50 Cent gets OK to take son on vacation

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y., July 18 (UPI) -- A Long Island, N.Y., judge has granted hip-hop artist 50 Cent permission to take his 11-year-old son, Marquise, on vacation.

The rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, has been locked in legal battles with the boy's mother, Shaniqua Tompkins, who has custody.

Tompkins has accused Jackson of having someone set ablaze the house where she and Marquise were living in May. Jackson has vehemently denied the allegation.

The New York Daily News said Jackson, who has served time for selling crack, was ordered to take and pass a drug test -- which he did -- before he was given permission to take Marquise on vacation next month.

"I haven't seen my son in a while. That's why I came here today," the Daily News quoted the rapper as saying after he passed the test.