Kanye West outpacing 50 Cent

...It looks like 50 Cent might be retiring !

Kanye West is leading the battle of the charts against 50 Cent : his album Graduation is outselling his rival’s by two to one. Both hip-hop stars released their new LPs in the U.S. on Tuesday, and the Candy Shop rapper vowed to put down his microphone if he was beaten by West.

But 50 Cent may be forced to swallow his pride - West is winning the war, with Graduation predicted to sell 750,000 copies in its first week - 200,000 units more than 50’s projected sales figure, according to AllHipHop.com.

According to Nielsen Soundscan, West’s new album Graduation has shifted 431,000 copies on its day of release in the US, compared to only 310,000 copies of 50 Cent’s Curtis.

The acts, who both released albums this week, have been caught in a media battle to see who would get to Number One.

The ’beef’ culminated with 50 Cent saying that if ’Curtis’ didn’t outsell West’s new effort ’Graduation’ he would quit music. He said: "I’ll write music and work with my other artists, but I won’t put out anymore solo albums."