50 Cent and The Gossamer Project: Difference between pages

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{{Infobox_band

| band_name = 50 Cent

'''The Gossamer Project''' is a group of specialty archives which, combined, contain the vast majority of [[X-Files]] [[fan fiction]] on the Internet.<ref>http://fluky.gossamer.org/local/history.html</ref> In the mid to late 1990s, the Gossamer Archives/Project was one of the "big three" single media fandom-focused archives on the Internet, and remained the largest single [[fandom]] fan fiction archive<ref>April 1, 2007 database statistics for Gossamer, detailing the story files with archive dates for each year from 1995-2007. Current statistics are probably lower than what was "originally" archived for that year, because Gossamer does remove stories per author request.

| image = [[Image:9579274new.jpg|280px]]

1995: 1165

| caption = [[Grammy]] nominated rapper 50 Cent

1996: 2382 (3547 total)

| years_active = [[1997]]-present (solo)

1997: 3798 (7345 total)

| origin = [[Queens]], [[New York]]

1998: 3987 (11332 total)

| music_genre = [[Hip-hop music|Rap]]

1999: 3690 (15022 total)

| record_label = [[G-Unit Records|G-Unit]]/[[Shady Records|Shady]]/[[Aftermath Entertainment|Aftermath]]/[[Interscope Records|Interscope]]

2000: 8640 (23662 total)

}}

2001: 3706 (27368 total)

'''Curtis James Jackson III''' (born [[July 6]], <!-- He was born in 1975, not 1976. See Talk:50_Cent/Archive1#provenance -->[[1975]]), commonly known by his [[stage name|rap name]] '''50 Cent''', is an [[African-American]] [[gangsta rap|gangsta rapper]], who rose to fame following the success of his albums ''[[Get Rich or Die Tryin']]'' and ''[[The Massacre]]''. 50 Cent achieved multi-[[platinum record|platinum]] success with both albums, selling around 22 million albums worldwide. Jackson is known for his [[gangsta]] image, and prides himself on having been [[gunshot|shot]] nine times and surviving the ordeal.

2002: 3157 (30525 total)

2003: 1937 (32462 total)

2004: 1346 (33808 total)

2005: 630 (34430 total)

2006: 662 (35100 total)

2007 (as of April 1): 92 (35192 total)</ref> until the emergence of various Harry Potter archives in the early 2000s.

As of April 2007, the archive contains 35192 database entries, with stories dated from May 1995 through April 2007.

==Early life==

[[Image:50 Cent mug shot.jpg|thumb|50 Cent's [[mug shot]] from his 1994 incarceration for drug charges.]]

Curtis James Jackson III grew up in the [[South Jamaica, Queens]], [[New York]] in poverty-stricken circumstances. When he was eight years old, his mother was murdered in her home in a [[illegal drug trade|drug deal]], and 50 Cent moved in with his grandparents. He soon became immersed in the drug trade, hustling around his native neighborhood by the name of "Boo Boo." By embracing that reputation, 50 Cent built a large following in New York before ever signing a major record deal.

==History==

50 Cent met up with [[Jam Master Jay]] of [[Run-DMC]] and was signed to his label to write all of his music. After leaving Jam Master Jay, he teamed up with the hip-hop production duo Track Masters. 50 Cent was signed to [[Columbia Records]] in 1999. The controversial single "How to Rob", an ode to robbing a slew of industry rappers, was a hit on the radio. The next single, "Ghetto Qu'ran", started a feud with the drug kingpin Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff who was the leader of the New York gang called the "Supreme Team." In the song he says, "'Preme was the Business man and Prince (Supreme's cousin) was the killer." His debut album ''[[Power of the Dollar]]'' was shelved, and subsequently 50 Cent left Columbia Records shortly after [[50 Cent#Ja Rule and Murder Inc. Records|being shot]] in 2000.

The original Gossamer Archive was opened on May 4, 1995<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/d732f4b523f65b5b</ref> by Vincent Juodvalkis at http://gossamer.eng.ohio-state.edu/ and ftp://gossamer.eng.ohio-state.edu/pub/archive after mirroring files from all the older [[FTP]] sites which collected stories from alt.tv.x-files.creative (ATXC) [[usenet]] [[newsgroup]]. He began collecting/archiving all fan fiction posted to ATXC, and later, from the X-Files Fan Fiction mailing list located on the chaos.taylored.com list server.

