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Eminem, Outkast, Britney Spears, and Missy Elliot were all at their best in the 2000s. But the two artists who completely dominated the game were none other than 50 Cent and Beyonce, as told by the Queens rapper himself. Their competition was a main point in a recent interview he had with Sirius XM’s Shade 45, Eminem‘s hip-hop channel.

But who came out on top? We’ll check out the facts and figures and find out who won the 2000s – the G-Unit rapper or Mrs. Carter.

Albums:

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (February 6th, 2003)

Debut: #1 on the Billboard 200

Albums Sold: 872,000 copies in its first four days

Awards/Accolades: It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, but lost to OutKast‘s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album at the 46th Grammy Awards. The album won 50 the Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Album and Artist awards at the 2003 American Music Awards, Album of the Year, Top R&B/Hip Hop Album, and Top Rap Album at the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, Album of the Year at the 2003 Source Awards, and Dopest Album at the 2003 Vibe Awards.

Dangerously In Love (June 24th, 2003)

Debut: #1 on the Billboard 200

Albums Sold: 317,000 copies in its first week

Awards/Accolades: Beyoncé was the first artist in twenty years and first woman in chart history to have both an album and single debut on top of the UK and US charts at the same time. The album earned Beyoncé a then record-tying five awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “Dangerously in Love 2,” Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Crazy in Love,” and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “The Closer I Get to You” with Luther Vandross. This album also won Best Female R&B/Soul Album at the 2004 Soul Train Music Awards.

The Massacre (March 3rd, 2005)

Debut: #1 on the Billboard 200

Albums Sold: 1.14 million copies in its first four days

Awards/Accolades: At that time it ranked as the sixth largest opening week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking U.S. sales in 1991. He became the first solo artist to have three singles on the Billboard top five in the same week with “Candy Shop,” “Disco Inferno” and “How We Do.” The album won 50 the Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Album award at the 2005 American Music Awards, and Top R&B/Hip Hop and Top Rap Album at the 2005 Billboard Awards.

B’Day (September 5th, 2006)

Debut: #1 on the Billboard 200

Albums Sold: 541,000 copies in its first week

Awards/Accolades: B’Day won Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards.

Curtis (September 11th, 2007)

Debut: #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 691,000 units in the first week, behind Kanye West‘s Graduation, whom he had a sales competition with, as both albums were released on the same day.

Albums Sold: 691,000 units in the first week.

Awards/Accolades: Curtis made him the Best-Selling Hip-Hop Artist at the 2007 World Music Awards.

I Am… Sasha Fierce (November 18th, 2008)

Debut: #1 on the Billboard 200.

Albums Sold: 482,000 copies in its first week.

Awards/Accolades: This album gave Bey her third consecutive #1 album in the U.S. The album earned at least seventeen platinum and one diamond certifications in separate worldwide markets. The album itself received eight Grammy Award nominations (Bey had 10 in total) at the 2010 Grammy Awards ceremony. She won a record setting six awards — the most awards won in one night. The only other singer who was able to win six awards in one night was singer (and one of Bey’s besties) Adele in 2012.

Singles

“In Da Club” (2003)

“In Da Club”was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), becoming 50 Cent’s first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks and remained on the charts for twenty-two weeks. It also reached number one on the Top 40 Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and Hot Rap Tracks charts. The song reached number one in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland and the top five in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It received two Grammy nominations for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song. It was listed at number 18 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time.”

“Crazy in Love” (2003)

“Crazy in Love” remained #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive weeks. It also went to number one in the United Kingdom, and reached the top ten on the singles charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden as well as Switzerland and achieved multi-platinum certifications in most of these countries. “Crazy in Love” had sold more than five million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time. In Europe, “Crazy in Love” won the Best Song award at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards. VH1 placed the song at number one on its 100 Greatest Songs of the 2000s list. At the 46th Grammy Awards, it won Grammys for Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Song Collaboration. Entertainment Weekly magazine ranked “Crazy in Love” forty-seven in its list of The 100 Greatest Summer Songs. The song is ranked second in Yahoo!’s list of biggest-selling singles since 2000. The song was listed at number three on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 50 Best Songs of the 2000s Decade and as the 118th greatest song of all time on the magazine’s 2010 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, writing, “the horns weren’t a hook. They were a herald: Pop’s new queen had arrived.”

