50 Cent’s Curtis had the 2007 sales competition with Kanye West’s Graduation.
Both albums were released on September 11, 2007, creating one of the most heavily publicized release-week rivalries in hip-hop. Curtis was 50 Cent’s third studio album, while Graduation was Kanye West’s third. The matchup was framed as a clash between 50 Cent’s established gangsta-rap dominance and West’s increasingly experimental, pop-minded approach.
50 Cent intensified the contest by saying he would retire if Graduation outsold Curtis in the first week. The final U.S. figures favored West: Graduation sold about 957,000 copies, compared with roughly 691,000 for Curtis. The result gave West the number-one album and became a frequently cited turning point in mainstream hip-hop.
The question is about the album title, not 50 Cent’s birth name, Curtis Jackson. It is also easy to confuse Curtis with Get Rich or Die Tryin’ or The Massacre, his earlier major albums; neither was part of this specific 2007 head-to-head release.