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50 Cent, Kanye West releases face-off
- By TuPac .
- Published 09/15/2007
- Rap - Hip Hop
- Unrated
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View all articles by TuPac .50 Cent, Kanye West releases face-off
By Joe Walker
They've both landed big hits, but only one will win.
The much-hyped battle between hip hop stars Kanye West and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson could be thought of as music's version of a heavyweight boxing dream bout. With the genres top two stars releasing their highly anticipated third albums -- "Graduation" by West, "Curtis" by 50 Cent -- on the same day, Tuesday, some may compare its social magnitude to that of Muhammad Ali vs. George Forman.
The media coverage surrounding these two albums has been pummeling, with many media sources ready to score the bout. Black Noir Magazine owner Florence Anthony says nothing is wrong with a little friendly competition.
"Both Kanye and 50 have become crossover artists who are even respected in the pop world," she says. "It's a good thing because it hypes up hip hop in a positive way."
Here are a few things others are saying:
"50 Cent is the villain of villains in hip hop. Always combining an arrogant swagger with a street IQ that bonifies him genius, 50's lack of respect for others in the industry has always made him an antagonist in the game. He is truly the premiere bad guy of rap music, and everybody knows it. Kanye, on the other hand, is one of the good guys. Many consider him to be the savior in hip hop. In an era where commercialism has pushed the music to a new level of popularity, but creatively the art has suffered, Kanye West is one of the few who keeps to the essence of what hip hop was all about when it started. This makes for the classic good vs. evil battle that will definitely be interesting. Although this competition may be a close one... my guy 50 Cent (Curtis "Interscope" Jackson) will outsell Kanye West on both the first day and in total numbers."
-- Jonathan Jelks, C.E.O the Talented Tenth Nonprofit
"One of the underlying elements of hip hop has always been braggadocios, 'I'm the best'-type rhymes. Unfortunately, we got away from bragging on ourselves to bragging on what we have. Now it's more about sales than good product. So, normally I wouldn't care about two popular artists releasing on the same day, but in this case, the two people in particular actually believe they are the best."
-- CJ, webmaster/designer of multi-platinum selling recording imprint CTE
"We've been waiting for a day like for about six years, the last one being Jay-Z Vs NasWith the state of Hip Hop, as far as record sales are concerned, it's going to force the consumer to go out to get each of these albums. You have two incredible artists, granted they're two very different MCs."
-- Thomas A. Harden, Music Editor of The Ave Magazine
"It's an obvious match up of two super-egos, each has adopted the stance of being the only artist worthy of attention. They have many matching personality traits and have parallel reactions to media attention and any LACK of attention is taken as a personal slight."
-- Drew Spence, Editor In Chief of Producer's Edge Magazine
Surely, there are those who'd like to see West and 50 in a ring beating each other silly (the edge going to muscular, former boxer 50 Cent). But this encounter will be waged in music retail checkout lines, kitted-out vehicles and iPods. The battle centers on which artist can KO his competitor in first-week sales, not about who uppercuts the other unconscious. The only bumps and bruises caused by this clash will appear on one of their egos.
Notherground Music Recording artist 6th Sense compares this match-up to a contest more classic than even Ali and Forman.
"50 vs. Kanye is like David Vs. Goliath, and I think both stars releasing on the same day is a good thing for hip hop because it shows somewhat of a solidarity," he says. "It'll be good for retail and we all know how bad sales have been for hip-hop. I think the fact that they're so yin and yang is what's making the media go crazy."
David vs. Goliath is, actually, a better comparison. 50 Cent would seemingly be Goliath; 50 is a chiseled industry giant who literally fought in the streets of Queens, he sold 11 million albums, made a fortune endorsing sneakers and vitamin water, and openly feuds with many of his hip hop peers.
Kanye is as clean-cut as David, while just as willing to get dirty. The well-dressed rapper was raised in suburbs of Chicago, he's sold 6 million albums, got rich producing music for such artists as Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, and he made a bold accusation against the President on live television.
Also, West and 50 Cent each survived near-fatal incidents -- 50 was shot nine times in 2000, West a car accident in 2002. Both had their share of past hits too -- "All Falls Down" and "Gold Digger" by West, "In Da Club" and "Candy Shop" by 50, but looking at current sales shows West shooting while 50 Cent is crashing.
Kanye's current single "Stronger" is No. 4 on Billboard Top 100 Singles chart. None of 50 Cent's five singles have charted higher than Top 23.
The attention for both albums remains strong regardless. DJ Babe of Detroit says having the two of them drop the same day is creating a lot of attention for the music scene -- not just hip hop -- but music in general.
"My choice as to who is going to win?" he said. "Kenny Chesney!"
"Kenny Chesney is also reminding everyone that he has an album coming out the same day, " says Florence Anthony.
Steve "Scrubs" Stewart of 94.5FM The New Thunder Country predicts victory for Chesney too.
"Kenny has a huge following and sells out stadiums in less then 20 minutes," he says. "With that kind of buying power don't be surprised to see a lot of those same people heading out to buy the CD as well. I haven't heard of that kind of excitement around any other artist; country, rock or rap in a long time.
