50 Cent: Changing the world with charity

50 Cent wants to change the world with philanthropy.

Many were fascinated with the 39-year-old rapper's earlier years when he hit the big time, as he was shot nine times in 2000 and had been arrested on drugs charges.

After becoming a star his life changed dramatically and he is now involved in charity work, although it's not something he boasts about. He is behind the G-Unity Foundation, which seeks to improve the lives of people on low incomes and has given to other organisations too. It's something he will continue.

"By aged 50, I'd like to affect the world through philanthropy in different ways," he told People.com.

That doesn't mean he's giving up his day job though. In fact the star and his hip-hop group G-Unit have a new record coming out called The Beast is G-Unit. With five members in the collective, working on music can be a stressful, but this time around things were fun because everyone chipped in with ideas.

"It was a two-part, so The Beauty [2014's The Beauty of Independence] was the first six songs and the beast was the second half," 50 explained of the name. "I had a lot of fun making it; we recorded 38 songs in a short period of time. Having that many artists in the studio at one point and having them grow to the point that creatively they can lead on some of the record like that. In the very first stages of G-Unit I was dictating everything because I was the more seasoned writer at that point. Now they've already got ideas and their own directions."

G-Unit also comprises of Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Young Buck and Kidd Kidd.