The battle between Hip Hop heavyweights, 50 “Curtis” Cent and Kanye “Bush Hates Blacks” West, kicks off today… 50 has said he would retire from his solo career if Kanye’s “Graduation” out sells “Curtis”, and Kanye thinks he’s moving big numbers already. It’s such a big event that 50 and Kanye will appear on BET together to promote the albums, aided by Stuart Scott. According to the early rumor mill:

Initial prognostications from the respective camps in the Kanye West-50 Cent-Kenny Chesney chart race see the two rappers in the 600k range, each with a shot at beating Linkin Park’s first-week record of 625k back in May, while Chesney looks to be in the 450-500k area. As far as pre-orders go, West is leading 50 by 2-1 at both iTunes and Amazon.com, though Fitty has a 2-1 edge in searches at Yahoo, a reliable measure of buzz factor.

It’s gonna be close.. It depends on the individual’s taste.. Kanye’s joint is a more musical, conceptual album, while Fiddy’s piece is “50 being 50″. My biggest beef with “Curtis” is, for a guy that brags about how much money he makes/has, 50 still has songs titled My Gun Go Off, I’ll Still Kill, Fully Loaded Clip, and Curtis 187. Since we know he’s not getting into any real beef nowadays, what’s he talking about? My problem with Kanye’s album is the same problem I have with every Kanye album… His voice. He’s a talented Diva dude, but I can only take being whined to for so long.

With all of the hype surrounding the showdown, I was expecting more.I try to find similarities in Hip Hop and sports, and I’m dubbing this battle De La Hoya/Mayweather. There was a huge buildup but when it came down to it, nobody got dirty. Nobody mixed it up. It’s just a couple of rich guys using each other to make more money… But Kanye West won in my book.

50 Cent Lays Down Challenge To Kanye West. Courtesy of KTVU.com

Video: Kanye West Takes Over for Miss Jones. Courtesy of Nah Right

Stuart Scott Choice To Go West Or Pay 50 Cent Toll. Courtesy of Sports By Brooks

3 Way Race. Courtesy of HITS Daily Double rumor mill

Tags: 50 Cent, Kanye West, Graduation, Curtis, Sales

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvJGghOuFlQ]

The crew over at Deadspin dropped this classic video. I’m pretty sure the hand puppet will be getting it’s own show on the “Ocho”, or he might hang back and see how things shake out at Cold Pizza First Take. If you’ve got 6 minutes to spare, do yourself a favor and watch this video. And don’t forget what these guys did last year.

The Stephen A. Smith Hecklers Return. Courtesy of Deadspin

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