Music News, recent releases and mp3 downloads

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer Wed Sep 19, 4:47 AM ET

NEW YORK – Just hours after he was officially crowned the victor in his much-hyped sales battle with 50 Cent, Kanye West turned up at GQ‘s 50th anniversary party as the featured performer.

“To be a champion, you‘ve got to take out a champion,” West declared Tuesday night, as an all-star crowd including Jay-Z, Beyonce and Diddy cheered him on. Moments later, he called for his “theme music,” then launched into a performance of his song “Good Life.”

“It feels overwhelming,” West told The Associated Press earlier in the day. “Everyone is coming up to me and telling me how proud they are of me.”

Last month, 50 didn‘t think of West as much of a competitor: “It‘s great marketing on Def Jam‘s part, by putting us out there at the same time and make like we can actually be compared on some level,” he told the AP. In another interview, he said he would retire if West outsold him.

Indeed, Billboard.com reported that the top four-selling albums, including Kenny Chesney‘s “Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates,” and “High School Musical 2,” sold 2.2 million copies, more than the top 200 albums had sold in the previous week combined.

50‘s album was originally scheduled to be released in June on Interscope Records, a division of Universal Music Group, but was pushed back to Sept. 11. Soon after, Kanye West, whose album was supposed to come out sometime in late summer, pushed his date to Sept. 11 as well.

“I was the underdog because I sold less records in the past, so it was a win-win for me,” he said. “If I lost, everyone would be happy that I even went up against him.”

“The rivalry helped both of them,” said Jay-Z, president of West‘s label Def Jam — also a division of Universal Music Group. “It was definitely one of those moments in the game that was exciting, everybody could pick a side and weigh in on and have an opinion ..
Read the rest of this entry »

Kanye West and 50 Cent are regulars on the hit charts, sell millions of albums, and are among the most notable personalities in the entire music industry. But who is the true heavyweight of hip-hop?

Whether looking at fairly recent “beefs” between the likes of Jay-Z and Cam’ron or going all the way back to the breakup of NWA and subsequent feud between Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, virtually every era of hip-hop has housed its share of discord.

Various reasons spark these conflicts, but ego is always a universal factor.

Not surprising, considering the foundation of rap was built on a braggadocios demeanor.

Even less surprising is the recent media-fueled strife between two of rap’s biggest egos, 50 Cent and Kanye West.

The two have butted heads before. In 2005, 50 made claims he was the reason for West’s success.

He’s also accused Kanye of making “safe” music.

Despite 50’s growing irrelevance to hip-hop, he continues to view himself as the top dog in the industry.

When it was revealed both artists would release their respective third albums on Sept. 11, 50 dismissed the idea of West outselling him, going as far as to bet his solo career on it.

West accepted and when the dust settled a week after the albums’ release, one thing was clear: 50’s LP was the loser, both sales-wise and artistically.

West’s Graduation moved an impressive 957,000 copies, while 50’s Curtis only sold 615,000 units.

Sales aren’t everything when judging musical quality, but the pair of albums proves that Kanye is hungry to evolve, while 50 is comfortable living in a state of complacency.

If it wasn’t obvious before, it is now: Churning out an assembly line of tracks about guns, money, and violence doesn’t mask the reality that it’s 50 who is making the safe music.

Maturity isn’t a trait typically associated with Kanye West.

The rapping super-producer’s idiosyncrasies and penchant for publicly pouting are about as well-known as his body of work. Nevertheless, his third album, Graduation, shows marks of sophistication lyrically and musically.
Read the rest of this entry »

The numbers are in for first-week sales of Kanye West’s third album, "Graduation," and the Chicago rapper and producer has blown the doors off New York gangsta 50 Cent’s latest (and last?) album.

Nielsen SoundScan, which monitors album sales at the point of purchase, reports that "Graduation" sold 957,000 copies since Sept. 11, earning the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s pop albums chart and nearly winning platinum status during its first six days on sale.

