The 50th Law

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to my NANA, a woman of strength, power, and great determination. She instilled in me knowledge. There is no knowledge that is not Power.
—50 Cent

First and foremost, my thanks go to Anna Biller for her loving support, her deft editing of The 50th Law, and her other innumerable contributions to the book.

The 50th Law owes its existence to Marc Gerald, Fifty’s literary agent. He brought Fifty and me together in the first place and skillfully guided the project from start to finish. I must also thank my agent, Michael Carlisle, at InkWell Management, for his equally invaluable contributions; his assistant at Inkwell, Ethan Bassoff; and Robert Miller, publisher extraordinaire of HarperStudio, who played such an important role in shaping the concept of the book. Also at HarperStudio I would like to thank Debbie Stier, Sarah Burningham, Katie Salisbury, Kim Lewis, and Nikki Cutler; and for their work on the design of the book, Leah Carslon-Stanisic and Mary Schuck.

I would like to thank Ryan Holiday for his research assistance; Dov Charney for his support and inspiration; my good friend Lamont Jones for our many discussions on the subject; and Jeffrey Beneker, assistant professor in the incomparable Classics department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, for his scholarly advice.

On 50's side, his management group, Violator, gave me tremendous support on the project. For this I must thank first and foremost Chris Lighty, CEO of Violator and the man behind the throne. Also giving generously of their time were Theo Sedlmayr, Fifty’s attorney and business manager; Laurie Dobbins, president of Violator; Barry Williams, brand manager; Anthony Butler (better known as AB); Bubba; and Hov. Special mention as well goes to Joey P (co-founder of Brand Asset Digital) and to Nikki Martin, president of G-Unit Records, for her invaluable insights on Fifty from his earliest days in the business.

I would like to thank as well Tony Yayo, Busta Rhymes, Paul Rosenberg (president of Shady Records and Eminem’s manager), the novelist Nikki Turner, Quincy Jones III, and Kevin and Tiffany Chiles over at DonDiva.

I would like to give special mention to George “June” Bishop for giving me the Southside tour and helping me understand the rich world of hustling.

Finally, for their immeasurable support during the writing of the book, I would like to thank my mother, Laurette; my sister, Leslie; and, as always, my cat, Brutus.

—Robert Greene