Howard U students flocked to see Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson on campus Wednesday, but it wasn’t to hear him rap. The crowd, most back on campus after summer break, were there to hear he and co-author Robert Greene discuss their recent book, “The 50th Law.”
Greene started the evening by explaining his and Fiddy’s “weird connection,” which became painfully clear throughout the evening as Greene struggled to connect with a crowd that was clearly there to see to see the popular rapper.
Jackson had been a fan of Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power – a book that distills takes three thousand years of the history of power down to 48 laws — and in 2006, he approached Greene to collaborate on a book. After their first meeting, Greene set out to learn as much as he could about the man Jackson had become, eventually teaming up to write “The 50th Law.” (But what happened to the 49th?)
“I asked myself, ‘Why did this man get to this point when so many under the same circumstances didn’t?’” Greene explained, referring to the success 50 Cent has obtained despite once being in a gang and having served time in prison.
Greene followed Jackson through almost every second of his day for about a year before he realized that Jackson’s key to success is his fearlessness.
There may have been an uproar of laughter each time Greene said “hood” or “gangster,” but his message was a good one.
Both Greene and Jackson said they hope that reading this book will help people reflect on their own lives and move past their fears.
“I hope people will read it and see there’s no excuse for not being successful,” Jackson said.
