Kanye West appears to be winning his head-to-head battle with 50 Cent for record sales supremacy, but both rappers are likely to move fewer units than they did with their previous albums.

This is the verdict of a Reuters news article that cites Billboard magazine as saying West is projected to sell between 575,000 and 700,000 copies of his new album Graduation, while 50 is likely to sell between 500,000 and 600,000 of his new offering, Curtis.

West sold 860,000 copies of his previous album in its first week on shelves, while 50's sold 1.14 million over a similar period.

The Reuters article implies hip-hop may be on its last legs, calling it "a flagging musical genre that may go the way of disco," and calling for an infusion of new artists.

Bakari Kitwana, an author interviewed for the piece, stops short of sounding hip hop's death knell, but agrees new talent is very much needed.

"You have got 30-year-old millionaires trying to appeal to 17- and 18-year-olds who aren't millionaires," he said.

All of this considered, Billboard senior editor Jonathan Cohen admits Ye and 50's Sept. 11 showdown is "the most talked about and anticipated single release day in memory."

"I certainly can't remember one this big," he told Reuters.