50 Cent Singer

"50 Cent: The Money and the Power" premiered on MTV on Thursday. In the series, 14 contestants compete to prove their entrepreneurial savvy and display their corporate blood lust. 50 Cent -- real name Curtis Jackson -- is also the co-author of the forthcoming book "The 50th Law." His new album will be released Dec. 9. The new single: Scott Storch produced it. He's a little bit of a wanted man! Do you know where he is?

YOU'D be forgiven for judging the paperback novella "The Ski Mask Way" by its cover. The book's jacket artwork depicts a muscle-bound thug stripped to the waist to reveal a tapestry of tattoos: a skull, a spider and the word "Un Broken" etched across his pectorals in gothic font. Flanked by the silhouette of prison bars, he clutches a woolen balaclava, leaving little doubt as to the shoot'em-up literature within.

Like candidates trying to sway voters on Election Day, Kanye West and 50 Cent will appear on BET's "106 & Park" on Tuesday, when both their heavily anticipated albums hit stores. West and 50 Cent have hyped the albums as an epic battle of rap titans -- 50 Cent has said he'd retire if West's "Graduation" outsells his "Curtis" CD in their first week out.

The "showdown" between Kanye West and 50 Cent, whose new albums both come out Tuesday, has played out -- it was ridiculous before it began and blatantly illustrated the music-loving public's eagerness to participate in media events even when they have no larger relevance or even basis in reality.

It looks like 50 Cent might be retiring at the ripe old age of 32. The Queens, N.Y., rapper announced a few weeks ago that if his new album, "Curtis," did not outsell Kanye West's new collection, "Graduation," during their first week in stores that he would call it quits as a solo recording artist. Well, both albums hit the shelves Tuesday and early results suggest that 50's sales aren't as big as his words.

Don't hold your breath waiting for 50 Cent to retire. Sure, the trash-talking MC may have uttered what seemed like famous last words, vowing to hang up his mike if Kanye West's "Graduation" were to outsell 50's third album, "Curtis," in their first week of release.

For hip-hop fans who relish a good debate, the last few weeks have been a gift horse. On Sept. 25, hip-hop went to Washington. At a congressional hearing titled "From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degradation," spearheaded by Rep. (and former Black Panther) Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), speakers included Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman, Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. and rappers Master P and David Banner.

Near the end of the new straight-to-DVD documentary "Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin," Compton gangsta rapper the Game is shown creeping through the underbrush behind a Farmington, Conn., home he says belongs to his hip-hop rival, 50 Cent. It's the latest salvo in an escalating war of words between the Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum selling MCs that has raged across stages, in TV interviews and on underground mix-tapes for almost a year.

A Miami judge has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit accusing rapper 50 Cent of stealing the opening line for his 2003 hit "In Da Club" from a song by former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell. U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck found that the disputed phrase was a "common, unoriginal, and noncopyrightable element of the song" and was not entitled to copyright protection. Campbell's song appeared on his 1994 solo album "Still a Freak for Life."