S. Samuel
G-Unit leader 50 Cent has recalled the iconic 9/11 SoundScan battle he had five years ago when his platinum-selling Curtis album faced off against Kanye West's Graduation.
Despite falling short in the battle, Fif reflected on the competitive battle and his street presence.
“At the time, I had a stronger feel for the streets [than Kanye], prior to that competition and trying to compete with each other,” he said. “That was just to build energy because Kanye [and I]…we didn’t have no beef at all. You can’t stand that close to someone and take pictures for the cover of Rolling Stone with having beef.” (XXL Mag)
The rap star credited their publicized face-off and marketing for helping boost up their record sales.
“That was something that we created,” he added. “Obviously, it riled the fans up in every way and the results are always bigger sales than usual. Both of the numbers were bigger than what they would have been [without the competition]. It was just great marketing.” (XXL Mag)
Prior to losing, 50 told SOHH he would retire if Ye’s Graduation out-sold his Curtis project.
“They would like to see Kanye West give me a problem because I’ve worked my way into a space where I’ve become the favorite. Everybody roots for the underdog when he goes against the favorite, put it like this, let’s raise the stakes. If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11th, I will no longer write music. I’ll write music and work with my other artists, but I won’t put out any more solo albums. And I bet when Kanye West’s sales come in, he’s gonna have a 70 percent decrease because Def Jam is gonna buy records to keep him close to 50 Cent. So watch the first week and watch the second week and watch his a** fall off the planet.” (SOHH)
Back in 2007, Fif’s LP fell short by nearly 300,000 copies of beating West.
Kanye West easily bested 50 Cent in their much-hyped SoundScan clash, pushing 957,000 copies of Graduation against 691,000 copies of the G-Unit star’s Curtis in its first six days of sales, according to Billboard. Both albums are the artists’ respective third solo projects. (MTV)
Check out a recent 50 Cent interview below:
