SEATTLE — 50 Cent is a well-known rapper from the United States who has been successful with his music and many partnerships he has made with various companies. His real name is Curtis Jackson and he started his life in New York, falling in and out of trouble until he found rapping. His first real album was produced by Eminem and Dr.Dre, two famous rappers and producers, and it was sold in over nine million units. He went on to create more albums and partner with Vitamin Water and SMS Audio. He also landed a few movie roles like Escape Plan, Southpaw and Spy. His life story led him to believe he could do more with his fame and fortune, so he set out to fight global hunger.

50 Cent Fighting Hunger

At the beginning of 2012, 50 Cent started seriously thinking about helping hungry people in the world. He flew to Kenya and Somalia with the World Food Programme to see the effects of poverty on hunger first hand. He pledged to provide one billion meals to hungry children over the next five years. He has already donated more than 3.5 million meals.

When he, later on, went to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, he was shocked by the things that he saw. The children were oblivious to their surroundings and all showed optimistic energy, like kids from more developed countries on the playground. These kids only had one meal a day, the same meal every day. He realized that these kids do not reflect the real situation and that they need help. The whole visit pushed the entrepreneur to take products he sells and to donate a part of the earnings to the World Food Programme to reach his goal. The fact is that 50 Cent fighting hunger could influence other artists to follow his lead and create similar business models to give back to charities.

Development of Fight Against Poverty

In his early stages fighting global poverty, 50 Cent focused on children’s education of arts. He decided to work with the G-Unity Foundation, a public foundation that provides grants to nonprofit organizations that focus to improve life for low-income communities. In 2012, he visited a Summer Stars Camp, a camp for children developing musical and production talent, to give a motivational speech to children about exploring their creative abilities and developing them further. When he visited that summer, the kids got to perform a live concert for him, which was exciting both for him and for all the children. The grants given in 2012 were for the New York Restoration Project and Project Hope.

Street King Energy

Seeing 50 Cent fighting hunger made his fans on social media excited and proud as they could see one of their favorite artists making a difference. He used this advantage to advertise Street King Energy, an energy shot much intended for the younger generation. When he visited the Horn of Africa with the World Food Programme, he knew that is what he wanted to do with his success. Street King Energy is helping 50 Cent in achieving a goal to provide one billion meals to the hungry children. This drink was made by 50 Cent, and he pledged to donate a portion of Street King sales to the World Food Programme. One meal is equal to a 10 cent donation, so 50 Cent pledged $100 million to fight global hunger. He posted to Twitter and Facebook, promoting Street King sales and exchanging likes for meals on those posts. The World Food Programme was excited for this partnership because celebrity status can get a lot of attention to an organization the relies solely on donations to feed the world’s poor.

SMS Audio

When 50 Cent established SMS Audio, a world-class audio brand created to improve music experience for consumers, he wanted to add this product to his social responsibility project. Instead of going into contract with another audio company, he created SMS Audio. Not only that, but he created this audio to compete with other top brands instead of just slapping his name on a device. He tied the sales of SMS Audio to Feeding America, the leading domestic charity in the United States. For every purchase made online via smsaudio.com, 250 meals are funded through Feeding America.

50 Cent fighting hunger encouraged him to see the world in a new light, to see the people in need. He hopes other entrepreneurs will take his lead and make that small effort to impact many people around the world.

– Kayla Cammarota

Photo: Flickr