KANYE WEST Vs. 50 CENT: A Quarter A Million Copies Sold Sure Makes a Difference

By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

(l-r) Kanye West and 50 Cent The streets have spoken.

The verdict is in.

Kanye West has outsold 50 Cent in first week sales of their respective new albums, which were both released Sept. 11.

The hip-pop music wunderkind – who tends to address social and political ills through his music and his media outburst bested the chiseled-chest, gritty thug rap icon – who fashions most of his music with tales of gunplay, foreplay and braggadocio -- by over 250,000 units.

According to preliminary Nielsen Soundscan figures, West's third opus 'Graduation' sold 957,000 copies, while 50 Cent's third set 'Curtis' racked up 691,000 in sales.

50 Cent During the promotion of a much buzzed about "rap war," 50 Cent (legally known as Curtis Jackson) took the media induced frenzy up a notch by declaring if West outsold him, he would retire. (The Interscope Records chart-topper later amended the stake saying he would record in a limited capacity.)

West, a multiple Grammy Award winning Def Jam rapper, on the other hand, reduced the rivalry for what it truly was: a marketing ploy.

And apparently it worked in his favor.

But what does this mean for 50 Cent, who – via a whirlwind affair with actress Vivica A. Fox and some choice acting projects – have further seeped into the mainstream consciousness?

Has he strayed from his hardcore rap fan base?

Kanye West If you have him tell it, the books were cooked.

In an interview with UK music magazine Uncut, the brazen rap star said: "He's never had a fraction of the sales 50 Cent has. They could have only one scan and have it count four times. West's entire career hasn't sold half what I sold on my first album."

"To be a champion, you've got to take out a champion," West declared last night upon learning about the news during a star-studded bash in London, where he was the featured performer at GQ magazine's 50th anniversary party.

Well alrighty then.