50 Cent vs. Kanye West: Real Rivalry or Guerrilla Marketing?
Kanye tells 50 Cent, "Please, 50, don't retire once my album sells and beats your album," and 50 Cent is quick to counter with, "I'm gonna stick around and sell this record-and I will be #1 on September 11" (Gordon Hurd, Yahoo Buzz Log).
The question on everyone's minds though is this a legitimate rivalry in terms of do these two guys detest each other in the way old school rap rivalries (i.e. East vs. West) went down? Certainly they are two of the most popular figures in the hip hop industry and thus they compete as would two of the best NFL teams, but do they hate each other the way Michigan and Ohio State do?
Old school rappers would probably dismiss this rivalry as guerrilla marketing tactics in an attempt to create hype and buzz to sell more albums rather than a true battle of wit and rhymes the way rappers used settle scores and determine superiority.
Guerrilla marketing can best be explained as an unconventional way of performing promotional activities, typically on a low budget. Now, neither West or 50 Cent and their respective labels have a typically low budget with respect to promotion of these albums; however, their promotions (if indeed it is a fabricated rivalry) would be a design in an attempt to market without their consumers realizing they have been marketed to ala stealth marketing. These tactics can be called into question as deceptive and misleading.
This is not my decision to make, rather one for the fans of these two artists to decide for themselves. Do these two rappers have a legitimate beef with one another or are they merely fabricating this rivalry to sell more records? Does the consumer care either way as long as they enjoy the music of the respective artists?
According to the Yahoo Buzz Index, queries for 50 are significantly more than those for Kanye, but that is certainly no clear indicator that 50 will reign supreme. "Graduation" is the third studio album release from Kanye, and "Curtis" is the third studio album release from 50 Cent (Wikipedia).
Kanye's album was originally scheduled to be released on the 18th; however, he moved it forward to that it could compete head to head with 50 Cent's new album. 50 Cent stated that if "Graduation" outsold "Curtis" he would stop releasing solo albums, but he later retracted this statement, (Wikipedia).
Published by Chance McMillan
Chance McMillan is a free-lance writer and entrepreneur w/ an focus on sports, entertainment, and leisure. View profile
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- High Profile Rappers 50 Cent and Kanye West Start Rivalry
- Both rappers released their 3rd album on Sept. 11th
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32 Comments
Post a Commentlol dc. That wasn't a legitimate beef at all. But it did work and they did sell a lot of records, lol.
yo 50 your music is better than rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!rock is @$#^en retarted yo my email is killer9782.ca@hotmail.com
Interesting read "Mouth". Always good to create more controversy, lol.
i will admit this isnt a very informed or educated opinion but on a surface level, from all I know so far about these rappers, i am inclined to believe that neither is true. For one, 50 cent if im not mistaken has risen very quickly to fame and probably fortune due to his support from Eminem. i dont think a guerrilla marketing tactic would be necessary. At the same time, i dont really think the two despise each other so much as it seems either. To be honest, i loathe 50 cent and his music (and im a huge fan of hip hop/rap) and if his lyrics were any indication of his personality he's a downright thug. My conclusion would be that he either is using this battle with Kanye as an excuse to flaunt his tough gangsta image OR, he just isn't creative enough to come up with anything interesting or intelligent to speak or rhyme about, so this is what he has turned to. Wow, i just wrote a lot of information. So did other people. You should feel completely awesome and pleased with yourself for sti
Interesting and well written article
too bad little brother - get back got pushed back
It's pretty obvious they don't have beef, but are creating hype while at the same time competing for the most sales.
According to Billboard, SoundScan Building Chart indicates Tuesday sales of 437,000 for West's "Graduation" and 310,000 for 50 Cent's "Curtis."
Well, looks like I was wrong about who would win. Oh, and I kinda figured it was a marketing scheme. What isn't these days? LOL
obviously a marketing ploy
guerrilla marketing techniques always fascinates me. good article.