Rap star 50 Cent
is entering the world of technology and is currently in negotiations with Apple’s
CEO Steve Jobs to produce a line of affordable home computers to inner-city
residents.
According to a
recent article in Forbes, 50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson and his high powered
manager Chris Lighty of Violator management, are negotiating the branding deal
with the computer /software giant.
"I’m creating
a foundation that will be around for a long time, because fame can come and
go or get lost in the lifestyle and the splurging," Fifty Cent explained
to Forbes. "I never got into it for the music. I got into it for
the business."
"He [Jobs]
is setting a new standard in the music business," Lighty added. "Let’s
just say we get each other."
The company hopes
to close the gap between sales in iPods, which have earned over $3 billion verse
$2 billion from software and personal home computer sales.
Behind Jobs’ leadership
and the runaway success of the iPod and iTunes, Apple controls over 80% of the
digital music market.
Additionally, Apple
has sold over 1 billion songs over the past five years. The company started
selling music videos and television shows which have sold over 15 million copies
since October of 2005.
50 Cent, who is
plans on releasing his untitled third album by Christmas, ranked among the Top
10 earning celebrity entertainers in Forbes’ recently released Forbes
Celebrity Power 100 List.
The rapper earned
almost $41 million dollars, mostly from record sales and branding deals that
include a clothing line, a line of sneakers, a video game and his G-Unit line
of clothing, which was launched in partnership with Marc Ecko in July 2003.
50 Cent ranked
#8 in the Top Ten, behind Howard Stern, Steven Spielberg, Tiger Woods, rock
group U2, Oprah Winfrey, The Rolling Stones and Tom Cruise, who topped the list
by earning over $67 million in 2005.
