I am proud to say my original prediction was right: Kanye West will outsell 50 Cent. Not only did Kanye outsell 50, he outsold him by over 250,000 copies--the best record release in over 2 years according to Nielsen Soundscan. Nielsen reported sales for Kanye at 957,000 copies in the first week while 50 Cent sold only 691,000. Either way you look at it, they both had terrific first week sales going giving themselves a gold record with Kanye approaching platinum. It is clearly just a matter of time before they both hit the million mark.
So now my thoughts are about 50 Cent. 50 had claimed that if defeated he will no longer release solo albums. He is now saying that he will continue to do so but will compete with Kanye's label, Def Jam. 50 claims every time a Def Jam artist drops an album, Interscope Records will also drop an album to compete. I must say I am rather disappointed in this statement. I was hoping that 50 was going to be a man of his word. Not to put 50 down, I'm just a little surprised that he is switching the outcome now that he has indeed lost to Kanye.
Both albums are excellent. I am a huge fan of 50 since his release of songs like "In Da Club" and "Disco Inferno" a few years ago. Then Kanye hit the scene and also has songs that I enjoyed like "Diamonds are Forever." I listened to both Kanye's Graduation and 50's Curtis multiple times in order to make my decision of which album I liked better. After about five days I finally came to a conclusion: Again, I had to go with Kanye. I feel bad because I truly like 50 Cent. The deciding factor with me was Kanye's album was more upbeat and "happy." With songs like "Champion" and "Stronger" you cannot help but sway your head to the beat. 50 was back at it with his songs talking about how he will murder you, etc. While this is great for gangsters, I personally am not a fan of murder at all. I must admit his beats and production are stellar, though. With Eminem and Dr. Dre behind him, I would never doubt the success of a 50 Cent album, but we cannot forget that Kanye himself started out as a producer for artists like Jay-Z, one of the greatest rappers of all time, hands down.
Both Graduation and Curtis feature a plethora of featured artists like Chris Martin of Coldplay, L'il Wayne, Eminem, and of course the mega producer Timbaland. Kanye just had a bit of an edge over 50 this time. My question now: Is Kanye really the king of hip-hop? If so, can he hold down this title? I am very eager to see what happens in the near future with both rappers. With the number one and two albums on the Billboard charts they should both be flying high in their success. Go buy them and see for yourself. Then ask yourself if Kanye is really the king of hip-hop.