Kanye Kicks Ass

Kanye poised for victory over 50 Cent09/18/2007 7:36 PM, APNekesa Mumbi Moody


It's not like Kanye West needed an ego boost, but here it comes: Sales figures confirm his "Graduation" album outsold 50 Cent's "Curtis" in the much-hyped rap sales showdown with nearly 1 million copies sold the first week, the best debut of the year for the struggling music industry.

Although Nielsen SoundScan figures for the albums' first-week sales were to be officially released Tuesday night, music industry officials who requested to remain anonymous because the figures hadn't come out yet, said West had sold about 955,000 copies. It would be his best first-week sales ever and top the year's previous first-week champ, Linkin Park, which sold 623,000 of "Minutes to Midnight" in May.



West was hardly rubbing it in 50's face. In fact, he said he was humbled by the win.
"It feels overwhelming," West told The Associated Press, as he walked to Def Jam's offices on Tuesday afternoon. "Everyone is coming up to me and telling me how proud they are of me."
"We're not gloating," Def Jam President Jay-Z told AP. "He's celebrating his win. ... in his mind, he believed he could win the whole time."



It appeared 50 Cent's album sold more than 500,000 copies since being released Sept. 11, but it was still a considerable letdown. His last album, 2005's "The Massacre," sold 1.1 million in its first week.
Last month, 50 didn't think of West as much of a competitor: "It's great marketing on Def Jam's part, by putting us out there at the same time and make like we can actually be compared on some level," he told the AP. In another interview, he said he would retire if West outsold him.



But while West is enjoying a No. 2 position on the charts with his hit "Stronger," 50 has struggled to connect with radio. None of his songs has matched past smashes like "In Da Club"; even his single "Ayo Technology," featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, is languishing at No. 19.
50's album was originally scheduled to be released in June on Interscope Records, a division of Universal Music Group, but was pushed back to Sept. 11. Soon after, Kanye West, whose album was supposed to come out sometime in late summer, pushed his date to Sept. 11 as well. But Antonio "L.A." Reid, chairman of Island Def Jam, also a division of Universal, says it wasn't initially intended to be a jab at 50.



"The decision was really driven by the (MTV Video Music Awards), because the VMAs were on Sept. 9 ... we wanted to use it as a launching pad again for this album," he said.
West said it was his idea to go directly against 50.



"I was the underdog because I sold less records in the past, so it was a win-win for me," he said. "If I lost, everyone would be happy that I even went up against him. People have this perception of me being arrogant, but would an arrogant person risk the chance of coming in the second spot just to be a part of history? To me, it's more about fans and the entertainment value and good music."