Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson says the music business has changed quite a bit since his early days in the industry.
“It’s different now,” he told Access Hollywood Live’s Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Thursday. “What was an entry level performance for an artist, maybe $1500 or $2000, going out to do shows locally, is now reserved for attractive people on Instagram. … If you take good pictures… they’ll ask you to host because of how many followers you have.”
50, who just released his fifth studio album, “Animal Ambition,” said his new album is about “prosperity,” and he told Billy and Kit how he approached writing the new material.
WATCH: 50 Cent On Success & Having ‘Animal Ambition’
“When you make it, you look back, you spend time looking at how far you came, and, the artists that actually haven’t made it spend time writing what they aspire to,” he said. “Everything that you would write that’s a part of your lifestyle is something they’ve already written. They’ve already utilized those things in music videos. Even though you can’t afford them, you know, you rent it and they go, ‘Cut, ‘ and the car goes back. Now I have the car, but I’m not interested in writing it in the song, because it’s already been written.”
The mogul and superstar said he prefers the music side of things, but the business side is integral to success And, he suggested any notions of a feud between himself and Jay-Z is just part of his inspiration process.
READ: Omari Hardwick Takes Inspiration From The Classics For Starz’s ‘Power’
“We use each other to compete — to have something. If you’re working and you don’t have any competitors, then you should find some — something to provide that additional drive,” he said.
In addition to his new album, 50 has a new television drama debuting Saturday – “Power” – an original series for Starz. And, he admitted he wooed Courtney Kemp Agboh away from the writing staff of a popular CBS drama to join him and serve as an executive producer on this show (about a NYC drug king pin who wants to go legit).
“I got her to quit ‘The Good Wife’ to come and write this,” he said. “She’s talented so I got her to come away to create this.”
“Power” premieres Saturday at 9 PM ET/PT on Starz.
— Jolie Lash
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