On the George Lopez Show, the rapper 50 Cent had a lot to say about the controversy surrounding Tiger Woods. In his comments (you can see the video here), 50 said, "Thirteen women and no condoms – you're a gambling man ain't you Tiger? Rappers use condoms often. Golfers apparently don't use condoms," 50 Cent stated. "It's interesting when you pick your women at Perkins. That's why you get told on. When she tells it's not really her fault, especially when you didn't give her nothing and she's at Perkins."

The rapper even went as far as stating that the women in Tiger's life had no respect for him.

"The woman needs to feel like maybe he's gonna snap, so I ain't gonna say that," 50 Cent told Lopez. "Tiger there ain't no fear."

These comments are interesting and were probably made to be humorous. But when you are talking about two of the richest black celebrities in the world (reports are that 50 Cent made over $100 million dollars last year, which puts him on par with Tiger Woods and nearly double that of Jay-Z), words like this are both confusing and impactful on their brands. These comments say a few things about 50 Cent, which I will quickly lay out below:

1) 50 Cent is both brilliant and traumatized: When people tell me that they think that 50 Cent is ignorant, I tell them that they can only dream of having his vision and intelligence. If you listen to 50 Cent's communication style carefully, you'll see that he is no less intelligent that Barack Obama or any other great person in our society. The difference is that he was forced to embrace coping mechanisms for a severely dysfunctional environment. When asked about his mother's death during a recent ABC News special, 50 Cent said that her death was "the end of everything good in my life." How would you see the world after watching your mother get burned alive as a 12-year old child? It might make you a wee bit strange.

2) 50 Cent could likely be smarter than Tiger Woods: It's not uncommon to see an athlete making money by playing sports. It is also not particularly rare to see a rapper making money by creating albums. Where 50 Cent trumps Tiger (and nearly everyone else) is that he doesn't make the bulk of his wealth from his albums (how many hits has 50 Cent had recently?). Most of his money comes from investments, which is the most effective way to build wealth. To give you an example of how money can work for you, did you know that Bill Gates likely earns roughly $50 - $80 million dollars per week by simply allowing his money to sit in his portfolio? Wealthy people don't work for their money... their money works for them.

To be fair to Tiger, most of his income doesn't come from playing golf. The bulk of his income is from celebrity endorsements. The problem for Tiger, however, is that he still works for someone else, and now he has been losing money by the boatload as his endorsers decide that he is no longer a good person. 50 Cent seems to control much more of his own destiny -- it's one thing to have a nice room on the plantation, but another thing to be off the plantation completely. While neither of these guys are struggling financially, some might say that 50 Cent is in a more secure financial position than Tiger Woods. At the very least, if 50 Cent were caught running around with random women, it wouldn't cost him $100 million dollars in sponsorships.

3) 50 Cent is more like you and I than you might think: When asked if he would rather have gone to college than to learn what he figured out in the streets, 50 Cent gave a very thoughtful response. Basically, the rapper said that if he'd had the opportunity, he would have attended college. I loved that response, since I work very hard to help black men realize that college is not as difficult as they think. 50 Cent communicated that with so-called "street cred," there is a painful set of experiences that come along with getting that credibility. Translation: "It's not fun to go to jail, sell drugs and get shot nine times." I agree. I think that 50 Cent's response was more realistic than what some artists might have shared. It is also a clear message to young black men that education is your key to empowerment, not running the streets, playing sports, or spending all your time trying to entertain someone.

4) 50 Cent has been reading his own book: There is a good chance that 50 Cent's comment about "snapping" on people to maintain power was derived from the book, "The 48 Laws of Power." 50 Cent actually collaborated with the author of that book to make a sequel called "The 50th Law." If you listen to 50 Cent talk, he is a walking encyclopedia of "how-tos" when it comes to obtaining power and keeping it. 50 Cent grew up in a Darwinian world where only the fittest survive, where those who don't kill end up getting killed. The volatility in his psyche shows itself in his music and in the fact that he seems to keep everyone at a distance. His quest to maintain power is likely a reflection of the fact that he has experienced irreparable damage to the deepest parts of his psyche. The lyrics of one of his first hits, "Many Men," are reminders of the way 50 Cent sees the world:


Many men, wish death upon me
Blood in my eye dawg and I can't see
I'm trying to be what I'm destined to be
And ni**az trying to take my life away
I put a hole in ni**a for fu**ing with me
My back on the wall, now you gon' see
Better watch how you talk, when you talk about me
Cause I'll come and take your life away

The bottom line with 50 Cent is this: On one hand, he is an exciting and interesting model of black entrepreneurship in the 21st century. Like him or not, there are lessons that can be learned by other young black men when it comes to diversifying their life portfolios and finding creative ways to earn money. But this money can't be earned by simply focusing on entertainment. The key is education, and being intelligent about understanding how wealth works. That's why every black child in America should be targeted for college.

On the other hand, 50 Cent is likely a victim of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which affects many youth in urban America. The problem is widespread in places like South Central Los Angeles, which have become virtual war zones for many young black teenagers. The same is true for the New York neighborhoods where 50 Cent roamed during the crack epidemic of the 1980s. This PTSD is part of what makes 50 Cent a great man, but it is also part of what makes him troubled. I sincerely hope he is getting the therapy he needs.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.