In early 1996, a FTP mirror site ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/misc/sf/x-files/creative/ was set up at the Free University of Berlin, maintained by Vera.<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/4c8ded3907c131d7</ref>

[[Eminem]] first heard 50 Cent on one of his [[mix tape|mixtapes]], which he brought to [[Dr. Dre]]'s attention. Eminem expressed interest in the rapper on [[MTV]]. 50 Cent officially signed to [[Interscope Records]]. The rapper was also the first to sign onto a joint effort between Eminem's [[Shady Records]] and Dr. Dre's [[Aftermath Entertainment]]. Interscope marketed 50 Cent as the "real deal", and his appearance on the ''[[8 Mile]] Soundtrack'' ("[[Wanksta]]") immediately went into heavy rotation on [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]], [[MTV]], and radio stations across the country.

On July 3 1996, Vincent announced the projected shutdown of the Ohio-State site<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/412d11c07ba88bbf</ref>, citing a lack of time and network saturation.

==The popularity of G-Unit==

In its first week of release, his debut "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" sold 872,000 copies[http://uk.news.yahoo.com/dotmusic_news/28280.html]. The album was certified gold in its first week and platinum the next, and it broke the record for first week sales of any major label debut in the entire [[Soundscan]] [[era]]. On [[April 12]], [[2004]] "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" was certified six times platinum by the [[RIAA]].

During the summer of 1996, several alternative sites were created, including Stef Davies's UK site, Adam Lee's Australian site, and Harri Nyman's Finnish site<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/a74803bfe0953d8b</ref>.

In 2003, 50 Cent and other members of G-Unit released their first mixtape, with [[DJ Whoo Kid]]. The mixtape featured [[remixes]] to songs previously released, as well as multiple underground/unreleased tracks. Rapper, [[Snoop Dogg]] was featured on many of the tracks, as well as on the cover art work. Since the first one has been released, G-Unit artists have realesed 20 other mixtapes with DJ Whoo Kid.

On August 12 1996, Natasha (aka Kelsy) began the "Gossamer Project," a project to database, categorize and summarize all the currently archived stories <ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/e75530405a355d7e</ref>,<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/f617c9927dd9e58b</ref>,<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/9abdac2925ee1f20</ref>. Originally, her site was only a collection of HTML links to the other archives, but when she found a US-based server willing to host a site with the disk and bandwidth requirements of Gossamer, she launched a full US mirror site.<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/a19ed04388779df2</ref>

In 2005, 50 Cent released his sophomore album, ''[[The Massacre]]''. It was originally entitled ''St. Valentine's Day Massacre'', but the title changed when the album release date was set back. He scored a hit with the album's first two singles, "[[Disco Inferno (50 Cent song)|Disco Inferno]]" and "[[Candy Shop]]". The third single, "[[Just A Lil' Bit]]" peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

By early 1997, most of the other archive attempts had consolidated under the Gossamer Project umbrella, generally using the database and html page generation scripts created by Natasha. Several types of files, including unfinished stories and specialty files (poems, [[filks]], non-fiction) were separated to their own sites.<ref>http://fluky.gossamer.org/local/history.html</ref>

Interscope then granted 50 Cent his own label, [[G-Unit Records]]. 50 Cent appointed his manager [[Sha Money XL]] as the president. [http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=1760] The label signed on [[Lloyd Banks]], [[Tony Yayo]] and [[Young Buck]] as the established members of G-Unit. In [[2004]], Dr. Dre and 50 Cent had signed [[The Game (rapper)|The Game]] under a joint venture. 50 Cent also signed [[Olivia (singer)|Olivia]] and [[Mobb Deep]] to G-Unit Records in 2005. [http://www.interscope.com/artists/artists_gunit.asp] [http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/7132]. The rapper is planning on signing [[Spider Loc]], [[M.O.P.]], and [[Ma$e|Mase]], from Bad Boy Records. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1508894/09022005/50_cent.jhtml] 50 Cent has expressed interest in working with other rappers outside of G-Unit such as [[Freeway (rapper)|Freeway]] of [[Roc-A-Fella Records]]. [http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=5337]

In February 1997, the site on the X-Philes.com server was created as a test site for improvements to the Gossamer database and page generation scripts.

==Endorsements==

After the release of ''Beg For Mercy'' from his group G-Unit, he teamed up with Reebok to release his own G-Unit Sneakers. He also invested in VitaminWater bottled water and his own clothing line. 50 Cent appeared on an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' entitled, "[[Pranksta Rap]]" in [[February]] [[2005]].

On May 31, 1997, Natasha announced the closure of the Gossamer USA (Simplenet) site, and her retirement from archiving.

A video game starring 50 Cent, called "[[50 Cent: Bulletproof]]," is available on the [[PlayStation 2]], the [[Xbox]], and the [[PlayStation Portable]].

