CURTIS v GRADUATION: September 11th Showdown

50 Cent and Kanye West are set to release their third commercial full-length albums, "CURTIS" and "GRADUATION" respectively both on September 11th, 2007. A date arranged by both record labels to put both heavyweight recording-rivals in the ring for the ultimate battle of record sales. Both superstars have been pitted against each other commercially through their careers on chart topping and awards.

50 and West brought their sophomore albums to the 48th Grammy Awards in 2006. Both albums and singles were categorically nominated together. "Late Registration" v "The Massacre". The outcome was as follows:

• Best Rap Song:

• "Diamonds From Sierra Leone"
  Kanye West - Late Registration

  Nominee:

  "Hate It Or Love It" - 50 Cent & The Game
  "Candy Shop" - 50 Cent

  • Best Rap Solo Performance:

  • "Gold Digger"
    Kanye West - Late Registration

    Nominee:

    50 Cent - "Disco Inferno"

    • Best Rap Album:

    • Late Registration - Kanye West

      Nominee:

      The Massacre - 50 Cent

      CURTIS

      "Curtis" album was originally named "Curtis S.S.K." for SoundScan Killer, but shortened to the present title. The title Curtis, obviously named after his own birth name. Also in retaliation to Cam'ron's "Curtis" diss-track aimed at 50 in a continuous recording-war between both artists. It was marked for release by June 26th, but later pushed back to September 11th. It will drop on Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records.

      50 told XXL Mag the reason for his label holding onto the album till September,
      “Yes it’s true my album has been pushed back because it wasn’t delivered to the plant in order to be distributed and delivered world wide so it has to be pushed back.”

      Singles dropped are "Amusement Park", "I Get Money", "Ayo Technology" and "Straight to the Bank" performed live for Floyd Mayweather Jr's unified title super-fight against Oscar De La Hoya. Featured guests include: Eminem, G-Unit's Tony Yayo and Young Buck, Timbaland, DJ Khalil, Akon, Pussycat Nicole Scherzinger and more.

      GRADUATION

      On MTV, Kanye's mother, Donda announced his album would be set for release on the 18th of September, 2007. This was soon changed for September 11th to put his album head-to-head with 50 Cent's third release. "Graduation" will come from Island Def Jam's Roc-A-Fella Records.
      
      
      On January 16th, 2007, West stated the following about the upcoming album:
      “I can say, idea-wise, I got 10 ideas. I go back and work on ideas and tweak them. I can't say I'm halfway done. There's a lot of people I want to work with, a lot of rappers. But I don't want to give away what I'mma do. I look at music as a gift. So I'mma just keep everything under wraps until it's time. You remember, you didn't find out about the Nas joint ("We Major") until real late? I waited till the last listening session a couple of weeks before the album came out. I played it in a room with 300 people and Nas' voice hit the track and it was like, ‘Ah, man.’ Another surprise might be there might not be anybody on it. There are a few rappers I really love and I would love to work with, but I'mma figure out what I'mma do for my album.”

      Featured guests will include: Young Jeezy, Mos Def, Lil Wayne, T-Pain and pop-rockers John Mayer and Chris Martin. Pre-released singles are, "Can't Tell Me Nothing", released on May 29th and "Stronger" released August 21st. The third single, still unleashed will be "Good Life".
      
      
      
      

      2007 "GRADUATION" v "CURTIS" marks the rematch. Album reviews available, (click album names)