Kanye West

According to reports Kanye West leads Hip Hop artist 50 Cent in their media-hyped battle of album sales. West’s “Graduation” day one sale was at 437,000 copies to 50’s “Curtis” at 310,000, according to Nielson Soundscan. West is on pace to sell about 575,000 to 700,000 its first week, while 50 Cent is on track to do 550,000, according to Billboard magazine. Both albums came out Tuesday, and a confident 50 Cent famously announced that he would retire if West outsold him in first-week sales. "I just don't view him as competition based on our previous sales histories," 50 Cent told The Associated Press last month. But it looks as if 50 underestimated the power of West, and perhaps, overestimated his own appeal. Still, don't finalize those retirement party plans for 50 just yet; there are several days to go before a final tally is determined, and he could catch up and overtake West. And there's still the potential of a third-party candidate winning the race: country superstar Kenny Chesney, who's "Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates" also was released on Tuesday, is so far on pace to sell 400,000 to 550,000 copies.