(Cover) - EN Showbiz - 50 Cent has opened up about being adopted by his grandmother.

The 35-year-old rapper has been vocal in the past about his tough childhood growing up in the Queens neighbourhood of New York, where he was raised by his drug-dealing mother until she was murdered in 1988.

50 realises most people aren't aware that he was actually adopted by his grandmother, and is glad to open up about his family history as he's been exploring his background for a new television programme.

"It feels good for me to learn more about my actual history. A lot of people don't know but I'm adopted," he revealed to an auditorium of students for a family history show due to air on US channel VH1.

"Yeah, my grandmother adopted me after my mother passed away. So she's like my legal guardian. My grandparents were from out here so the last time I was out here I was like six years old."

The rapper was speaking in Edgefield, South Carolina, where he had travelled to explore his family heritage. The programme, entitled 50 Cent: The Origin Of Me, will premiere in the US on Monday May 23 on VH1. (C) Cover Media