50 Cent’s third album, "Curtis," came in at No. 2 with 691,000 sold, followed by Kenny Chesney’s "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" with 387,000 copies.

Billboard reports the total for "Graduation" is the largest for any recording since 50 Cent’s "The Massacre" sold 1.1 million copies in March 2005. And West’s album ranks 15th among all first-week sales giants since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking numbers in 1991.

"To be a champion, you’ve got to take out a champion," West said while performing Tuesday at GQ’s 50th anniversary party in New York.

Prior to his release, Fiddy vowed to quit the music business if West rapper outsold him.
Read the rest of this entry »

It has been reported that 50 Cent has reassured fans he isn’t quitting music despite him saying that if Kanye West beat him in the album sales which he did he would quit.

50 Cent cancelled his entire European tour earlier this weekand is trying to make it up to fans by announcing plans for a series of UK shows later this year.

A source has said that “50 wants to go to Britain and perform tracks from his new ‘Curtis’ album for his UK fans.
Read the rest of this entry »

We have a decisive winner in the much-hyped rap sales showdown between Kanye West and 50 Cent.

Kanye West’s Graduation claimed the No. 1 spot on the Canadian album charts this week, selling over 54,000 copies, according to figures compiled Nielsen SoundScan.

50 Cent’s Curtis, meanwhile, came up short at No. 2, with 46,000 copies sold.

If you’re thinking that Kanye now has the biggest debut of the year, think again — Avril Lavigne’s The Best Damn Thing is still the top dog — it had first week sales of 68,000 back in April.

The Kanye vs. 50 tussle wasn’t as close south of the border, where West racked up an astonishing 957,000 in sales in the U.S., while Fiddy was well behind with 691,000, according to Billboard.com.

Back here, Bon Jovi’s appearance on the finale of Canadian Idol helped their latest disc Lost Highway (7,000) climb up from No. 11 to No. 3, while Paul Brandt’s new CD Risk premiered at No. 4.

All the movement up top sent the High School Musical 2 soundtrack down from No. 1 to No.
Read the rest of this entry »

For the past few years, hip-hop has been on a bit of a losing streak in terms of record sales. Although there have been a few significant events like the return of Jay-Z and Nas, T.I. facing himself, Jim Jones balling out of control, and the South proving they shall rise again (in rap that is), none of these moments were able to sustain rap’s previous dominance on the billboard charts. Even though these moments didn’t really make that much of a difference saleswise, there looks like there might be two saving graces in hip-hop that might just help it get off its feet again.50 Cent and super-producer/rapper, Kanye West having been going back and forth promoting their third solo albums prior to their September 11 release. Well the wait is over, and now both albums are out and the world is listening.Now, before one can go about determining which album to buy, one has to briefly backtrack and remember how this historic event in hip-hop all started. When 50 Cent was having problems with rapper Cam’ron, he decided to change the name of his next album “Before I Self-Destruct” to “Curtis”, just to get under Cam’ron’s skin. The album, scheduled to come out in June, was then delayed to Sept. 11. Around the same time Kanye’s next album entitled “Graduation”, was also scheduled to come out in August, but Def Jam president Jay-Z, then decided to push the album’s date back to Sept. 11 as well just to have a little competitive fun with 50 Cent. Then 50 bet Kanye that if his album sells less than Kanye’s in the first week of sales, he will then retire from the world of rap.Since that statement was made by 50 Cent over the summer, the competition has been heating up. Let’s do a quick tale of the tape $between 50 Cent’s “Curtis”, and Kanye West’s “Graduation”.Past Results:Both artists are now on their third solo album which is a good thing, but 50 technically had five albums altogether including the movie soundtrack and the G-Unit album. The first two albums for 50 Cent have sold over 800,000 on their first week. Kanye’s on the other hand has only sold over 600,000 on the first week alone. So if you’ve never listened to these two artists’ previous work, and you’re going by sales, then you know who to buy first.Advantage: 50 CentProduction:The beats on both albums are great. Kanye beats were basically all made by him, but 50’s beats were done by Dr. Dre, Timbaland and fellow GUnit member Havoc. But when you listen to both albums closely, you’ll notice that Kanye’s beats have more of a natural flow to it, while 50 beats sound more like the last two albums.Advantage: Kanye WestCollaborations:Originally, West promised that there would be no other artist on his album. Well apparently Mr.
Read the rest of this entry »

The American previously said he would stop releasing solo material if the new album by rival Kanye West outsold his own – which it did in the US and UK.