In June 1997, following various kerfuffles on alt.tv.x-files.creative, the Gossamer Project was reorganized. Gossamer X-Philes was opened for public access, and Gossamer Simplenet was handed over to Deirdre from Natasha.

50 Cent starred in the semi-autobiographical [[2005]] film ''[[Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005 film)|Get Rich or Die Tryin']]'' directed by [[Jim Sheridan]], and co-starring [[Joy Bryant]] and [[Terrence Howard]].

Lisa (Gossamer Birdfeeder/story cleanup), Adam (Gossamer Australia), Deirdre (Gossamer Simplenet/story cleanup), Chael (Gossamer X-Philes/technical), Harri (Gossamer Finland), Vera (Gossamer FTP), Amy (Specialty Archive), Michelle (Unfinished and Serial Archive), and Gem (Database Administrator) took over maintenance. The archives were fully integrated, using the same database of files, containing the same story files, and posting story updates at around the same time.

50 Cent released a memoir about his life up to his success entitled ''[[From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens]]''; the book was released on August 9, 2005. There are other books planned for release in 2007.

On November 1, 1997, Gossamer Australia closed and Adam Lee retired from archiving.

==Controversy==

===Ja Rule and Murder Inc. Records===

Before even signing to Eminem and Dr. Dre's label, 50 Cent was engaged in a well-publicized [[Hip hop rivalries#Ja Rule ( The Inc.) vs 50 Cent (Aftermath)|dispute]] with rival rapper [[Ja Rule]] and his label [[Murder Inc. Records]]. The rappers engaged in numerous mix tape "disses," but have since ended the conflict. The conflict stemmed from the rapper's alleged robbery of Ja Rule's jewelry, which led to a confrontation and 50 Cent's stabbing.

On February 10, 1998, the gossamer.org [[___domain name]] was registered, although it was not fully used by the Gossamer Project for another year.

Before the release of ''Get Rich Or Die Tryin'', Murder, Inc alongside ''[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]'' began a smear campaign against the rapper. A restraining order document was floating around the Internet stating that 50 Cent had placed label CEO [[Irv Gotti]] and rapper Black Child in the document forging a belief that 50 Cent is a "snitch" or a police informant. Although 50 Cent dismissed the claims of [[Stop Snitchin'|not talking]] to police, the bad publicity continues to be a tool used by various rappers who have rivalries with G-Unit.

In May 1998, Gossamer was listed in an article in the Yahoo!Life print magazine, and experienced a traffic spike to over 60,000 hits per site, per day. Two weeks later, Gossamer Simplenet was forced to close by simplenet.com due to the excessive traffic. The site moved to Interspeed.net temporarily, but was shut down again due to excessive traffic within 14 days.

This was one of the most well known feuds in [[History of hip hop music|hip-hop history]]. 50 Cent accused Ja Rule of "singing" instead of rapping. Ja Rule retaliated, accusing him of insulting other rappers to gain fame. Ja Rule eventually tried to squash the beef with 50 Cent by using [[Louis Farrakhan]] in a televised interview. Ja Rule soon lost credibility when the interview was done a day before his album ''[[Blood In My Eye]]'' was released, leading 50 Cent to dismiss the interview as a blatant publicity stunt. 50 Cent had not commented much on Ja Rule's and Irv Gotti's situation. The [[FBI]] is probing Murder Inc.'s ties to drug-kingpin [[Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff]] who is possibly involved in the murder of Jam Master Jay. [http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=93]

On July 12, 1998, Gossamer Germany (Germany.gossamer.org) was opened on the [[FU Berlin]] network that had hosted the Gossamer FTP archive since 1996. The name choice proved to be a bad decision, as many US-based fans refuse to use a site obviously located in Europe due to unfounded concerns about speed and access.

According to website [http://www.thesmokinggun.com The Smoking Gun] a 2003 search warrant affidavit for the Manhattan offices of the Murder, Inc. record label showed that McGriff was still trying to kill 50 Cent and that he "communicates with Murder, Inc. employees concerning the target." An excerpt of the affidavit reads:

On April 1, 1999, all archive names based on networks or locations were retired. Fluky, Krycek, and Skinner archives were opened as subdomains under the primary gossamer.org ___domain name.

"''The investigation has uncovered a conspiracy involving McGriff and others to murder a rap artist who has released songs containing lyrics regarding McGriff's criminal activities. The rap artist was shot in 2000, survived and there after refused to cooperate with law enforcement regarding the shooting. Messages transmitted over the Murder Inc. Pager indicate that McGriff is involved in an ongoing plot to kill this rap artist, and that he communicates with Murder Inc. employees concerning the target.''" [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0906051murder1.html]

During late 1999 and early 2000, the Gossamer archives received, on average, 1,000 direct [[e-mail]], newsgroup and [[mailing list]] submissions a month. The archiving team fell behind for many months, resulting in over 8,000 files being archived during 2000. From that high water point, the submissions rate has gradually fallen to a current rate of about 600 submissions per year.

