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The Great Hip-Hop Bake-Off!It's Kanye vs. 50—but is the era of rap superstardom over?

By Jonah WeinerPosted Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007, at 3:44 PM ET

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Hua Hsu called Kanye "Hip-Hop's Hamlet," while Sasha Frere-Jones hailed West as the genre's only savior in 2004. Jody Rosen noted how 50 Cent has built his career "beefing" with other MCs. If superstardom is over, make way for Akon and T-Pain: the "perfect Web 2.0 stars."

So in addition to his matchup against Kanye, 50 has generally been trying to reposition himself as a villain—ironically, the persona he cultivated before he became a superstar. Curtis' best single yet is "I Get Money," which evokes his scrappy, wisecracking days on the mixtape circuit. "I took quarter-water, sold it in bottles for two bucks," he raps, making his part-ownership of Vitamin Water sound like just another corner hustle. "Coca-Cola came and bought it for billions, what the fuck?"

Other tactics, though, haven't played quite so smoothly. After MTV put several MCs ahead of 50 on a list of "The Hottest MCs in the Game," he announced that the network "can suck my dick." He has repeatedly insulted New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne, with no provocation beyond the fact that Wayne is enjoying far more buzz than 50 (he topped that MTV list, for starters). And after a forthcoming single, "Follow My Lead," leaked months before its scheduled release, he tore apart his offices at Interscope in a rage and barked "Fuck Jimmy Iovine!" on a new mixtape song. (Iovine is Interscope's head honcho and a far more formidable adversary than, say, Ja Rule, whose career a younger, sprightlier 50 more or less ended with his withering barbs.) Provocation suits a hip-hop star, but tantrums do not. What unites most of 50's recent attempts to maintain his ginormousness is that he has come out of them seeming uncertain, unhinged—in a word, smaller. So far, Lil Wayne, currently hip-hop's most prolific artist, hasn't even seen fit to respond to 50's attacks.

For his part, Kanye West has become a one-man long-tail graph: He's still making music with broad, unifying, pop appeal, but he's devoted significant energy to courting niche audiences, too. He has freestyled over songs by Thom Yorke and Swedish indie-rock outfit Peter Bjorn and John, and his lead single, "Stronger," samples French electronica duo Daft Punk. He is certainly the first rapper to wear clothes by prankish designer Jeremy Scott or to hire Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami to design his album artwork.

At the same time, Kanye's second single, "Good Life," features a zippy Michael Jackson sample and a chorus from Billboard-dominating crooner T-Pain. For the video for "Stronger," Kanye commissioned a big-budget treatment by Hype Williams, flew to Japan to film it, and held private screenings in Manhattan. You could interpret this as a bravado protest against the tiny, pixilated windows of YouTube, except that, for his next video, Kanye hired bearded comedian Zach Galifianakis to lip-sync to "Can't Tell Me Nothing," posted the bizarre results online, and created an instant YouTube phenomenon. Working in an industry that shudders every time a teenager fires up an iMac, Kanye hasn't merely adapted to the fracturing media landscape; he's embraced it. (Even his lyrics, full of vulnerabilities and confessions, suit an era of celebrity transparency, MySpace profiles, and streaming-video diaries.)

Both 50 and Kanye will doubtless sell well into the six-figure range next week, but there's no guarantee that either can match the first-week performance of his last album (1.14 million and 860,000, respectively). And as if they didn't have enough to worry about, there is also a third king in next Tuesday's race. He hails from the distant realm known as Nashville, which has produced multiplatinum superstars for years—and continues to do so despite the industry slump. He wears a cowboy hat and plays barefoot. And he has been quick to remind reporters that he's sold millions of records himself. Do not underestimate the power of His Highness Kenny Chesney.