He also pulled out of two awards shows in London, but has now announced eight arena gigs in November.

Tickets for the concerts are due to go on sale at 1000 BST on Saturday.

The star will perform at the Aberdeen Arena on 7 November, with a show at the SECC in Glasgow the following day.

He is also appearing at Birmingham’s NEC Arena on 9 November, the O2 arena in London on 10 November and Bournemouth’s BIC on 11 November.
Read the rest of this entry »

21 September 2007 (Bang) – The rapper, who canceled his entire European tour earlier this week, is trying to make it up to fans by announcing plans for a series of UK shows later this year.

A source said: “50 wants to go to Britain and perform tracks from his new ‘Curtis’ album for his UK fans. He doesn’t want to let them down.”

The 32-year-old star will play eight concerts across the UK in November, including shows at London’s O2 arena.

50, who pledged to retire from the music industry if Kanye West’s album ‘Graduation’ outsold his own ‘Curtis’, is seemingly reconsidering his retirement vow despite Kanye winning the UK leg of their chart battle last Sunday (16.09.07).

The Candy Shop star, who canceled performances at the Vodafone Live Music Awards and MOBO awards on Wednesday (19.
Read the rest of this entry »

So by now, everyone knows Kanye West convincingly defeated 50 Cent in their head-to-head SoundScan clash during the first week of album sales. (Yeah, yeah, it was a fantastic day for hip-hop, blah, blah, so many albums were sold — but there had to be a winner, people.)

West pushed 957,700 copies of his Graduation to land atop the charts. Meanwhile, Fif’s sales weren’t too shabby either, however, the 692,300 copies his Curtis sold were considerably fewer than ones sold by the Louis Vuitton Don (all numbers have been rounded off, so put away that calculator). Plus, of course, the sales landed him at #2.

So just how did Kanye do it?

Beyond the 265,300 difference in total units sold between the two projects, West’s dominance in the matchup proved to be a one-sided affair in terms of digital, regional and retail sales.

The 132,600 digital units that West’s album pushed beat the prior first-week record set by Maroon 5’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, which moved 102,000 copies through that medium earlier this year. Fif’s album sold just 57,900 copies digitally in its first week. A staggering difference, to say the least.

For instance, 14 percent of the multiplatinum producer’s first-week total accounted from digital sales over the Internet, compared to that number accounting for only 8 percent of 50’s total first-week sales.

Kanye even carried 50’s backyard.

The Chicago native sold a combined 204,000 copies of Graduation throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, where you would think 50 would have had an edge. But Fif — representing Queens, New York — moved a combined 168,500 copies in the same two areas.

In New York specifically, Kanye sold 98,900 copies to Fif’s 80,800. (Kanye also outpaced 50 in Los Angeles and Chicago with 80,800/55,500 to 56,800/28,200 units sold, respectively.)

Nationally, the city slicker 50 Cent even had to take a bow to the preppy West in the ‘hoods.
Read the rest of this entry »

(EZ-Tracks) – Kanye West was declared the winner in the much hyped sales battle he had with 50 Cent, selling almost one million copies of his new album in the first week of its release and injecting the music industry with some much needed positive publicity. According to sales data issued on Tuesday by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan, West’s “Graduation” sold 957,000 copies during the six days ended September 16, while 50 Cent’s “Curtis” trailed with 691,000. West also outsold the rapper in the U.K. West’s tally is the largest for any album since 50 Cent’s previous release “The Massacre,” which opened to 1.1 million units in March 2005 and spent six weeks at No. 1.
Read the rest of this entry »