For weeks, anyone who paid even the smallest amount of attention to music was bombarded with news about the 50 Cent and Kanye West showdown that was set to take place on Sept. 11. This clash of entertainment stars was the subject of so many conversations between fans and on television shows. Hundreds of Web log posts, thousands of records sold, and one Rolling Stone cover later, the event is finally over.
Though the official numbers for the first week’s sales are not available until Wednesday, the winner is Kanye West. Both West’s Graduation and 50 Cent’s Curtis were released on Tuesday, and according to Billboard’s Building Chart that tracked sales through Friday, Kanye has sold 600,000 copies of his album, while 50 only sold 430,000 copies. "Only" is a word I use loosely: it’s a lot of copies, but it’s sub-par compared to 50’s huge first-week sales of the past.
The focus, however, shouldn’t be album sales. The main reason this information is important is that 50 Cent arrogantly promised to retire from making music if West outsold him in the first week. So this is good news for anyone who likes great music, which 50 obviously doesn’t make. The bottom line is that the better album was bought by more consumers: Graduation is excellent and is one of the most creative releases of this year, while Curtis features material that is mostly mundane and sub-par.
But Kanye hasn’t only received more support from U.S. fans. He officially outsold 50 on the United Kingdom charts for the first week, taking the No. 1 spot, while Curtis settled for No. 2. It’s only right that Kanye defeated 50, because Graduation features gems such as "I Wonder" and "Flashing Lights," and even a silly song ("Drunk And Hot Girls"), instead of the repetitive material that 50 has given fans time and again, such as the mediocre "Amusement Park."
As a result of losing to Kanye in the U.K., 50 promptly cancelled a European tour that was scheduled to take place not only in Britain but other countries as well.
The battle between 50 and West the focus on these two made music fans lose sight of the fact that there are other artists besides them, many with highly anticipated albums coming soon. From James Blunt to Freeway, from the Foo Fighters to Jagged Edge, there are plenty of albums coming this month that will be worth checking out. Now, all that fans are waiting for are those albums -and 50’s retirement press conference.
