Kanye West outselling 50 Cent in 'feud'
Early reports from retailers around the U.S. had Kanye West outselling 50 Cent.
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 12, 2007
It looks like 50 Cent might be retiring at the ripe old age of 32.
The Queens, N.Y., rapper announced a few weeks ago that if his new album, "Curtis," did not outsell Kanye West's new collection, "Graduation," during their first week in stores that he would call it quits as a solo recording artist.
Well, both albums hit the shelves Tuesday, and early results suggest that 50's sales aren't as big as his words.
"If 50 is true to his word, we won't have any more 50 Cent albums," Carl Mello, a director of buying at the East Coast music retail chain Newbury Comics said.
Mello said "Graduation" was outselling "Curtis" by 200 copies at the 27-store chain. headquartered in Brighton, Mass. "If you look at 50's whole brand, with all the G-Unit people, they haven't done anything that's excited people in a long time."
At Amoeba Music in Hollywood, store music buyer Kristen Frederick said: "For every 50 Cent CD we sell, we sell two Kanyes."
That can't be pleasant news for 50 Cent, who touched off quite a tempest last month when he told the website SOHH.com: "If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on Sept. 11, I'll no longer write music. I'll write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out any more solo albums."
50 Cent has been locked in feuds through the years, but even he has been candid that this time he was merely stirring the pot. In an interview with KROQ-FM (106.7), for instance, he chuckled when asked if there was any bitterness behind his words.
The stunt has certainly caught the attention of the media and landed 50 Cent and West on the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone, which has them posed like glowering heavyweights at a boxing press conference.
50 Cent has history on his side. West, 30, has strong critical acclaim and robust sales, but his numbers have lagged behind 50 Cent's. West's 2005 album, "Late Registration," sold more than 900,000 copies in its debut week, while 50 Cent's "The Massacre" topped 1.4 million its first week in stores.
It looks as if neither of the hip-hop heroes will come close to their past retail fireworks, a situation driven by the realities of CD sales in the diffused marketplace of 2007.
An Amazon.com spokeswoman said the site will be tracking sales for each album via a graphic on its music page all week. At midday Tuesday, West was outpacing 50 Cent more than 2 to 1.
And the Chicago-bred West was also hitting his "rival" where it hurts, outselling him at key stores in 50 Cent's hometown.
"It's probably at 3 to 1, with Kanye outselling 50 with our sales so far," Carl Alvarez, urban buyer for the Virgin Entertainment Group, said. "I anticipated 60% of people picking up both, but we anticipated Kanye selling more."
The albums are coming at a down time for hip-hop. While overall music sales are down about 18% compared to last year, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, rap sales have declined at an even greater rate. Hip-hop sales slumped more than 20% coming into 2007, and there was not a rap artist among 2006's 10 top-selling albums, according to Geoff Mayfield, Billboard magazine's director of charts and senior analyst.
Many hip-hop supporters have been banking on the return of the two stars as a shot of new energy into the scene. Retail sources put initial ship-outs on both albums at approximately 1.2 million copies, making it nearly impossible for either artist to come close to selling seven figures. Best Buy senior vice president Gary Arnold is hopeful that each rapper will sell in the "half-million-unit" range.
"We're probably a little stronger on the Kanye side of things, due to our customer base," Arnold said. "Kanye's base seems to be a little broader than 50's base, so if I have to anticipate results, I'd probably give the nod to Kanye this week."
Actually, the rappers may be locked in a race for No. 2: Country star Kenny Chesney released "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" on Tuesday as well. Chesney's singles "Don't Blink" and "Never Wanted Nothing More" are already hits on country radio, and he's sold more than half a million first-week copies before..
"It wouldn't surprise me if he sold more," said Billboard's Mayfield. "There's a bigger erosion in hip-hop sales than country sales this year. Even without that market condition, he's a big enough star to do handsome numbers."