===New York rappers===

50 Cent also has a rivalry with [[Shyne]], [[Nas (rapper)|Nas]], [[Joe Budden]], [[Fat Joe]], [[Jadakiss]] and [[D-Block]]. He claimed that Nas had made disparaging comments about him and his G-Unit camp while performing at a New York concert. The rapper has denounced Nas as a traitor over the allying himself with Ja Rule and Irv Gotti. 50 Cent points out that Jadakiss and Fat Joe had painted a target on themselves for partnering up with Ja Rule while filming a video in which the rapper took shots at him. He recorded the track "Piggy Bank" and attacked Jadakiss and Fat Joe for their association with Ja Rule. Shyne was named as an enemy of 50 Cent. Shyne had Irv Gotti produce his album, and 50 Cent also attacked him for this association. Even though things cooled down, at 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Fat Joe made a disparaging comment about G-Unit during a performance. 50 Cent and G-Unit retaliated on set by shouting obscenities toward Fat Joe and Terror Squad.

From 2000-2007, there have been several archive moves, but few events that have had long term effects on the archive or readers. In 2001, the Gossamer Skinner name was retired and eventually replaced by Gossamer Tooms, due to the unreliability of the servers that had hosted Skinner over the years and to note the acquisition of a commercial [[dedicated server]] for Gossamer usage.

50 Cent has a long-standing dispute with former friends Bang 'Em Smurf and Domination over internal conflicts. On the song "Love Me" off the 8 Mile soundtrack, 50 Cent criticized [[Lil' Kim]] for having breast implants and discusses why he refused her request to be in a video clip for her single "Magic Stick", which he refused to record with her, citing that the song was originally entitled to Miami rapper [[Trina]].

==Bandwidth Problems==

50 Cent also had a feud with [[Jay-Z]] over 50 Cent's mention of him on "How to Rob" and Jay-Z responded with a line in his song "It's Hot". 50 Cent responded with "Be a Gentleman." The track was never heard by many due to the rapper's departure from Columbia Records. 50 Cent and Jay-Z eventually settled their "beef".

From early in its history through about 2000, the Gossamer archives suffered from ongoing bandwidth problems due to the site's popularity.

In April 1996, Vincent posted to ATXC that his archive was receiving over 100,000 hits per week.<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.x-files.creative/msg/6d3ed06eebe4936d</ref> Because he was worried that the bandwidth consumption was having a negative effect on Ohio-State's network, he was considering solutions, including moving the archive to a commercial site and selling advertising space on the front page to pay for the heavy-duty bandwidth and disk space (235 MB) requirements.

===The Game===

[[Image:The Game and 50 Cent truce.JPG|thumb|right|110pix|The Game talking with 50 Cent at a time when they were trying to end the feud.]]

50 Cent currently has an escalating [[hip hop rivalries#50 Cent vs The Game|feud]] with The Game. The Game, who was previously signed to G-Unit, was booted by 50 Cent. Fans mostly believed that 50 Cent and The Game were bonding at the time of ''[[The Documentary]]'s'' release. The Game's major debut album was surrounded by controversy. Right after its release, 50 Cent felt that the rapper was disloyal for saying he wanted to work with artists G-Unit were feuding with and he formally dismissed the rapper.

In May 1998, after the site was featured in the Yahoo!Life magazine, the site located on the Simplenet.com network was shut down due to its bandwidth usage. The site was moved to Interspeed.com, which then shut it down again for bandwidth consumption 2 weeks later.

50 Cent also claimed that he was not getting proper credit for the debut of the album. During that dispute, a member of The Game's entourage was shot after a confrontation outside the [[Hot 97]] radio station. As the situation escalated, 50 Cent and The Game decided to hold a press conference to announce their reconciliation. Many fans felt that the supposed feud, and particularly the incident at the radio station was a publicity stunt designed to boost the sales of the two albums the pair had just released. Nevertheless, even after the situation had apparently deflated, 50 Cent and [[G-Unit]] continued to feud with The Game, denouncing his street credibility in the media and claiming that without their support, he will not score a hit from his second album. The Game during a performance at the Summer Jam launched a boycott called "[[G-Unot]]".

In August 1998, a script forbidding deep linking was deployed on the X-Philes.com server, when it was discovered that (a) the site's bandwidth was too high for its host's liking and (b) that 30% of the bandwidth was being consumed via deep links directly to fan fiction text files from other sites in the community. This script was later deployed to all active Gossamer sites to prevent the bandwidth issues associated with deep linking.

