50 Cent's Esquire Interview Is Genius

This is from a while back, but I was just re reading it...dude is an interesting individual. I'd definitely want to pick his brain. Gonna cop The 50th Law next week. Peep Game:

It's Fifty, not Fiddy. 

My mom chose the lifestyle because she didn't choose welfare. Every time I seen her, it felt like Christmas. Everything that was nice in my life was gone when she left, and the only people I saw that had nice things were people from the lifestyle. And they'd look at me and go, Why you look like that? Why your shoes run-down?

What led my mom into the lifestyle that got her killed was what led me into the lifestyle: to prevent needing things so much. 

If I'd had a choice, I would've been a college kid. I would've majored in business.

Sometimes you do need to convince yourself through convincing others. 

I never saw drug use as a good option. I'd rather have an additional ten dollars than smoke. It wasn't a decision to not smoke weed. It was a decision to hustle. It was a business decision.

Hustling was my internship. 

Being shot defines how strong I am. It prepares you for the confusion of being an artist.

The adrenaline doesn't allow the bullets to hurt as much as being afraid hurts. 

Columbia Records shied away from me. They were afraid of someone who would actually come from the real shit. You know what happens right after you assess me being shot? You go, Wow, so he's really down there with the people who will just shoot you nine times? Will they shoot me, too? Why sell 50 when we can sell Kanye?

There's people who are considered intelligent who are idiots.

People who raise their hands deserve to be ahead of people who don't. 

Money is freedom. Money is a private plane. Money is no metal detection. 

I sign autographs because there will be a moment when no one asks me to. 

Don't wait for them to tell you. Tell them. 

There are too many entrepreneurs. We need the worker to make the process function properly. 

The first time I felt rich was when I had $80,000 inside my house. I saw it as a means to more money. 

Money is not going to make you happy. A new idea is what makes you happy. 

When I got shot, it was a $5,000 exchange. The price of a life is cheap.

Obama takes away the excuses. 

The best businessmen in the world make a bad deal sometimes. And it's not usually in a boardroom. Most of them marry the wrong woman. That business deal is the worst business deal of all. 

All the women have contributed to my success. Every one. 

In my house, Carmelo Anthony is bigger than 50 Cent.

My son is more important to me than I am to him. 

Always have bail money. 

Curtis Jackson. I identify with the name. When I look in the mirror, I see Curtis. 

Am I an honest man? I'm a selectively honest man. 

Am I being honest right now? Yeah. Most people would answer that question with a yes. Even the liars.

Jay-Z is as politically correct as some of the politicians. He's safe. There's points when you're acquiring financing, you make adjustments. He's made those adjustments. It's his choice. For me, it's not a necessity. 

When you're safe, people start walking on the stage because they feel safe with you. People don't walk on the stage at my shows. 

Air Jordan. Tiger Woods. You know how a person is made for something? Eminem is made for hip-hop. The best rapper is a white man.

My music is a soundtrack. The film is my life. My music matches things I've experienced or felt. Even if the whole thing is made up.

When you get hurt as bad as I got hurt, the idea of hurting someone as bad as they hurt you is no longer out of the question.

Depression is a luxury I still can't afford.

I like generals. I like Napoleon. I like strategy. The majority of them are praised for mass destruction, but it's exciting to see how it comes to the mind mentally. 

Is Charles Manson a serial killer? No, he isn't, because he ain't do no killing. He's a coward. He was just crazy enough to influence people to kill for him. There were a lot of Charles Mansons in my neighborhood. There were no Napoleons.

Hip-hop is arrogant because people are arrogant.

Rap artists are like fighters. They don't need a coach to call them champ for them to believe it. 

You need a respectable opponent, but you don't have to respect 'em. In the end you're gonna finish 'em anyway, right?