NEW YORK — 50 Cent may be getting hip-hop’s equivalent of a gold watch next week.
Early reports have Kanye West beating 50 in their much-hyped battle of album sales: West’s “Graduation” is on pace to sell about 575,000 to 700,000 its first week out, while 50 Cent’s “Curtis” is on track to do 550,000, according to Billboard magazine. As of day one, Kanye had sold 437,000 copies to 50’s 310,000, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Both albums came out Tuesday, and a confident 50 Cent famously announced that he would retire if West outsold him in first-week sales.
“I just don’t view him as competition based on our previous sales histories,” 50 Cent told The Associated Press last month.
Curious: Which sold better in Alabama? Who's more popular in the South?
