Interscope Records in the context of "The Massacre"

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, he recorded his debut album Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records. During a shooting in May 2000, he was struck by nine bullets, causing its release to be cancelled and Jackson to be dropped from the label. His 2002 mixtape, Guess Who's Back?, was discovered by Detroit rapper Eminem, who signed Jackson to his label Shady Records, an imprint of Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records that same year.

His debut studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003), was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. Peaking atop the Billboard 200, it spawned the Billboard Hot 100-number one singles "In da Club" and "21 Questions" (featuring Nate Dogg), and received nonuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That same year, he launched the record label G-Unit Records, namesake of a hip hop group he formed two years prior; the label's initial signees were its members, fellow East Coast rappers Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. His second album, The Massacre (2005), was met with similar success, yielding his third number-one single, "Candy Shop" (featuring Olivia). He adopted a lighter, further commercially oriented approach for his third and fourth albums, Curtis (2007) and Before I Self Destruct (2009)—both were met with critical and commercial declines—and aimed for a return to his roots with his fifth album, Animal Ambition (2014), which was met with mixed reviews. He has since focused on his career in television and media, having executive-produced and starred in the television series Power (2014–2020), as well as its numerous spin-offs under his company G-Unit Films and Television Inc.

Primus (/ˈpraɪmʌs/ PRY-mus) is an American rock band formed in El Sobrante, California in 1984. As of March 2025, the band is composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde, and drummer John Hoffman. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by drummer Jay Lane, though the latter two had departed by the beginning of the band's recording career in 1989, replaced by LaLonde and Tim "Herb" Alexander respectively.

The "classic" lineup of Claypool, LaLonde and Alexander debuted with the live album Suck on This, which was self-released in 1989 on Claypool's label Prawn Song and reissued a year later by Caroline Records. Caroline also released Primus' debut studio album Frizzle Fry (1990), which was critically well received, and its underground success led to interest from major record labels. Their second studio album and major-label debut Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991), released through Interscope Records, launched the band into mainstream exposure, supported by their first charting single "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" and receiving platinum certification within a decade after its release. Primus repeated its success with their next two albums, Pork Soda (1993) and Tales from the Punchbowl (1995), both charting in the top ten on the Billboard 200, and being certified platinum and gold respectively by the RIAA. Pork Soda featured the band's top ten hit on the Billboard rock chart, "My Name Is Mud", while Tales from the Punchbowl's lead single "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" holds the distinction of being the band's only song to chart anywhere outside of North America.

Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper and record producer Dr. Dre in 1996. It operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed through Interscope Records.

The label's roster includes artists such as Eminem, Marsha Ambrosius, Anderson .Paak, and Ez Mil, while former artists include 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes among others.

Get Rich or Die Tryin' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Eminem's Shady Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After signing with Eminem, 50 Cent also worked heavily with Dr. Dre acting as the album's executive producers, who worked to combine the gangsta rap and R&B combo prevalent in New York hip-hop. Additional production is provided by Mike Elizondo, Sha Money XL (who also executive-produced the album), Mr. Porter, Rockwilder, Dirty Swift, Megahertz, and more.

The album also contains guest appearances from Eminem, Young Buck, and Nate Dogg, as well as features from G-Unit co-members Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. Prior to the album, 50 Cent released several mixtapes alongside the Trackmasters, and in 2000 recorded an unreleased album titled Power of the Dollar, widely believed to be his first. However, after suffering legal troubles and being blackballed from the music industry, 50 Cent found difficulty in securing another major-label recording contract, until he signed with Eminem's Shady Records in 2002.

"21 Questions" is a song by American rapper 50 Cent featuring fellow American rapper Nate Dogg. Released in March 2003 through Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's own G-Unit Records as the second single from 50 Cent's debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin', it differs from his previous singles and most of the songs on the album by being an R&B-influenced love song, largely themed around a series of questions pertaining to a relationship between 50 Cent and an unnamed girlfriend, and contains elements of Barry White's 1978 song "It's Only Love Doing Its Thing".

"21 Questions" peaked at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2003, becoming the second consecutive chart-topping single for 50 Cent, following the album's lead single "In da Club", and the first for Nate Dogg. Overall, the song spent four consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 and twenty-three weeks on the chart. It was also successful internationally, reaching the top ten in the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the top five in Canada and Australia.

G-Unit Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group. Founded on October 15, 2002 by rapper 50 Cent and his manager, Sha Money XL, the label was operated by Interscope Records until February 2014. Thereafter, distribution of G-Unit operated under Caroline Records and Capitol Music Group. The label had also launched the subsidiary label G-Note Records, which caters to R&B and pop. The label's flagship artist is its founder 50 Cent.

G-Unit (short for Guerilla-Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released their debut album Beg for Mercy in 2003; the album went on to sell over two million copies in the US and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

During Tony Yayo's imprisonment in 2003, the group recruited Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck as a temporary replacement and later an official member. Californian rapper The Game was also made a member in late 2003 after Beg for Mercy, in an effort to promote him after he was signed to Aftermath/Interscope; he was ousted from the group in February 2005 for alleged disloyalty according to 50 Cent. In April 2008, Young Buck was ousted from the group due to his problematic behavior. In July 2008, the group released their second studio and final album, T·O·S (Terminate on Sight), featuring the original trio.

Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of East Coast hip-hop group G-Unit, which he formed with childhood friends 50 Cent and Tony Yayo in 1999. After the release of their debut album Beg for Mercy (2003), Banks released his debut solo album, The Hunger for More (2004) the following year. Met with critical and commercial success, it peaked atop the Billboard 200 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single, "On Fire", as well as the top 20 single "Karma" (featuring Avant or Kevin Cossom). His second album, Rotten Apple (2006) peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and saw mixed reviews. Banks then left Interscope Records and signed with EMI in 2010—along with his G-Unit cohorts—to release his third album, H.F.M. 2 (The Hunger for More 2) in November that year, which saw a critical rebound and peaked at number 26 on the chart.

Over a decade later, he independently released his fourth album, The Course of the Inevitable (2021) to critical acclaim.