the total string tension in a concert grand piano is a staggering 30 tons, which is enough to lift five adult elephants!

When Was The First Piano Built?

Early ancestors of the piano include the harpsichord, the hurdy gurdy and the clavichord, but the first piano is credited to an Italian gentleman by the name of to Bartolomeo Cristofori. He was a subject of Prince Ferdinand de Medici and was an expert Harpsichord maker and it is unclear exactly when he built his first piano, but it is thought to have been around 1698-1700.

Do Any Ancient Pianos Still Exist?

Only nine Cristofori pianos survive today with only three surviving from the 1720s, of which one is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, one in Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali, Rome, Italy and one in Leipzig University, Germany. All three bear the same inscription, “BARTHOLOMAEVS DE CHRISTOPHORIS PATAVINUS INVENTOR FACIEBAT FLORENTIAE” meaning, “Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, inventor, made in Florence.”

Who is the most famous contemporary pianist?

Arguably the greatest and most famous pianist of all time is Sergei Rachmaninoff. He is known for having the largest hands of all the most famous pianists and was reportedly able to span an amazing 14 notes at a time!

Who are the most well known composers of works for the piano?

Most of the most well known piano compositions were written by the early classical composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven and even some of the romantics; Chopin, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms and Liszt. It should be noted that they wrote for a form of the piano very different from the modern piano!

What was the most expensive piano ever sold?

The Guinness Book of Records lists John Lennon’s white Steinway upright piano upon which he composed his masterpiece “Imagine” as being the most expensive piano sold at ?1.5 million. It is currently owned by George Michael and is on display in Liverpool at “The Beatles Story” museum.

What Is the World Record for the largest Piano Ensemble?
According to the Guiness World Records, in 2007 conductor Lee Sun-Young led an ensemble of 555 pianists at the Incheon Samsan World Gynasium in Incheon, South Korea.

Author Bio: This article was written by Charlie Debost for Chappell of Bond Street’s Piano and Digital Piano department to celebrate the history of the piano.

Playing the blues, music is something that many guitarists aspire to do. Some it comes to easily whereas others find it more difficult. Another thing about the blues music is you either love it or hate it. By the looks of how popular it is, one would have to say that those who hate it are in the minority.

One of the greatest if not the greatest blues singers was B.B.King. Many novices to the guitar marvel at how well he plays them and just how it’s done. To do so you need to learn the 12 bar blues. Don’t give up yet with some perseverance and practice you will master the blues as well.

Have you ever been listening to the blues and just know it reminds you of something? Well it may well do so if you remember the African American slaves from down south. It stems from their local traditions of how they would call out and respond to each other. The majority of blues songs is simply based on this and mimics those sounds. It is the progressive scale.

If you have been following the history of blues music then you have heard the name W.C.Handy. By using the 12 bar blues he was able to produce the very first certifiable blue hit. This is going back some years naturally, since blues has been around for a long time. We’re talking back to the introduction of the “St. Louis Blues” back in 1914.

Interestingly enough at that time the blues wasn’t all that well received it was just ok in the opinion of most. It slowly caught on and almost seemed to have an infectious affect to it.It didn’t matter what the ethnic group was it was being accepted. It really was the African American artist that brought the blues to the forefront. Artists such as Billie Holiday played a big part in this roll. By this time, it was well in the 1930′s. As the 20th century grew to a close, B.B.King added a unique touch to the Blues. Being a lead guitar player, he would bring a different touch to the music with his 12 bars blues techniques. From this point on there was no looking back or cooling off for the blues. It has just continued to grow into popularity, as it is known today.

It revolutionized the aspects of guitar playing. The 12 bars blues is now a commonplace and basic way of the guitar. Anyone aspiring to be good guitar player must learn the essential cord progression.

One of the best ways to learn this technique is through iVideosongs. Here is where you will start the beginning of learning the 12 bar blues, and then by taking what you learn here and making it a practice you will soon be surprised and pleased at how adept you will become.

It just seems to be natural to begin to learn how to play the 12 bar blues the moment one becomes serious about learning to play the guitar. Perhaps because rock includes the 12 bar blues this is the reason.

The first thing you are going to learn is that in order to learn the blues you are going to learn three bars that follow each other in succession.

The first measure is learning how to play a chord. If you are familiar with Presley’s some Hound Dog then you already know what a cord is. Don’t even think about moving onto the next step until you have this one down perfectly.

Now moving onto the second measure does not mean you will not be continuing in the 4/4 time meaning each quarter measure is one beat. The difference here is that in the first measure you were playing in “A” now you will be playing in “D” chord. Once again, become really familiar and comfortable at this measure then get ready to move onto the third and final measure.

Finally, you are here on your last measure and guess what? It’s no different from your first two except now you are going to be playing in “E” chord. That really wasn’t so hard was it? Now it means hours of practice and application to really master these 3 measures to make up the 12 bar blues.

Author Bio: Download 80 of the best 12 bar blues backing tracks now: Click on the link below: 12 bar blues Get access to the best 12 bar blues progression jam tracks recorded by real musicians now…

There are three distinctly types of Hawaiian guitar: ukulele, slack key guitar, and steel guitar. The most famous and most notable Hawaiian guitarists did not only play guitar (ukulele, slack key, or steel guitar) par excellence. They also either revolutionized the way a type of guitar is played, or brought Hawaiian music to a wider audience through use of their instrument. They made Hawaiian music transcend from Hawaii to US mainland and beyond.

Hawaii has produced many renowned guitarists, but these are some of the most famous.