After the performance at Summer Jam, The Game responded with a rough song "[[The Game (rapper)#Life After G-Unit|300 Bars And Runnin']]" which directly addresses 50 Cent and G-Unit. 50 Cent has mixed feelings towards the insulting record, but nevertheless responded through his "Piggybank" video, which features The Game dressed as a [[Mr. Potato Head]] and parodies many other rivals. After numerous songs aimed at G-Unit, 50 Cent had responded to the The Game's rebuttals with an insulting song titled "Not Rich, Still Lyin.'" The song imitates The Game and attacks his credibility and his recent feud with his brother, Big Fase 100. This was the first of many feuds where two rappers from the [[Aftermath Entertainment|same label]] were involved against each other.

From June 1998-2000, the Gossamer Project was booted from other servers due to bandwidth consumption and other related issues. Due to a 1999 decision to group all sites under the gossamer.org ___domain and "redeploy" the same subdomains to new servers, the loss of these various servers did not impact the user community as earlier shutdowns had.

===Other controversies===

The moniker "50 Cent" originally belonged to Brooklyn drug dealer [[Kelvin Martin]]. Martin managed to claim his success through the robbery and murder of local officials. Well enough, at least, for Curtis Jackson to take on the name and adopt the legacy, to the point of even having made a song called "how to rob", in which he talks about robbing other people in the industry the same way the original 50 cent did. The documentary ''Infamous Times: The Original 50 Cent'' the infamous gangster was released on DVD. After the dispute with The Game escalated, 50 Cent sued The Game's manager Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond over unauthorized filming for a documentary about Kelvin Martin. The family of Martin do not endorse the rapper.

==Gossamer in the News==

While appearing at the Summer Jam XI concert in New York, 50 Cent and members of G-Unit were criticized for speaking out against other notable artists including R&B singer [[R. Kelly]]. Before going onstage, 50 Cent mentioned R. Kelly's pending [[child pornography]] trial. He and his crew received mixed reactions from the crowd and chairs were thrown onstage, forcing 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew to leave the stage for safety reasons.

During the late 1990s, the Gossamer Project was noted and discussed in several major media outlets, generally in lifestyle articles focused on the media fan fiction phenomenon emerging online.

On August 18, 1997, the Gossamer Project was discussed in an article in the New York Times which focused specifically on the X-Files fan fiction online. This article included a description of the archive, and the article's primary image was the front page of the site.

The rapper also had a falling out with Eminem's former deejay [[DJ Green Lantern|Green Lantern]]. The deejay has been labeled a "snitch" and "traitor" for his apparent phone conversation with rival Jadakiss. The rapper had a phone interview with DJ Green Lantern over the feud with 50 Cent. The DJ was apparently encouraging Jadakiss to "deliver a major blow" to 50 Cent, which he did with the release of "Sorry Ms. Jackson, and Checkmate". The rapper never confronted the DJ about the situation, but it did affect the relationship within Shady Records. The situation forced Green Lantern to leave Shady Records and other ventures associated with Eminem.

In May 1998, the Gossamer Project was highlighted in a fandom-focused edition of Yahoo!Life<ref>Yahoo!Internet Life Magazine, July 1998 Edition, page 73</ref>, resulting in an extreme increase of traffic to the sites. While this brought attention to the site, it also resulted in negative effects, including the most popular mirror site being booted from the server it had been on for several years due to bandwidth abuse.

On a taping of ''The O'Reilly Factor,'' conservative commentator [[Bill O'Reilly (commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] has urged boycotts against rap music. O'Reilly named 50 Cent as a target of his crusade to prevent rappers who promote bad behavior from endorsing mainstream merchandise. He criticized shoe maker [[Reebok]] for partnering up with 50 Cent to endorse his ''[[G-Unit Sneakers]]''. O'Reilly has rallied another boycott, this time against the shoe maker. Despite the boycott, sales remain excellent, and Reebok still continues to endorse 50 Cent's products. However, a television advertisement for Reebok which featured 50 Cent was recently taken off air in the [[United Kingdom]]. The advertisement contained lyrics from one of 50's tracks, which resulted in complaints against their violent imagery of life.

In later 1998, the Gossamer Project was mentioned as the primary X-Files fan fiction archive online in an article in Pitch Magazine.<ref>Pitch Magazine, date unknown. Fans take control of TV . . . On-Line by Colin Flanigan</ref>

[[Dan McTeague]], a member of Canadian Parliament suggested that the government ban 50 Cent from entering the country. McTeague said the rapper's message was inappropriate at a time when its largest city Toronto was experiencing a huge increase in gun violence. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051123/wl_canada_nm/canada_leisure_canada50cent_col_1] 50 Cent's Canadian tour went on as planned [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1135119019559&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154].

