50 Cent Taps Rachael Ray Show to Promote '50th Law'

50 Cent has proved to be one of the greatest arbiters of brand extension and self-promoters in the music industry. The business-minded Queens rapper has left no source untapped on the current promotional tour for his new book, 'The 50th Law,' which was co-written by author Robert Greene. During the past week, 50 has made appearances on an impressive range of outlets, including the Weather Channel, CNBC and even the Rachel Ray Show.

50 appeared on the Food Network star's show on Wednesday (Sept. 16), decked out in his Sunday's finest and took the time to explain the origin of his name. He even took a few minutes to humor Ray and her audience by engaging in a celebrity nickname game. 50 was allotted 50 seconds to match up the famous artists to their proper names and he successfully completed his task, winning audience members a meal at a nearby restaurant for only -- you guessed it -- $0.50.

Although digesting the sight of the 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' rapper chatting up Ray and her family-oriented audience was slightly jarring, his following appearance on CNBC helped to put it all in perspective. During his serious sit down, 50 explained why it was important to move beyond depending on records sales to make profit, especially with the surge in music piracy. He used his $100 million return for investing in Vitamin Water during its' early stages as a prime example of this.

"The technology is absolutely shifting things. The marketing dollars that the major companies would provide for artists in the past is gone with the actual record sales," he said. "This is taboo; this is almost like selling out. 5 years ago what is great business from an artist perspective now would be absolutely going in the other direction of what they think is cool."

50 Cent's upcoming album 'Before I Self-Destruct' will hit stores on Nov 17. Check out his appearance on the Rachel Ray Show.