"Also, I think that Kanye and 50 Cent might cancel each other out leaving a wide open path for Kenny to head right to the top of the sales for Sept. 11."
Bounce back
They've both landed big hits, but only one will win.
The much-hyped battle between hip hop stars Kanye West and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson could be thought of as music's version of a heavyweight boxing dream bout. With the genres top two stars releasing their highly anticipated third albums -- "Graduation" by West, "Curtis" by 50 Cent -- on the same day, Tuesday, some may compare its social magnitude to that of Muhammad Ali vs. George Forman.
The media coverage surrounding these two albums has been pummeling, with many media sources ready to score the bout. Black Noir Magazine owner Florence Anthony says nothing is wrong with a little friendly competition.
"Both Kanye and 50 have become crossover artists who are even respected in the pop world," she says. "It's a good thing because it hypes up hip hop in a positive way."
Here are a few things others are saying:
"50 Cent is the villain of villains in hip hop. Always combining an arrogant swagger with a street IQ that bonifies him genius, 50's lack of respect for others in the industry has always made him an antagonist in the game. He is truly the premiere bad guy of rap music, and everybody knows it. Kanye, on the other hand, is one of the good guys. Many consider him to be the savior in hip hop. In an era where commercialism has pushed the music to a new level of popularity, but creatively the art has suffered, Kanye West is one of the few who keeps to the essence of what hip hop was all about when it started. This makes for the classic good vs. evil battle that will definitely be interesting. Although this competition may be a close one... my guy 50 Cent (Curtis "Interscope" Jackson) will outsell Kanye West on both the first day and in total numbers."
-- Jonathan Jelks, C.E.O the Talented Tenth Nonprofit
"One of the underlying elements of hip hop has always been braggadocios, 'I'm the best'-type rhymes. Unfortunately, we got away from bragging on ourselves to bragging on what we have. Now it's more about sales than good product. So, normally I wouldn't care about two popular artists releasing on the same day, but in this case, the two people in particular actually believe they are the best."
-- CJ, webmaster/designer of multi-platinum selling recording imprint CTE
"We've been waiting for a day like for about six years, the last one being Jay-Z Vs NasWith the state of Hip Hop, as far as record sales are concerned, it's going to force the consumer to go out to get each of these albums. You have two incredible artists, granted they're two very different MCs."
-- Thomas A. Harden, Music Editor of The Ave Magazine
"It's an obvious match up of two super-egos, each has adopted the stance of being the only artist worthy of attention. They have many matching personality traits and have parallel reactions to media attention and any LACK of attention is taken as a personal slight."
-- Drew Spence, Editor In Chief of Producer's Edge Magazine
Surely, there are those who'd like to see West and 50 in a ring beating each other silly (the edge going to muscular, former boxer 50 Cent). But this encounter will be waged in music retail checkout lines, kitted-out vehicles and iPods. The battle centers on which artist can KO his competitor in first-week sales, not about who uppercuts the other unconscious. The only bumps and bruises caused by this clash will appear on one of their egos.
Notherground Music Recording artist 6th Sense compares this match-up to a contest more classic than even Ali and Forman.
"50 vs. Kanye is like David Vs. Goliath, and I think both stars releasing on the same day is a good thing for hip hop because it shows somewhat of a solidarity," he says. "It'll be good for retail and we all know how bad sales have been for hip-hop. I think the fact that they're so yin and yang is what's making the media go crazy."
David vs. Goliath is, actually, a better comparison. 50 Cent would seemingly be Goliath; 50 is a chiseled industry giant who literally fought in the streets of Queens, he sold 11 million albums, made a fortune endorsing sneakers and vitamin water, and openly feuds with many of his hip hop peers.
Kanye is as clean-cut as David, while just as willing to get dirty. The well-dressed rapper was raised in suburbs of Chicago, he's sold 6 million albums, got rich producing music for such artists as Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, and he made a bold accusation against the President on live television.
Also, West and 50 Cent each survived near-fatal incidents -- 50 was shot nine times in 2000, West a car accident in 2002. Both had their share of past hits too -- "All Falls Down" and "Gold Digger" by West, "In Da Club" and "Candy Shop" by 50, but looking at current sales shows West shooting while 50 Cent is crashing.
Kanye's current single "Stronger" is No. 4 on Billboard Top 100 Singles chart. None of 50 Cent's five singles have charted higher than Top 23.
The attention for both albums remains strong regardless. DJ Babe of Detroit says having the two of them drop the same day is creating a lot of attention for the music scene -- not just hip hop -- but music in general.
"My choice as to who is going to win?" he said. "Kenny Chesney!"
"Kenny Chesney is also reminding everyone that he has an album coming out the same day, " says Florence Anthony.
Steve "Scrubs" Stewart of 94.5FM The New Thunder Country predicts victory for Chesney too.
"Kenny has a huge following and sells out stadiums in less then 20 minutes," he says. "With that kind of buying power don't be surprised to see a lot of those same people heading out to buy the CD as well. I haven't heard of that kind of excitement around any other artist; country, rock or rap in a long time.
"Also, I think that Kanye and 50 Cent might cancel each other out leaving a wide open path for Kenny to head right to the top of the sales for Sept. 11."
Bounce back
