US rapper 50 Cent has spoken about the influential impact the late Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay had on his career.

50 Cent, who was initially signed to Jam Master Jay Records, told the New York Daily News that the rapper had been a like “mentor” to him - and also taught him how to market himself.

“He’s the first person I went into the studio with the intention of producing a song for an album, which was never released because Jay’s touring schedule was so hectic he wasn’t able to focus on it,” he said.

50 Cent said the lessons Jam Master Jay taught him proved influential when he left Columbia Records, who signed him at the end of the 90s, became “too scared” to talk to him.

“So I learned to market myself, like Jay had done. A lot of the major labels and companies were ignoring me because they were only looking at my street life,” he said.

“It makes me rub it in now. Right in their faces. I want to go into their offices and say, ‘I remember you. Didn’t they fire you yet?’”

Jam Master Jay was shot dead in a New York recording studio in 2002.

50 Cent is scheduled to release a film about the Run-DMC star, entitled The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay, via his new film production company.

(by Jason Gregory)