In the December 1, 1998 edition of Entertainment Weekly, the Gossamer Project was mentioned in the Writers Bloc sidebar for the article ''Fan Fiction: Out of Character'' by E. Klotz and the front page used as the primary image for that section.<ref>Image of sidebar: http://klotz.org/me/fan%20fiction%</ref>

==Discography==

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"

!align="center"|Album Cover

!align="center"|Album Information

!align="center"|Alternate Cover

|-

|align="left"|[[Image:Power Of The Dollar22.JPG|center|135px]]

|align="left"|'''''[[Power of the Dollar]] '''''

*Released: [[Unreleased|Unreleased,]] [[2000]] <small>([[U.S.]])</small>

*Label: [[Columbia Records]]

*Chart Positions: N/A

*U.S. Sales: ??

*[[RIAA Certification]]:N/A

|align="right"|<center>'''No Alternate Covers'''</center>

|-

|align="left"|[[Image:Guess Whos Back (Front) Cover.jpg|center|135px]]

|align="left"|'''''[[Guess Who's Back?]] '''''

*Released: [[May 24|May 24,]] [[2002]] <small>([[U.S.]])</small>

*Label: [[Full Clip]]

*Chart Positions: N/A

*U.S. Sales: ??

*[[RIAA Certification]]:N/A

|align="right"|<center>'''No Alternate Covers'''</center>

|-

|align="left"|[[Image:Get Rich Or Die Tryin'.JPG|center|135px]]

|align="left"|'''''[[Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003 album)|Get Rich or Die Tryin']]'''''

*Released: [[February 6|February 6,]] [[2003]] <small>([[U.S.]])</small>

*Label: [[Shady Records|Shady]]/[[Aftermath Entertainment|Aftermath]]/[[Interscope Records|Interscope]]

*Chart Positions: '''#1''' <small>([[U.S.]])</small>, '''#2''' <small>([[United Kingdom|UK]])</small>, '''#4''' <small>([[AUS]])</small>

*U.S. Sales: 6.3m

*[[RIAA Certification]]: 6x Platinum ( 11 million worldwide )

|align="right"|<center>'''No Alternate Covers'''</center>

|-

|align="left"|[[Image:The Massacre.JPG|center|135px]]

|align="left"|'''''[[The Massacre]]'''''

*Released: [[March 3|March 3,]] [[2005]] <small>([[U.S.]])</small>

**Special Edition Released: [[September 6|September 6,]] [[2005]] <small>([[U.S.]])</small>

*Label: [[G-Unit Records|G-Unit]]/[[Shady Records|Shady]]/[[Aftermath Entertainment|Aftermath]]/[[Interscope Records|Interscope]]

**Special Edition Label: [[G-Unit Records|G-Unit]]/[[Shady Records|Shady]]/[[Aftermath Entertainment|Aftermath]]/[[Interscope Records|Interscope]]

*Chart Positions: '''#1''' <small>([[U.S.]])</small>, '''#1''' <small>([[United Kingdom|UK]])</small>, '''#2''' <small>([[AUS]])</small>

</small>, '''#2''' <small>([[SWE]])</small>

*U.S. Sales: 4.9m

*[[RIAA Certification]]: 5x Platinum ( 8 million worldwide )

|align="right"|[[Image:The Massacre (Special Edition).jpg|center|135px]]

|-

|align="left"|[[Image:Get Rich or Die Tryin' Soundtrack - CD album cover.jpg|center|135px]]

|align="left"|'''''[[Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005 album)|Get Rich or Die Tryin' (soundtrack)]]'''''

*Released: [[November 8|November 8,]] [[2005]] <small>([[U.S.]])</small>

*Label: [[G-Unit Records|G-Unit]]/[[Interscope Records|Interscope]]

*Chart Positions: '''#2''' <small>([[U.S.]])</small>, '''#18''' <small>([[United Kingdom|UK]])</small>, '''#27''' <small>([[AUS]])</small>

*[[RIAA Certification]]: Platinum ( 2 million worldwide )

|align="right"|<center>'''No Alternate Covers'''</center>

|-}

The Gossamer Project was also mentioned in the April 29, 2001 article ''The E-Files,'' by Nancy Schulz, published in The Washington Post. <ref>The E-Files Mad for Mulder? Got a Jones for Buffy? Juiced by 'JAG'? In the Fanfiction Realm, You Can Make the Plot Quicken. by Nancy Schulz; The Washington Post; Sunday, April 29, 2001; Page G01</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"

