Kanye Topples 50 In First-Week Sales

Alright, almost everyone has been talking about it, and I've bought in to the hype: Kanye West beat 50 Cent in album sales last week. Kanye's Graduation smoked 50's Curtis by nearly a third. The former moved 957,000 units according to Nielsen SoundScan, the latter 691,000.

Quite bombastic sales in the face of a crippled album sales industry, where recent chart-toppers have moved less than 200,000 in their first week. According to Billboard.com, Graduation is the best-selling album in the week of release since, ironically, 50 Cent's The Massacre which moved 1.1 million in its debut.

The question remains: Will 50 follow through on his promise to retire if Kanye outsold him by actually bowing out? My guess is no, but I'd love to see him show some class and stay true to his word.

Nike To Donate To Local Baltimore Charities

Throwing out what might be the best thing about the previously reported Nike Air Force One collabs with Nas, Kanye, Rakim, and KRS-One (and produced by DJ Premier), Nike has announced plans to donate proceeds from the tracks to Baltimore charities including local chapters of The Boys & Girls Club of America and The Salvation Army.

According to the press release, "Known for the pivotal role it played in the popularity of the Air Force 1, Baltimore is home to three of the original Air Force 1 retailers including Downtown Locker Room. In Baltimore the love for the Air Force 1 took the form of a groundswell of support that emerged in the early 80s and eventually spread all over the world. The presence of the shoe on all sides of town turned the AF1 into Baltimore's shoe of choice, a revolutionary footwear product that spoke volumes about the city's love for basketball and made Baltimore a key player in the subsequent resurrection of the Air Force 1 and the flourish of basketball culture."

The track, "Classic - Better Than I've Ever Been" is available on iTunes along with another original Nike song, "The Second Coming" produced by Just Blaze with lyrics by Juelz Santana.

Would have preferred to see smaller, more grassroots charities get the loot, but at least Nike is giving money to our fair city.

Master P To Form Profanity-Free Hip-Hop Label

May the hip-hop community rain down fire upon me, but I've always been a fan of Master P and No Limit Records. While P's rapping skills were suspect at pest (like most hip-hop producers cum rappers, like Diddy, Kanye West, etc.), I was all about Ghetto D (click to check out the 10th anniversary edition of the album that put the dirty south on the map). The late 90's label put out all kinds of good records, and in its heyday with Silkk The Shocker, P, Mystikal, and Soulja Slim all churning out tracks at the same time, I could not spend money fast enough.

So it interests me to hear that P is going to introduce a new label (amidst all the hype about hip-hop eliminating offensive lyrics) that is entirely profanity-free. The label will be called Take A Stand Records, and P says, ""I can honestly say that I was once part of the problem and now it's time to be part of the solution. I am ready to take a stand by cleaning up my music and follow my son's [Lil Romeo] footsteps and make a clean rap album." P and Romeo are co-founding the label as a father/son venture, and are looking for talent via AmericasNextHipHopStars.com.

The label's first release, however, will be an LP with both Master P and Lil Romeo called Hip-Hop History.

Source: AllHip-Hop.com

KRS-One, Nas, Rakim, Kanye West Selling Sneakers, Kanye's Mom Writes Book About "Raising Kanye"

I have, for years, been a HUGE fan of KRS-One. I love how his stuff with Boogie Down Productions, and even his albums up through The Sneak Attack had a lot of integrity while keeping a positive outlook and demonstrating a desire to raise hip-hop to another level. But now he's plugging product for Nike.



This business with Nas, Kanye West, and Rakim (et tu, Rakim?) is just bad. The song is spot on, KRS and Rakim especially can show Nas and Kanye who made the scene that they thrive on. But schlepping shoes for Nike? You guys don't need this. Kanye is all about getting his face on anything (even his mom is going to write a book, "Raising Kanye"), but you don't need to sell out like that.