50 Cent recalls ‘beef’ with Kanye West

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Rap fans may remember 2007’s ‘The Battle of the Album Sales’ that featured two of the biggest artists in hip-hop — 50 Cent and Kanye West. It was billed as a clash of rap of titans and even snagged the cover of Rolling Stone.

Critics and hip-hop heads alike awaited the release of Kanye’s Graduation album and 50’s Curtis album to see who would come out on top. The battle ultimately wasn’t even close, as Kanye almost went platinum in his first week by selling 957,000 units, compared to 50 Cent’s respectable 691,000 units.

Slideshow: Who won the greatest hip hop battles?

On the 5th year anniversary of their beef, 50 said in a recent interview with XXLMag.com, “At the time, I had a stronger feel for the streets [than Kanye], prior to that competition and trying to compete with each other.”

He continued on by saying that he and Ye never had actual beef with each other and it was beneficial to use it as a publicity tool.

“That was just to build energy because Kanye [and I]…we didn’t have no beef at all. You can’t stand that close to someone and take pictures for the cover of Rolling Stone with having beef,” said 50.

The G-Unit general went on to say that the beef was for the benefit of the fans to get them hyped for bigger sales. Without the competition, 50 said, the album sales wouldn’t have been that high and that “it was just great marketing.”