17 years ago, 50 Cent introduced the world to the term that serves as the title of his debut breakthrough album and a Holy Guide that he lives his life with, Get Rich or Die Tryin.' It was released on February 6, 2003.

Here's a little backstory. 50 survived nine bullets that landed on his hand, arm, hip, both legs, chest, and left cheek in 2000, but struggled to find a label to shelter him after Columbia dropped him. Then, he took to the streets to build the buzz for himself by releasing back-to-back classic mixtapes, including his debut tape Guess Who's Back, which landed on Eminem's hands. The rest is history.

The most hyped hip-hop album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart with 872.000 copies sold within the first month. In a celebration of 17 years of Get Rich or Die Tryin,' here are 15 facts about the album.

15 Suge Knight Came Into The In Da Club Video Set

You might want to keep this on the DL, but we all know how notorious Suge Knight, the former prez of Death Row Records, was. It totally makes sense if his surprise appearance on the set of 50's club-banging music video, In Da Club, in Los Angeles.

"I don't know what the intention was or what was going on, he was just there," director Phillip Atwell said, as reported by MTV. "I don't know what that was supposed to represent. We just kept shooting, that's all I know."

14 50 Cent Was NEARLY Shot, Again

50's American Dream story could have ended eight months after the release of Get Rich or Die Tryin. In September 2003, 50 and his entourage stopped at the parking lot of a Jersey City Doubletree Hotel before they were shot by mysterious gunmen. 50 and his posse then fled to the hotel lobby and took cover before leaving the scene later. Nobody was wounded, but ten bullet casings were found in the crime scene, as reported by Rolling Stones.

13 It Was His 2002 Guess Who's Back Mixtape That Caught Eminem's Attention

"My manager gave me a copy of Guess Who's Back," Eminem told Complex in 2017 about how he linked up with the Queens native. "Within the first couple of songs, I was like, Yo, he's back ... Every song he was doing was so crazy. There's nothing to get rid of. There's nothing that we can even say, "Ah, that would be cool for a mixtape.""

12 Patiently Waiting Was One Of The First Beats Eminem Produced For 50

Eminem and Dr. Dre shared a heavy co-sign on 50 Cent, and they both served as the executive producers of Get Rich or Die Tryin' album.

"Patiently Waiting was one of the first beats I sit with 50, actually," Eminem told Complex further. "I was really tryna make it cinematic. Tryna makes it seems like, you know, a movie. Part of it was a respect that I had for him as a lyricist, you know?"

Related: 18 Years Of ‘The Eminem Show’: 15 Facts About Eminem’s 2002 Magnum Opus

11 Eminem & 50 Met Way Before He Was Signed To Shady

"I think the first time I met 50 first was at the release party," Eminem said further, "I think it was in New York (in 1999). I met him, and we talked in the backroom."

50 wasn't playing around when he called the Shady Records honcho as his 'favorite white boy' on Patiently Waiting. Their friendship still remains strong, even after 50 left Shady Records family for creative reasons in 2014.

10 50 Cent Got So Rich That He Purchased Mike Tyson's Mansion Only 7 Months After GRODT Release

Let's bag that bread, Fifty.

Only 7 months after the successful release of Get Rich or Die Tryin', 50 was able to purchase a 4.1 million dollars worth of mansion from the legendary boxer, Mike Tyson. The 52-room estate in Connecticut includes an indoor pool, a hot tub, and a nightclub. He sold the mansion in 2019 for only 2.9 million dollars.

9 A Doctor Who Saved His Life Sued The Rapper

One of the main subjects that centers Get Rich or Die Tryin' album is how 50 Cent got shot, not once but nine times, survived from it, and now he's here for a 'real reason.' Everybody seemed to love the album and the good story, but that's not the case for Dr. Nader Paksima, who saved 50's life from those gunshots. According to BBC, the doc sued for unpaid medical bills worth more than 32.500 dollars.

