Kanye West vs. 50 Cent: How they used the Groundswell

The year 2007 was a very diverse and fruitful year for hip hop. The year had a number of commercial hits fit for the radio and clubs. Hip hop listeners were infatuated by the tunes such as "Crank Dat" by Soulja Boy, "Superstar" by Lupe Fiasco, and "Buy You A Drank" by T-Pain. Albums like Lupe Fiasco's Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, Jay-Z's American Gangster, and Talib Kweli's Eardrum were at their peak and had listeners tuned in that year. Music was booming in 2007, but for two of the hottest names in hip hop, an event was taking place that had all hip hop fans paying attention.

Chicago rapper/producer Kanye West has had successful career with his own label called G.O.O.D. Music and is known for his conscious and meaningful lyrics, sample-filled instrumentals, and all-around rebellious personality (before he became the narcissistic "God" he is today).  He debuted in 2004 with the album entitled The College Dropout which brought him into stardom and sold 440,000 copies in its first week. The following year he released his sophomore album, Late Registration, which sold 860,000 albums in its first week. 

Queens rapper 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) is perhaps best known for the intense rap rivalries (called "beefs" in the rap universe) he has been a part of, which has actually been helpful in getting more people to pay attention to him. He is the head of the rap collective G-Unit and jumped on the scene in 2003 with Get Rich Or Die Tryin', which sold 872,000 copies within its first week. Two years later, he releases The Massacre, which sold a whopping 1.1 million albums in the first week. 

By 2007, rappers Kanye West and 50 Cent have made a name for themselves and already had two best-selling albums each. When it was announced that each rapper's third album would be released on September 11, the potential of competition between the two was brought to many people's attention, including Def Jam CEO Jay-Z. 

By August of 2007, the idea was too hard to ignore and the two rappers embraced the idea of a friendly competition for the top album. The most popular rap music that was on the radio in the early 2000's was that of the "gangster" kind, which is what gave 50 Cent the upper advantage. 50 Cent was so confident that he would win this challenge that he proclaimed, and I quote, "if Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent, I'll never write music again". That statement elevated this bet into the biggest hip hop moment in 2007 that had all rap nerds debating amongst one another and choosing sides, while lead singles, videos, and interviews about the bet were advertising these albums.

                   Rolling Stones interview
               Celebrities make their decision

                   
             
When September 11 came, sales were skyrocketing for the both of them and by the following week, a winner was determined. By September 18, Kanye West's Graduation sold 957,000 copies in one week (I even bought a copy at the time to join in the bet), while 50 Cent's Curtis sold a mere 691,000. Kanye West was marked the winner of this bet and his album has brought him the most first-week album sales out of all of his 6 albums. As for 50 Cent, he profited reasonably well from this bet and, not surprisingly, still makes music 'till this day.

This friendly rivalry was, as Jay-Z describes, "a great day for Kanye West and Roc-A-Fella Records and a fantastic day for hip hop and artistry". It did good not only for the sales but because hip hop has always been built on competition. Fans want to see rappers compete to see who's top dog like they want to see sports teams compete (like I mentioned earlier, it has served 50 Cent well for his career). This event encouraged people to actually buy the CDs instead of downloading the music. It also got loyal fans to encourage lukewarm fans to purchase CDs and create debates and discussions among rap fans throughout the nation, thus spreading the word for these two artists. Wether the buyers of the CDs bought them just to enjoy the music or to support a rapper in the bet, these people (including myself) aided in what is possibly the most simple example of how the groundswell works. 

http://rap.about.com/od/top10albums/tp/TopRapAlbums2007.htm
http://www.vh1.com/music/tuner/2013-06-27/soundscanner-yeezus/
http://www.stopthebreaks.com/hip-hop-features/50-cent-first-week-album-sales/
http://www.mtv.com/news/1570001/kanye-west-pounds-50-cent-in-first-week-of-album-showdown/