50 Cent in Kenya
The rapper visits school kids in Nairobi slum during his UN trip to Kenya WFP/Rose Ogola

50 Cent has shown the world his softer side by teaming up with the UN to help make a change in the lives of Africa's most impoverished communities.

The US rapper has vowed to donate a billion meals over five years to the world's poorest people after life-changing trips to Somalia and Kenya.

The 36-year-old hip-hop star, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, ditched his hard-man image to see at first-hand the work of the UN World Food Programme in the Horn of Africa. The scheme provides food to 90 million people every year year.

Jackson, better known for rapping about clubbing, getting drunk, getting shot at, and sleeping around, revealed that since his trip he was a changed man.

He told CBS News: "It enlightened me in different ways. To actually see people under the circumstances I saw was a totally different experience. I don't think you can prepare yourself for that, no matter how many times you've seen the images.

"I want to be more ... not just as an artist but as a person. My legacy, what's left behind. I don't want to be a guy who's just remembered for writing a few cool songs.

"It doesn't match. It doesn't match at all but this is the next chapter of my life. I don't care if my audience is prepared to move forward with me. They may not necessarily be growing at the same pace, " he added.

United Nations Somalia Kenya