50 Cent on Cover of Black Enterprise Magazine in Dapper Suit

Black entertainment juggernaut The YBF has posted an exclusive picture of 50 Cent gracing the cover of this month's Black Enterprise magazine. YBF owner and editor Natasha reports:

BE editor Tennille Robinson was able to get a number of details on him regarding his estimated worth, most recent deals and how he's managed to leverage his celebrity into a number of business ventures. 50's all business in this story, no beef. That's a surprise. ....

The cover shoot took place in Los Angeles, which is where 50 is currently based since he's gotten more involved with acting and producing movies for his production company Cheetah Vision. He's already started filming 'The Set Up' [in which] he stars opposite Bruce Willis. And it's the first of a 10-picture deal backed by a $200 million fund financed by the New York City-based Hedge Fund Film Partners. Nice.
See more amazing photos and learn more details on 50 Cent at The YBF.

50 Cent has certainly come a long way from signing his first record deal for a cool million. After his $100 million Vitamin Water deal came to fruition, the Queens rapper has been able to parlay his brand into publishing, a fragrance, acting and now producing films on the business end.

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Rappers Turned Actors

Acting Up:
Queen Latifah, Will Smith and Ice Cube may be some of the most bankable black actors in Hollywood. But they are also hip hop royalty. These Grammy Award winners lead a growing list of rappers who caught the acting bug. Check them out.

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Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: Bow Wow
Real Name: Shad Moss
Notable Acting Roles: 'All About the Benjamins,' 'Like Mike,' 'Johnson Family Vacation,' 'Roll Bounce,' 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,' 'Hurricane Season,' 'Lottery Ticket'
Factoid: In the midst of promoting his latest film 'Lottery Ticket' Jermaine Dupri's former protégée revealed that he will appear alongside Loretta Devine and Isaiah Mustafa in the new upcoming Tyler Perry film, 'Madea's Big Happy Family.'

Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: Queen Latifah
Real Name: Dana Elaine Owens
Notable Acting Roles: 'Jungle Fever,' 'Living Single,' 'Set It Off'' 'Chicago'
Factoid: The New Jersey native spent five years as magazine editor Khadijah James on the hit television sitcom 'Living Single,' but this Grammy Award winning Cover Girl spokesperson was marked as an actress to watch when she scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Matron Mama Morton in the movie 'Chicago,' based on the hit Broadway musical.

Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: Ice Cube
Real Name: O'Shea Jackson
Notable Acting Roles: 'Boyz N the Hood,' 'Barbershop,' 'Are We There Yet?' 'Friday'
Factoid: This former N.W.A. rapper got his start as Doughboy in the John Singleton directed Academy Award-nominated film 'Boyz N the Hood' before starring in and producing his own comedy 'Friday' as well as family-friendly fare like 'Are We There Yet' and its sequel.

Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: DMX
Real Name: Earl Simmons
Notable Acting Roles: 'Belly,' 'Exit Wounds,' 'Romeo Must Die'
Factoid: Once a chart-topping rap superstar, DMX, who reportedly suffers from a bipolar disorder, has spent most of the past five years in and out of jail, which has side-lined his budding acting career -- not to mention the possibility of starring in an official sequel to the Hype Williams-helmed cult classic 'Belly' alongside fellow rapper Nas.

Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: Ice T
Real Name: Tracy Marrow
Notable Acting Roles: 'New Jack City,' 'New York Undercover,' 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'
Factoid: Talk about a 360. Once a controversial gangsta rapper with the song 'Cop Killer,' Ice T is a household name -- thanks to his role as NYPD Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuloa on the police drama 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.' Series co-creator Dick Wolf reportedly cast him in after seeing his NAACP Image Award-winning portrayal of drug dealer Danny Cort on 'New York Undercover.'

Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: Will Smith
Real Name: Willard Christopher Smith, Jr.
Notable Acting Roles: 'Independence Day,' 'Six Degrees of Separation,' 'Men In Black' and 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'
Factoid: At 40, not only is this 'Parents Just Don't Understand' rapper one of only two hip-hop artists to receive an Academy Award nomination in an acting category (Queen Latifah is the other), but Smith is the only actor in history to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in domestic box office and have all eight open at #1.

Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: Nas
Real Name: Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones
Notable Acting Role: 'Belly'
Factoid: In both a pivotal scene in 'Belly' and on a song called 'One Love' from his 1994 album 'Illmatic,' this New York lyricist talks about a character named 'Shorty,' who shoots from the roof of a Queens project building.

Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: Method Man
Real Name: Clifford Smith
Notable Acting Roles: 'How High,' 'The Wackness,' 'The Wire'
Factoid: According to 'The Wire' series creator David Simon, the Wu Tang Clan member's character Melvin 'Cheese' Wagstaff was the father of Randy Wagstaff, a young boy in the final two seasons of the Emmy-nominated HBO drama, but the relationship was never explored on the show.

Rappers Turned Actors

Stage Name: Diddy
Real Name: Sean John Combs
Notable Acting Roles: 'Raisin in the Sun,' 'Monster's Ball'
Factoid: Although his early days forming Bad Boy Records were portrayed on the silver screen by actor Derek Luke in the Notorious B.I.G. biopic 'Notorious,' Diddy has worked tirelessly so that he would be taken seriously as a thespian. Since starring in 'A Raisin in the Sun' on Broadway and then taking a bit role in the critically-acclaimed indie 'Monster's Ball,' the hip hop mogul has been cast in the upcoming movie 'Get Him to the Greek.'

Rappers Turned Actors

If his movie production arm is successful, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson might soon be able to give Tyler Perry a run for his money as a new African American player in Hollywood. Despite the success of 'Precious' and Tyler Perry's enterprises, the financial power and influence of African Americans in film is minimal. Earlier this year we reported on the fact that even an Oscar winner like Forest Whitaker has to appear in films funded by the Gaddafi family in order to get backing as a black star. This shows how dire the situation is in Hollywood even for stellar black actors of quality.

50 Cent might not be a great thespian, but he is an extremely successful wealth creator, which in Tinseltown goes a long way. Perhaps his film production company will be able to generate great opportunities not just for himself, but also for established African American actors who are underutilized by the current system.