Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Kanye West or 50 Cent?


It's official...Kanye has confirmed that he will continue along as planned -- he has moved the release date of his third album, Graduation, up to September 11th (the same day that 50 Cent's third album, Curtis, will also be dropped). Let the "rap games" begin.

So my question is...

Which album will produce the better numbers, as in sales?? SlowStuff?

Personally, I believe both of these rappers to be overrated. Let's face it...Kanye is a better producer than rapper, and 50 Cent is a byproduct of self-promotion ("shot nine times", constant rivalry fueds, GGGGGG-Unit, Eminem's legacy, etc).

At the end of the day, I prefer Kanye's talents over 50 Cent's. Kanye's style is more original, as he often utilizes pitched-up vocal samples with his own drums and instruments. He comes with a soul feel. With that said, I don't expect the numbers to support my opinion -- evidenced by the fact that 50 Cent has achieved multi-platinum success with both his albums, selling over twenty million records worldwide.

How does 'Fiddy' feel about Kanye? Just ask him (take into consideration that the below quotes are slightly over a year old)...

"He puts together witty phrases and he's a great talent as a producer, but I still don't know who Kanye West is when I listen to him. By listening to his records, I don't know who he is — I know he's been in a car accident, that's what I know."

"I feel like Kanye West is successful because of me. After 50 Cent, [hip-hop fans] was looking for something non-confrontational, and they went after first thing that came along. That was Kanye West, and his records have taken off."

From a marketing perspective, the one thing that Kanye has on his side is the favorable reception that his latest two music videos ("Can't Tell Me Nothing" and "Stronger") have received.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whats wrong with you? Who cares about BET celebs??

Anonymous said...

kayne is better. all of 50's songs sound the same. at least kayne mixes it up.

Norman P. Orlando said...

Let me be the first to admit the hip-hop scene waved bye bye to me right after the digital underground released 'humpty dance' and A Tribe Called Quest stopped releasing albums. That said, I have to throw my hat in Kanye's corner. With all the shitty/mainstream hip-hop that was coming out 2000-2005 I never thought I'd be into the genre again, but Kanye brought me back into the fold. He's the most dynamic act the hip-hop scene has, in terms of blending different types of music (i.e. rock, soul, jazz) together, which in essence isn't that how hip-hop got its start?

Anyways, I'd say Kanye is one of the top live acts out now and when was the last time a hip-hop star could hold that title?

Anonymous said...

i agree with orlando. kayne takes the cake.

Chieftain said...

Norm,

Tribe Called Quest reunited last year - and plan to release at least one more album in the future.

Norman P. Orlando said...

thats why I'm back in the mix!

Anonymous said...

It's hard to compare these two, as far as which one is 'better.' Neither is a great rapper, but their rapping isn't really what makes either of them successful. Kanye brings a total package. He is an insane producer, and I think his appeal as a rapper is that he's such a clown... it isn't like he spits rhymes that make you say, 'damn, rewind that sh*t, that was hot...' more like 'damn, rewind that sh*t, he is out of his mind.' i love him for that though. 50s game, as Chieftain points out, is more about his image and back-story. He comes out with absolute club bangers though, which brings me to my greater point... that hip-hop's rappers today have been eclipsed by its producers. Timbo can't rap a lick, and I bought the hell out of his CD. Same with Pharrell. And 50? Well, he gets the hottest producers on his albums: Dre, Scott Storch, etc. I'd venture to say that the only great lyricists who are still relevant are Jigga Man, Nas, Common, and Mr. Loso himself, Fabolous (who also brings the producer heavy-weights to his releases). Missy is pretty whack, but when you pair her up w/Timbo throughout basically her whole career, she becomes hot (musically... relax, everyone). Noreaga (I know, not really relevant anymore, but you get where I'm going)? Whack. Great songs though. TI's got great flow, but he's got the production backing (Neptunes, Just Blaze, Wyclef) that puts him over the top. You can't listen to a Swizz Beats-produced track (or arguably a Scott Storch as well) and say that the beats don't jump to the forefront over the rapper in each song. The Clipse are okay, but their albums have been hot (both produced by the Neptunes). My main man Justin Timberlake (yeah, I said it), would be merely a figment of our boy-band imaginations if it weren't for the likes of the Neptunes and Timbaland giving them their hottest beats -- which not only broadened his potential audience (to clowns like me, for example), but gave him street cred in the hip-hop community as well (see his tracks with The Clipse, Snoop Dog, Timbaland, Three 6 Mafia, etc.). Jigga's able to get the hottest tracks but still remain above all the beats and keep the listener paying attention to him (which is what makes him a 'great,' in my mind). So the bottom line is, its hard to compare 50 and Krazy Kanye as rappers... you've got to take each of them as total packages. My vote for bigger sales (and this is certainly a tough call): Mr. West. He's got a bigger cross-over appeal. 50 does make absolute bangers though. Let the games begin... can we please get a Michael Buffer hype intro!?!

By the way... Common's new album drops this coming Tuesday. If you haven't heard it yet, check out 'The Game' on that album... it's a Kanye-produced track with DJ Premier scratching over it. Check it out at http://hypem.com/search/common%20the%20game/1/. Sh*t is HOT!

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