Series from 2008
Hip-hop sensation and music mogul 50 Cent teams with MTV to bring you this elimination reality show. The contestants, hand-picked by 50, have proven t…
In the series opener, 14 aspiring young entrepreneurs arrive in New York City to begin an intense competition as millionaire hip-hop mogul 50 Cent searches for an ambitious, hustling self-starter with street smarts to invest $100,000 of his own money in. The contestants’ first test is a 5-mile race from Roosevelt Island to Camp Curtis, their house in Brooklyn. Of course, there’s one big twist – the contestants must run chained together – chain gang style. And when tension escalates into multiple confrontations, several contestants find themselves in fear of being eliminated. In the end, 50 “drops” one player, sending them packing and ending their dream of a $100,000 investment.
By 50 Cent’s design, life, for the 13 remaining campers at Camp Curtis, is not easy. In the second week of competition, campers find themselves dealing with hot and smelly conditions – both at camp and in this week’s test. 50 teaches the campers how to “turn nothing into something,” in the “S**t to Sugar” test. Team Money coerces Nikki into an unwanted leadership roll while Team Power deals with a weak link in Nathan. Nima embraces a roll as the troublemaker, distracting others whenever possible. But 50 Cent sends the message that this is hardly fun and games… and someone will be sent packing much earlier than expected.
The teams are challenged to create an authentic and marketable artist. Team Money has management disputes from the beginning while Team Power is all smiles. Both teams have a very special opportunity to get out of Camp Curtis for an evening. You won’t believe who gets half naked on a stripper pole. The pressure cooker heats up the next day once the test is completed. After losing, one team erupts into screaming hysterics that causes security to separate the cast. Back at Camp Curtis, a couple cast members breakdown into uncontrollable sobs when they realize that they may be the next to go home.
Two contestants get a special reward and earn a trip to 50 Cent's legendary Connecticut mansion. Then the teams show off their hustling skills on the boardwalk at Coney Island. But one contestant can't handle the pressure of the competition and leaves Camp Curtis early. Later, controversy erupts in the house as one contestant is called out by the rest of the cast for secretly talking smack about them to 50. Finally, everyone is shocked when one of the competition's strongest players gets "dropped" by 50.
In week five of the competition, 50 Cent tells campers that it's time to, "see things for what they really are," not only in business, but in each other. And what the campers see isn't too pretty. As campers assume the roles of one another, hurtful truths are on display for all to see. Later, 50 Cent, along with guest star, Aubrey O'Day, of Danity Kane, puts the campers through a test that requires both brains and brawn - assembling 30 foot 'billboard' puzzles. The losing team's punishment will be remembered for a long time. Musso, thus far a strong competitor, begins to feel the pressure from his fellow campers as well as 50 and threatens to leave camp for good. Assuming the role of Public Enemy #1, will he survive another week at camp?
Team Money and Team Power learn about their new test – teaching jaded New Yorkers in the Bronx about safe sex. But the shared warm feelings of a good deed well done soon devolves into bickering and backstabbing. At the end of the day, however, 50 is the boss: Will he reward their community service, or punish the guilty?