Tau Moe Family

Tau Moe was a Samoan who moved with his family to Hawaii when he was 11. He learned to play steel guitar from M.K. Moke, and later married another steel guitar player named Rose. The couple joined a traveling show, performing Hawaiian music to international audience. The couple had two children, Lani and Dorian. When they grew up, Lani and Dorian joined Tau Moe and Rose. The family was dubbed the” Aloha Four.” Tau and Rose lived as far as Germany, Japan, India, and Lebanon. It is even said that they performed for Adolf Hitler during Nazi Germany. Tau Moe and his family helped spread Hawaiian folk music and hapa haole music worldwide.

Gabby Pahinui

Born in Honolulu in 1921, Charles Philip “Gabby” Pahinui
was a key in bringing slack key guitar from the “back porch” of Hawaiian homes into a bigger audience. He is also dubbed the “folk hero of the Hawaiian music” for he was a force behind its resurgence.

A musical wiz, Gabby had no formal music education. He played in cafes, restaurants, and night clubs for more than 40 years, and spent 10 years producing albums and holding concerts.

Gabby’s early interest was American jazz. He would later meld jazz with traditional Hawaiian music and slack key guitar, a musical ingenuity he was particularly famous for.

Gabby recorded his first song in his early 40s. Entitled Hi’ilawe, the song became a hit.

The Sons of Hawaii

The Sons of Hawaii consisted of four famous Hawaiian guitar players. Founded by Gabby Pahinui and Eddie Kamae (ukulele), the group also included David Rogers (steel guitar) and Joe Marshall (bass). They released their first album in 1962. In 1960, The Sons of Hawaii was the highest paid Hawaiian group in the state.

Eddie Kamae

Also born in Honolulu, Eddie Kamae was a ukulele virtuoso. He was famous, foremost, for promoting “Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance.” Before founding The Sons of Hawaii with Gabby Pahinui, he played with Ukulele Rascals and Ray Kinney’s Orchestra. Eddie’s unique plucking methods revolutionized the way ukulele is played. This multi-awarded guitarist has also produced films promoting Hawaiian music and culture.

Don Ho

Who could forget Tiny Bubbles and Pearly Shell? Both were as famous as its singer and slack key guitarist, Don Ho. A former member of the United States Air Force, Don Ho had also made appearances in many television shows such as I Dream of Jeannie and The Brady Bunch, and later had his own television show, The Don Ho Show.

Sol Ho’opi

Sol Ho’opi was the most famous steel guitarist of the 20th century. He has also appeared in a number of movies including Waikiki Wedding and some Charlie Chan films.

For more information about Hawaiian music, visit http://www.playhawaiianmusic.com

Author Bio: For more information about Hawaiian music, visit http://www.playhawaiianmusic.com

50 Cent is a pretty big name, though best known by rap fans who like to watch music videos, but it wasn?t always that way. Born Curtis Jackson III in 1975 to a fifteen year old cocaine dealer, he had every chance of ending up just another statistic. Like many in his neighborhood of South Jamaica in Queens, 50 Cent didn?t even know his father.

In 1983, when Curtis was just 8 years old, he was orphaned and sent to live with his grandparents where he quickly began to hang out in the street. At the age of eleven, he began boxing, a pastime that would later lead him to compete in the Junior Olympics. Despite his promise in the area of boxing, Curtis took up his mother?s profession, drug dealing, at the age of twelve and continued this for many years. His grandparents figured he was in after-school programs, when really he was out selling drugs on the street.

50 Cent began his rapping career in 1996 when he met Jam Master Jay through a friend and learned some valuable songwriting techniques. Over the next few years, he recorded an album with Jam Master Jay Records which was never released and continued to learn about rapping and recording. He was signed to Columbia Records in 1999 and went on to record 36 songs in two weeks for them. 18 of those were used on his very first publically released album, Power of the Dollar, which came out in 2000.

Interesting 50 Cent Trivia
The young man was arrested the first time for possession of a firearm in tenth grade and three weeks later, he was arrested again after a search turned up heroin, cocaine and a gun in his apartment. Rather than serve the 6-9 year sentence, Curtis was sent to a boot camp where he completed his GED.

He adopted the name “50 Cent” after a notorious robber in the 80?s named Kelvin Martin. To him, the name symbolized the change he made after his arrests.

His son, Marquis Jackson, was born in 1997 and 50 Cent credits him with being the reason he changed his life.
In 2000, he was shot nine times at close range. He spent 13 days in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds in his hand, arm, face, hip, chest and legs. The shooting caused Columbia Records to drop him like a hot potato and he was blacklisted in the industry. He also lost the chance to do some music videos while he recovered.

His mother was murdered at the age of 23 when 50 Cent was 8, after someone drugged her drink and turned on the gas in her house, shutting all the windows and leaving her to die.

The rapper is infamous for his dissing of other rappers. Piggy Bank is one of his many tunes that puts down others in his industry and despite reconciliation with some of them, he has no shortage of enemies. His notoriety in this area has caused many fans to download music videos of his infamous diss songs.

50 Cent didn?t stop with rapping, he?s branched out in a number of entrepreneurial pursuits, including vitamin water, a line of clothing called G-Unit Clothing, video games, body spray and condoms. He has also acted in several movies including one based on his song “Get Rich or Die Trying” and has written a memoir and co-written a novel.

From a kid from the ?hood to a full blown entrepreneur and famous rapper, 50 Cent has come a long way. Though he has his detractors, no one can deny the man is driven!

Author Bio: View the largest collection of 50 Cent videos and many other great music videos online as well as pictures, songs, artist bio and more!