November 1, 2002 17:45

EMINEM PROTEGE UNDER POLICE GUARD

50 Cent was discovered and recommended to Slim Shady by the slain Jam Master Jay...

EMINEM's new musical protégé 50 CENT has been placed under guard by police following the murder of [a][/a]'s JAM MASTER JAY in NEW YORK on Wednesday (October 30).

Jay discovered and nurtured 50 Cent and helped him sign a multi-million dollar deal with Eminem and his Shady Records imprint recently, the New York Post reports. He appears on the soundtrack for '8 Mile', the only artist aside from Eminem to appear more than once. He has been pegged as the bright new hope of rap.

50 Cent is no stranger to attempts on his life. He was shot three times in a May 2000 attack in Queens. He had also been stabbed two months earlier. There is no suggestion yet that this linked to Jay's slaying. However, police sources have told The Post they were investigating threats against 50 Cent, a 26-year-old former boxer whose real name is Curtis Jackson.

Meanwhile, other industry figures are also said to be under police guard.

"Cops are going to provide protection to a few people who they believe could be on the unfriendly side of this story," a source said.

Police believe Jay probably knew his killer. Someone buzzed the killer into Jay's Queens studio by someone inside who may have known him, raising the possibility the rapper was set up. There were six people in the studio at the time.

The gunman went up a flight of stairs to a second-floor landing and entered a lounge area where the Jay was sitting on a couch with a close associate, 25-year-old Urieco Rincon, and a female rapper. He was killed by a single shot to the head.