!align="center"|DVD Cover

!align="center"|DVD Information

|-

|align="left"|[[Image:The New Breed.jpg|center|135px]]

|align="left"|'''''[[The New Breed]]'''''

*Released: [[April 15|April 15,]] [[2003]] <small>([[U.S.]])</small>

*Label: [[Shady Records|Shady]]/[[Aftermath Entertainment|Aftermath]]/[[Interscope Records|Interscope]]

*Chart Positions: #2 <small>([[U.S.]])</small>

|}

==Online Discussions about Gossamer==

==Singles==

In recent years, the Gossamer Project has become a touchpoint for nostalgic discussions among fans about "the way things were" before the emergence of Fanfiction.net and the ongoing decentralization of single fandoms amongst many sites and forums. The Gossamer Project and the X-Files community represent what is now considered an old style, online fan fiction community: centralized around an archive and a few posting forums, making it easy to find and access the majority of fan fiction posted in that community.

{| class="wikitable"

!align="center" valign="top" width="35"|Year

!align="left" valign="top"|Song

!align="center" valign="top" width="25"|<Big>[[Billboard Hot 100|US Hot 100]]</small>

!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|<small>[[R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks chart|US R&B/ Hip-Hop]]</small>

!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|<small>[[Rap Tracks chart|US Rap]]</small>

!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|<small>[[UK Singles Chart|UK Singles]]</small>

!align="left" valign="top"|Album

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|1999

|align="left" valign="top"|"Thug Love" ''(featuring [[Destiny's Child]])''

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''The Power Of The Dollar''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|1999

|align="left" valign="top"|"How To Rob" ''(featuring The Madd Rapper)''

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|62

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''-''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2002

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Wanksta]]"

|align="center" valign="top"|13

|align="center" valign="top"|4

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''8 Mile''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2003

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[In Da Club]]"

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1 [Platinum]'''

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|3

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2003

|align="left" valign="top"|"Patiently Waiting" ''(featuring [[Eminem]])''

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|56

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2003

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[21 Questions]]" ''(featuring [[Nate Dogg]])''

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|6

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2003

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[P.I.M.P.]]"

|align="center" valign="top"|3 '''[Gold]'''

|align="center" valign="top"|2

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|5

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2003

|align="left" valign="top"|"What Up Gangsta"

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|26

|align="center" valign="top"|15

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2003

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[If I Can't]]"

|align="center" valign="top"|76

|align="center" valign="top"|34

|align="center" valign="top"|15

|align="center" valign="top"|10

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''

|-

| [[2004 in music|2004]]

| "[[Westside Story]]" (''[[The Game]] Featuring 50 Cent'')

| 93

| 8

| -

| -

| ''The Documentary''

|-

| [[2004 in music|2004]]

| "[[How We Do]]" (''[[The Game]] Featuring 50 Cent'')

| 4 '''[Platinum]'''

| 2

| 2

| 5

| ''The Documentary''

|-

| [[2005 in music|2005]]

| "[[Hate It or Love It]]" (''[[The Game]] Featuring 50 Cent'')

| 2 '''[Gold]'''

| '''1''' (2 weeks)

| '''1''' (4 weeks)

| 4

| ''The Documentary''

|-

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2004

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Disco Inferno (50 Cent song)|Disco Inferno]]"

|align="center" valign="top"|3 '''[2X Platinum]'''

|align="center" valign="top"|4

|align="center" valign="top"|3

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''The Massacre''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2005

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Candy Shop]]" ''(featuring [[Olivia (singer)|Olivia]])''

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1 [2X Platinum]'''

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|4

|align="left" valign="top"|''The Massacre''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2005

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Piggy Bank (song)|Piggy Bank]]"

|align="center" valign="top"|88

|align="center" valign="top"|64

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''The Massacre''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2005

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Just a Lil Bit]]"

|align="center" valign="top"|3

|align="center" valign="top"|3

|align="center" valign="top"|'''1'''

|align="center" valign="top"|10

|align="left" valign="top"|''The Massacre''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2005

|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Outta Control (Remix)]]" ''(featuring [[Mobb Deep]])''

|align="center" valign="top"|6

|align="center" valign="top"|11

|align="center" valign="top"|5

|align="center" valign="top"|7

|align="left" valign="top"|''The Massacre [Special Edition]''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2005

|align="left" valign="top"|"Outta Control" (Original Album Version)

|align="center" valign="top"|92

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''The Massacre''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2005

|align="left" valign="top"|"Hustlers Ambition"

|align="center" valign="top"|65

|align="center" valign="top"|74

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|13

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin' [Soundtrack]''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2005

|align="left" valign="top"|"Window Shopper"

|align="center" valign="top"|20

|align="center" valign="top"|19

|align="center" valign="top"|14

|align="center" valign="top"|11

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin' [Soundtrack]''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2005

|align="left" valign="top"|"Have A Party" ([[Mobb Deep]] featuring ''50 Cent'' and ''[[Nate Dogg]]'')

