Article: REVIEWS: KANYE WEST VS. 50 CENT; West prevails in battle of rap giants

The battle is on in hip-hop's heavyweight fight between Kanye West, the preppy producer turned rapper from Chicago, and 50 Cent (aka Curtis Jackson), the self-mythicized bullet-riddled New York street thug. Here's the decision: Kanye West by a knockout.

Thumbs down: 50's "Curtis"

The album mostly sticks to the same East Coast gangster rap that helped him become hip-hop's sales king on his first two records, "Get Rich or Die Tryin' " and "The Massacre."

Theme: 50 mostly boasts of his street cred and raking in big money. In "I Get Money," he raps about being "stanky rich" after his recent sale of Vitamin Water, which reportedly made him more than $100 million. On "I'll Still Kill" and "Curtis ...

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