When Kanye West dropped Graduation, the world stopped. He was in a battle with 50 Cent as they dropped their albums on the same day. I remember it like it was yesterday. Back then, superstars like 50 Cent and Ye, didn’t drop on the same day. Maybe the same year, but not around the same time. On September 11, 2007, 50 Cent released his fifth album, Curtis while Kanye dropped his third album, Graduation. Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def recalled that day and felt it was a special moment for not only Kanye, but hip hop itself.
Drink Champs
Yasiin sat down with N.O.R.E. for his Drink Champs podcast recently to describe that moment. He feels that people should appreciate Kanye more because he kept the music industry alive. He outsold 50 Cent by hundreds of thousands and his album was of better quality. Graduation sold almost one million records in one week! Mos Def continued to say that the numbers from Graduation helped record companies to start streaming music. And for a black man in Hip Hop to do this was crazy at the time! The album not only changed the music industry, but it changed Hip Hop as well. Kanye’s creativity and willing to experiment beyond the typical hip-hop format pushed the genre in another direction. Hip Hop changed when Kanye stepped in, which made the way for rappers like Chance The Rapper, Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco, and Drake.
This week's inspirational quotes features Yasiin Bey or commonly known as Mos Def as his stage name, an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor.
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Curtis vs. Graduation
Yasiin found himself on Graduation twice. He was featured on “Good Night” as well as “Drunk and Hot Girls”. He likes 50 Cent and was a fan of Get Rich Or Die Tryin, but he knew Graduation was the better project. Yasiin went to the Kanye’s listening party for the album. He recalled that it was more of a production as it was in a movie theater. Kanye matched the songs with programs and animations to Bey’s surprise. He left the theater knowing 50 had no chance to compete with Ye. Graduation was the number one record in the world when it came out while Curtis was number two, selling 690,000 units in the first week.
Written By: Brandon Simmons