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="center" valign="top"|-

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin' [Soundtrack]''

|-

|align="center" valign="top"|2006

|align="left" valign="top"|"Best Friend (Remix)"''(featuring [[Olivia (singer)|Olivia]])''

|align="center" valign="top"|38

|align="center" valign="top"|22

|align="center" valign="top"|

|align="center" valign="top"|

|align="left" valign="top"|''Get Rich or Die Tryin' [Soundtrack]''

|}

In the online article ''Once upon a time . . . What fragmentation in fandom means to you'' by Tara LJC O'Shea, media fandom in the mid to late 1990s is described as:

==See also==

<blockquote>It was the age of The Gossamer Project, alt.startrek.creative, and LISTSERVs. It was a simple world, a happy world, a world before bandwidth and advertising revenues ruled the Internet. When it was easy for fans to find what they wanted, because there were huge glowing neon signs pointing them towards Mecca at every bend and fork in the road. We were all pilgrims on the same road.</blockquote>

*[[Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005 film)]]

and specifically refers to the Gossamer Project existence today:

*[[50 Cent Award Nominations|Awards and Nominations]]

<blockquote>The Gossamer Project began in the spring of 1995, and survives today by mirroring to avoid bandwidth hell. It is still the #1 place the majority of fans read fan fiction for X-Files, and continues to grow due to longevity and brand awareness. Everyone knows about it, and everyone can find it. It's got one helluva big neon sign that shines awful bright.<ref>Once upon a time . . . What fragmentation in fandom means to you by Tara LJC O'Shea

*[[50 Cent Songs and Appearences|Songs and Appearances]]

http://ljconstantine.com/column13.htm</ref></blockquote>

*[[List of bands from New York|List of musical artists from New York]]

In the paper ''Coming Out as a Fanfiction Writer'' presented at the Western Australian Science Fiction Conference in 2001, the Gossamer Project is used, along with Fanfiction.net, as an example of one of the largest online fan fiction archives.<blockquote>The Gossamer archive for X-Files fanfiction (probably the largest fanfiction archive on the internet for a singular show/ movie/ book and probably the largest fanfiction archive next to Fanfiction.net, has approximately 25 000 stories on the archive. Nine thousand of those stories were received in the year 2000 (the archive started in 1994/ 5) The archivists add anywhere from 400 - 900 stories an update and the updates happen about twice a month. <ref>Coming Out as a Fanfiction Writer http://zendom.diaryland.com/020404_18.html</ref></blockquote>

==References==

* Toure. ''[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/5939379 "The Life of a Hunted Man"]'', [[Rolling Stone]]. ([[April 3]] [[2003]])

The Gossamer example has had effects on other fan fiction communities, with many archives describing themselves as the "Gossamer" of their fandom, or with readers looking for the "Gossamer" of the fandom. In the blog post, Confessional, on the blog A Southern Girl's Guide to Almost Anything, the writer bemoans the lack of centralization she was finding in Star Trek: The Next Generation fandom by asking "Was there no organization in that fandom? Where's their Gossamer, the X-Files massive fanfic archive?!"<ref>http://southern-born-and-bred.blogspot.com/2006/07/confessional.html</ref>

==External links==

'''Official'''

*[http://50Cent.com 50 Cent official site]

*[http://aftermath-entertainment.com/ Aftermath Entertainment page]

*[http://shadyrecords.com Shady Records]

*[http://gunitrecords.com/main.html G-Unit Records]

==References==

'''Other'''

<references/>

*[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3d98s32ia3pg~T0 All Music Entry]

*[http://www.lyricspedia.com/50-cent-lyrics/ 50 Cent song lyrics]

==External links==

[[Category:1975 births|Fifty Cent]]

* [http://www.gossamer.org The Gossamer Project]

[[Category:African American musicians|Fifty Cent]]

[[Category:Aftermath Entertainment|Fifty Cent]]

[[Category:American rappers|Fifty Cent]]

[[Category:Drug traffickers|Fifty Cent]]

[[Category:G-Unit|Fifty Cent]]

[[Category:Rappers]]

[[Category:Living people|Fifty Cent]]

[[Category:Queensites|Fifty Cent]]

[[Category:Rhythmic Top 40 acts]]

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