On this day, May 24, in hip-hop history...

Paul Zimmerman, Getty Images

2000: Queens rapper 50 Cent was shot outside of his grandmother's house nine times on May 24, 2000.

Years before he was a platinum-selling New York monument, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson was still an up-and-comer in the industry with enemies who wanted to bring him down. 50 was leaving his grandmother's house in South Jamaica, Queens to get into a friend's car when a man approached Fif and shot at the car at close range. 50 was shot in the hand, arm, hip, both legs, chest and left cheek. The shot in the mouth left 50 with a slightly slurred speech pattern which can be heard in his signature flow. It took more than a year for Jackson to fully recover. In his 2005 autobiography, From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens, 50 recalled having a new lease on life.

"After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life."

Fif's newfound reason for living fueled his passion and drive for music. Just three years later, the rapper officially began his reign over Queens with his 2003 debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Now, years later as an actor, producer and business mogul, 50's past hardships are far away but not forgotten. In 2015, Fif dropped the song "9 Shots" inspired by the ordeal. The song is set to be on his long-awaited Street King Immortal. 50 relived the ordeal with cameras rolling as he took Oprah on a tour of Queens in 2012. Check it out here.