Fiddy vs Kanye vs 9/11

I never thought I'd reach a point in my life where I'd be cheering for Kanye, but Fiddy has truly embraced his self-proclaimed stride as the George Bush of rap and now that Kanye and Fiddy's albums will both be dropping on 9/11, I hope Kanye somehow manages to outsell 50 and end his career.

It's sad how quickly went from beloved street underdog with "How to Rob..." to the boring special ed analogy raps of "Amusement Park."

This uncut interview with 50 at Spin magazine is actually pretty incredible and gives a pretty honest look at his vulnerability after being shot and the fact that he's intelligent until the interviewer and Fiddy go into a room with Fiddy's weed-carriers and devolves into the rich-boy bully shtick that's worn terribly thin. It's sad because the beginning of the interview shows he's smarter than what comes below.

Example,

• What about the MCs -- Chamillionaire, Ghostface Killah, Master P -- who have said that they're not going to curse in their music anymore, in response to the post-Imus outcry?
  None of those people sell records.

  Chamillionaire sold more than a million records.
  Let him go sell gospel records, if he's so fuckin' righteous. I can write around the curses if I want to, but you can't tell me to write around the curses. First of all, there's a clean version of the record available, anyway, if people don't want to hear that content. This is adult entertainment. Why is pornography legal? Wouldn't you say that the women who do pornography are hos? They get paid $1,000 to fuck on tape. You understand? And we can't say 'ho'? And who's the leading consumer for pussy on a tape? Middle-aged white men.

  The peanut gallery: "White men, yeah. They buy all of it. They're spending way more."

He also states that music cannot be good unless it sells.

• Yeah, it's hard to imagine Ghostface is going to stop cursing, especially considering his last couple of records.

  The peanut gallery: "Nobody even cares what he does." "Who's listening to him, anyway?" "That was the '90s, B. Kids don't even know Ghostface anymore." "The streets are different now," says Yayo. "Guys like Ghostface don't matter. They don't. They had a run, but it's over."

  But can't he just make a great record, even if it doesn't sell, and we can appreciate it as listeners, as hip-hop fans?
  No, because a great record is embraced and enjoyed by the public. And it's played in cars and clubs.

  What if it sells a couple hundred thousand copies, isn't that valid? Or does it have to sell millions for you to take it seriously?
  In my camp, a couple hundred thousand records is a failure. From my perspective, if I sell 200,000 copies, after selling 12 million records, it's considered terrible.

  But maybe he's trying to make a different kind of record?
  What, the kind people don't buy?

  No, one with incredible, detailed storytelling that's moving and powerful, and isn't dependent on some obvious hook.
  Look, I understand all that. But if you're on a major record label, and he [Ghostface] is, and you sell a couple hundred thousand records, that was a failure. Your fuckin' photos and videos aren't recouped with 200,000 copies sold.

By that logic all popular music is good, all top-selling books are art and the highest grossing movies are the true classics.

Bad Boys 2 > Donnie Darko
Pearl Harbor > Waking Life
Etc...

Thanks for the heads up Curtis.

Meanwhile, Kanye is ready for that ass (pause) on September 11th.
This may be the first year where people might actually be allowed to enjoy September 11th. Unless Guiliani links Curtis and Kanye to 9/11.

In the meanwhile, Chamillionaire's new Mixtape Messiah 3 is better than the last 42 albums G-Unit put out.