Why Albums Drop and Movies Launch

In the summer of 2007, Kanye West and 50 Cent were embroiled in a high-wattage—and highly manufactured—promotional showdown. Both rappers had albums dropping on the same day in September and, to boost their respective first-week sales, were squaring off in as many venues as possible. They stood toe-to-toe, like boxers, onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards; they mean-mugged each other on the cover of Rolling Stone; they sat for a joint interview as part of a BET special titled “Kanye West vs. 50 Cent: The Clash of the Titans.”