NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11: Recording artists Kanye West (L) and 50 Cent appear on BET’s 106 & Park at BET Studios September 11, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images)
50 Cent said he wouldn’t “put out any more solo albums” if Kanye West’s “Graduation” outsold “Curtis.”
Sept. 11th marked 15 years since the “death of gangsta rap,” as some would call it. The rivalry between 50 Cent’s Curtis and Kanye West’s Graduationwas a pivotal moment in hip-hop that shifted the trajectory and sound of the culture moving forward.As fans reflect on the first-week sales showdown between the two figures, SOHH shared unreleased footage from an interview with Fif just ahead of the release of Curtis. Coming off of the success of The Massacre a few years earlier, it was clear that 50 Cet was overly confident that he would be able to move just as many units on his third studio album, even if Kanye was a critical darling at the time. “I don’t get trophies, I get the checks. He [Kanye] gets the trophies,” Fif said.
The most shocking part of the interview is that he bet his whole career that he would outsell Kanye West in his first week.
“They’d like to see Kanye West give me a problem because I’ve worked myself into a space where I’ve become the favorite,” 50 Cent continued. “Everybody roots for the underdog when he goes against the favorite, but let’s raise the stakes. If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on Sept. 11, I’ll no longer write music.”
He clarified, “I won’t put out any more solo albums.”
Despite falling 266,000 units short of Kanye’s 957,000, 50 Cent still went onto drop Before I Self Destruct a few years later and Animal Ambition in 2014.
