For 50 Cent, reading is fundamental--and apparently the latest step toward world conquest.
The rap superstar is parlaying his gangsta past into G-Unit Books, a new line of hip-hop novellas and graphic novels that will feature members of his G-Unit posse--Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, Tony Yayo and Olivia--as characters. (Sidekick turned nemesis the Game, last seen sporting "G-U-Not" shaved in his head, apparently won't be lionized in the literature.)
The street fiction series from Pocket/MTV Books will "tell the truth about 'The Life': the sex, guns and cash; the brutal highs and short lives of the players on the streets," per the publisher's press release.
Nikki Turner, author of The Glamorous Life and A Hustler's Wife will write the first Fiddy-inspired life-in-the-hood novella, due in bookstores in 2007.
"50's always been a voracious reader, whether street fiction by Donald Goines...or business books, and he's always felt like getting books out into the community that reflect the lifestyle and also encourage people to read," the hip-hop star's agent, Marc Gerald, tells E! Online.
The book deal arrives on the heels of 50 Cent's autobiography, From Pieces to Weight, which has sold more than 40,000 copies since its Aug. 9 release, according to Nielsen BookScan.
"We did his memoirs together and it turned out great and it gave us the leverage to MTV and try to get this done," says Gerald, a former editor of Old School Books, one of the first urban black literature imprints from WW Norton that marked a resurgence in the genre.
According to Gerald, 50 Cent is super-involved in developing the street-themed series. The rapper will host a summit of G-Unit creatives--including the authors, his manager and attorney, and Prodigy, one-half of the rap duo Mobb Deep--to plot out the books.
The first wave of releases will be in the form of 150-page novellas; mangas will arrive later, since graphic novels take longer to develop.
G-Unit Books marks the latest business venture by 50 to capitalize on his rags-to-riches story. The former crack peddler, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, has sold more than 12 million copies of his two albums, 2003's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and this year's The Massacre. He recently launched a G-Unit clothing line. And his first movie, the semi-autobiographical Get Rich or Die Tryin', has grossed $12 million since unspooling last Wednesday.
The film's PR campaign stirred controversy, when community activists in Philadelphia and Los Angeles convinced Paramount to remove billboards showing 50 Cent with a gun in one hand and a microphone in the other, claiming the signs promoted guns and violence, especially to children in gang-ravaged areas. Then, a multiplex in Pittsburgh pulled the film after its opening night last week after a man was shot and killed.
Whether the upcoming books will generate the same kind of protests remains to be seen. But Gerald said the G-Unit brain trust is not going to "filter the content."
"I think 50 ultimately tells a really inspiring story of making it," the agent says. "I think all of his books, even though there might be violence, are all about optimism and getting there. And the opportunity to get young people to talk about books in a meaningful way, that in itself is an achievement."
While fans wait to read about Fiddy's world, they can soon play along with the home edition. The rapper's first videogame, Bulletproof hits store shelves next week from Vivendi Universal.