50 Cent vs. Kanye West: Curtis vs Graduation — Who Won the Battle?

In September 2007, two rap giants squared off—not in the streets, but in the stores. 50 Cent dropped Curtis and Kanye West released Graduation, both on the very same date (September 11, 2007), in a widely publicized “sales battle.” The stakes were real: first‐week numbers, chart positions, bragging rights in hip-hop. 50 Cent had already dominated much of the early 2000s with Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and The Massacre, while Kanye was proving he could do more than soul samples—he was pushing hip-hop toward a new sound and sensibility.

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On release week, Graduation came out swinging, moving 957,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200. Curtis sold 691,000 copies that same week, debuting at #2 behind Kanye.  Curtis featured singles such as “I Get Money,” “Ayo Technology” (with Justin Timberlake), and “Straight to the Bank,” which charted in the Hot 100 (top 20 for some) but didn’t dominate quite like some of Kanye’s hits.  Graduation gave Kanye chart‐toppers like “Stronger” (which hit #1 on the Hot 100) as well as big singles like “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Good Life.”

There was more than just numbers—there was theater, marketing, and ego. Kanye moved up Graduation’s release date to match Curtis, making it a head-to-head clash. 50 Cent famously said that if Graduation outsold Curtis, he would stop releasing solo albums; a bold claim that heightened the tension.  Kanye, meanwhile, was confident—but also framed the competition as part of a larger goal: to make music that breaks genre boundaries and connects widely. In talking about Graduation, Kanye said he wanted “people’s theme songs,” making more universal tracks rather than just hardcore rap.  After the numbers came in, 50 Cent acknowledged the magnitude of what the two albums’ releases meant: not just for them individually, but for hip-hop’s direction. 

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Today, looking back, Graduation clearly made a bigger long-term impact in my eyes. Its songs still carry weight, still show up in culture, and the sound Kanye pushed—melodic, ambitious, genre-blending—helped shift where hip-hop could go. Curtis had strong moments, and I still bump tracks from it, but it didn’t leave that same lasting imprint for me. When I hear “Stronger,” “Good Life,” “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” I remember exactly where I was; Graduation feels iconic. Curtis had hits, swagger, and a huge first week, for sure—but for my personal taste and in terms of legacy, Kanye won that battle in a way that still echoes now.