Kanye vs 50 campaign
In 2007, a “showdown” between Kanye West and 50 Cent was established around the releases of the studio albums which were both set to release on September 11. Kanye was set to release his third studio album Graduation and 50 with his album Curtis. 50 started the whole thing when he advised to the press that Kanye should pick a new date if he wanted to be at the top of the Billboards charts. Both rappers went back and forth and it went as far as 50 annoucing his retirement if he wasn’t number one with more sales. With a collaborative/competitive nature of this campaign both artists paired on television shows such a 106 and Park and both stood face to face in one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s most iconic covers. The “beef” between the rappers made fans feel in total control of who they chose to support. Although Kanye came out on top in the long run, 50 still sold 691,000 copies of Curtis in a time where the industry was suffering from poor sales.
