Kanye West vs. 50 Cent...Why Is There Even A Debate?

This is Jordan Zirm and this is my first blog posting...get excited, I'll be here all year.

As I waited in the airport this past Labor Day Weekend, I picked up an issue of The Rolling Stone magazine, partly because on the cover read the headline "Kanye vs. 50 Cent." September 11th is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated days in hip hop in recent years, with the dropping of two albums from two of the most well known rap artists out there right now. Kanye West drops his third album of his career with 'Graduation' while 50 Cent gives us 'Curtis', also his third album. Inside the Rolling Stone was an article comparing the two artists and predicting who would sell the most albums. Kanye West even moved his release date to the 11th so that this friendly competition was sure to happen. 50 Cent went as far as to say he would stop making solo records if Kanye outsold him. Well 50, you better start looking for another career. To compare 50 Cent with Kanye West is almost an insult to Kanye West. To me, there are two kinds of hip hop. We have 'club' hip hop, where all that really matters is if the beat can shake your rear view mirror and you can dance to it. No one really cares what the lyrical content of the song is, partly because you cannot hear it over the thundering baseline. Unfortunately, this is what most of mainstream America wants in their music, along with hearing over and over again about how many women, how much money, and how many cars a certain MC has. 50 Cent has fallen into this group, and his new album does nothing to disprove that. Having already put out 4 or 5 singles form 'Curtis', 50 Cent has only one song that has climbed the charts, that being Ayo Technology with Justin Timberlake. But lyrically, 50 Cent is a joke. I never have understood how maintsream rappers such as Hurricane Chris, Dem Franchise Boys, and now 50 Cent can get a record deal when literally anyone on Earth could write down and rap what these guys say.

Kanye West, on the other hand, is a unique MC, not afraid to try things no other rapper has the courage to try and actually knows how to use the English language. From working with the front man of Maroon 5 on his last album Late Registration to bringing in Chris Martin from Coldplay on his new one, Kanye West makes real hip hop. Kanye even goes as far to sample Steely Dan on his new record...yes Steely Dan, a band my dad loves from back in the day. I guarentee you 50 Cent does not even know who Steely Dan is. Kanye is a worldy guy, educated in different types of music, and makes beats that have more than 3 notes to them. Not to mention that he is an unbelievable lyricist. Why don't we take a look at some lines each MC has rapped. 50 Cent, on his song 'Amusement Park' from his new album says, "Now you can ride the horse around the carousel/Explosions Torjans all in the hotel/Put me to the test girl i don't fail/I work it out/Without a doubt........I look at this and I honestly think I could sit down and right something more creative than this. How many rappers out there write a song about hooking up with a girl? Right, I think every single one has a song about that. It is nothing original, and from such a big artist like 50, it is kind of disappointing. But if we take a look at one of my favorite lines from Kanye West, from his song 'Gone' off of Late Registration, he says "Y'all don't want no prob from me/What you rappers could get is a job from me/Maybe you could be my intern/And in turn, I'll show you how to cook up summer in the win-turr, followed by the line "Damn 'Ye it'd be stupid to ditch you/Even you're superficial raps is super official...Watching Kanye use the play one words in both lines just shows the creativity he has and the effort he puts into writing his lyrics. There is no comparison between lyrics of 50's and Kanye's.

I realize this has been a long post but it sickens to me to watch rapper after rapper come out, such as Soulja Boy, and make awful rap music. As long as you make up a dance to your song you can get all the airtime you want. If 50 Cent outsells Kanye West it will be a sad day for hip hop.