8 Many Men (Wish Death) Was Actually A Nas' Song

50 Cent re-enacted the catastrophic event of his shooting on Many Men (Wish Death). The track served as the third single of the album.

Little did we know that Darrel 'Diggah' Branch actually made the daunting beats with Nas in mind. According to Hot97, fellow Queen rapper Nas had already laid his vocals on the beats at that time.

"He was developing another artist named Nashawn," former A&R Lenny 'Linen' Nicholson said during an interview with Mass Appeal.

Related: A Timeline Of Hip-Hop’s 18 Most Notorious Beefs

7 In Da Club Was Actually Intended To Be A D12's Song

It might sound weird to listen to a rapper other than 50 on club-banging hit In da Club, but it definitely would be interesting what six sharpest Detroit emcees of D12 might have to offer. In fact, the song's instrumental actually created with D12's in mind by Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo for 8 Mile soundtrack album. After Dre played the beats for 50, he immediately wrote the lyrics within an hour and completed the song within the night.

6 Eminem, 50, Jimmy Iovine, Paul Rosenberg & Chris Lighty Flipped A Coin To Decide The Album's Lead Single

When you have a 16-track replay-worthy album, picking one song to be its lead single always gives you a hard time.

We couldn't decide on the first single from Get Rich (or Die Tryin')," Eminem wrote on his Genius page in 2015. "It was going to be either "If I Can't" or "In Da Club." We were torn, so, me, 50, Paul, Chris Lighty, and Jimmy Iovine decided to flip a coin."

5 Even Though 50 Is High All The Time, He Admits To Never Smoke Weed

50 Cent admitted that he got the best green quality on Sha Money-produced High All The Time, "I'm high all the time, I smoke that good s**t / I stay high all the time, man, I'm on some hood s**t."

In reality, 50 doesn't even smoke. "I don't drink, and I don't use drugs, and I didn't back then, either," the rap mogul wrote on his 2012 workout book, Formula 50. "I put that joint on the first record because I saw artists consistently selling 500,000 with that content."

4 40% Of 50 Cent’s Total Record Sales Are From Get Rich Or Die Tryin

Hip-hop fans loved 50 Cent's fairy tale of a young street hustler who survived a catastrophic shooting and pursued a career in the rap game, and Get Rich or Die Tryin' sales number proved it. The 9x multi-platinum album sold over 9 million copies per February 2020, and it remains 50's highest-selling album to this date. Its follow-up sophomore record, The Massacre, was an excellent return to his dark, underground material, but it didn't sell as much as GRODT.

Related: What Happened To 50 Cent’s G-Unit Soldiers? 15 Pics Of What They’ve Been Up To

3 His 2005 Debut Movie Shared The Same Title As The Album

Following the footstep of Eminem, who released 8 Mile in 2002, 50 also released his semi-biographical movie, Get Rich or Die Tryin, in 2005. Get Rich or Die Tryin' centered the story of Marcus, a quiet mama boy, who's shot nine times and lost his mother. Then, he took rap as his escape route.

2 Only One Song From Power Of The Dollar Album Made It To GRODT

50's debut album, Power of the Dollar, was initially released in 2000 through Columbia Records, but the label decided to drop him after the disastrous day of shooting. 50, then, took some leftover power from the scrapped album for his Get Rich or Die Tryin' debut album. Life's on the Line was released in 1999, peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart, and re-released in 2003 as a bonus track of Fif's debut album.

1 50 Rolled With Highly Armed Entourage Before Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ Release

SiriusXM and Shade 45's radio personality Sway Calloway put it best in 2003, the day when he got to interview the rapper. Sway told MTV, "I never anticipated riding with 50 to his concert in a Level 4 security bulletproof/bombproof Jeep Cherokee. He described the at least 4-inch-thick windows and the steel plate underneath the car."

"He even told me that originally he was going to purchase a Level 4 security Mercedes until the original owner was murdered,” the radio personality said further.

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