“21 Questions” (2003)

His second single, “21 Questions” became 50 Cent’s second chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for four non-consecutive weeks. It spent seven weeks on top of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. Outside the States, “21 Questions” reached number six in the United Kingdom. It was certified gold by the RIAA.

“Baby Boy” (2003)

“Baby Boy” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for nine consecutive weeks, and was Bey’s longest-running solo number-one single until 2007. It reached the top ten in many countries, and was certified platinum in Australia and the U.S. It won ASCAP Awards for Most Performed Song and R&B/Hip-Hop Song, a Billboard Award for Hot 100 Award for Most Weeks at No. 1, as well as Most Performed Song and Award Winning Song at the BMI Awards.

“P.I.M.P.” (2003)

Third single “P.I.M.P.” was shipped with a remix featuring rapper Snoop Dogg and trio-group G-Unit. It was the third single that peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on “Hot Rap Tracks,” becoming the third single from the album to peak in the top then on the “Hot 100” chart. It also reached number one in Canada. It was certified Gold by RIAA.

“Me, Myself and I” (2003)

“Me, Myself and I” peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, and became Bey’s fourth consecutive U.S. top five single. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The single reached the top 20 in Australia, the UK and in some European countries. At the 2005 ASCAP Awards, Bey received the Songwriter of the Year award for the song. It was recognized as Most Performed Song in 2005, alongside “Baby Boy” and “Naughty Girl.” Knowles’ live version of “Me, Myself and I” from The Beyoncé Experience Live! gained a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

“If I Can’t” (2003)

Get Rich Or Die Tryin‘s final single, “If I Can’t,” peaked at number seventy-six on the Billboard Hot 100 and thirty-four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.

“Naughty Girl” (2004)

This song peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bey’s fourth consecutive release from the album to reach the top five on that chart. The single reached the top ten in New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. “Naughty Girl” was certified gold by the American, Australian and New Zealander trade associations of record producers. The video received four nominations at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards and eventually won the Best Female Video accolade. It also won the “Most Performed Songs” ASCAP award, along with “Baby Boy” and “Me, Myself and I.”

“Disco Inferno” (2004)

“Disco Inferno” debuted at #54 and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming 50 Cent’s fourth solo top-ten song on the chart and sixth overall. “Disco Inferno” was certified Gold by the RIAA. The song was also nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards of 2006, but lost to Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”

“The Closer I Get to You” (2004)

During the 46th Grammy Awards, this version of “The Closer I Get to You” won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. It debuted at #76 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart. The next week it moved up to number 68, and on August 7 it peaked at number 62. The track spent a total of twenty weeks on the chart. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, “The Closer I Get to You” spent eight weeks and reached a peak of number 60.

“Candy Shop” (2005)

“Candy Shop” featuring Olivia debuted at #53 on the Billboard Hot 100. In its second week on the chart, the song jumped to #30. “Candy Shop” then jumped to #8 in its third week. In its fourth week, the song charted at #2. It peaked at #1 in its fifth week, where it remained for nine straight weeks. It became 50 Cent’s third number one single and fifth top-ten single. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Best Rap Song, and at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, the music video was nominated for Best Male Video. The track reached number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Tracks, and Rhythmic Top 40 charts. The song also did well on pop-oriented charts, reaching #2 on the Pop 100 and #5 on the Top 40 Mainstream. “Candy Shop” was helped on the Hot 100 and Pop 100 by its strong digital downloads, peaking at #1 on the Hot Digital Songs. The RIAA certified the track Platinum in 2006.

“Check On It” (2005)

“Check On It” peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, becoming one of the two longest-running number-one singles in 2006, and Bey’s third U.S. #1 single as a solo artist. “Check on It” was also at the top of the Hot Digital Songs and the Pop 100 charts. The single remained at #1 on the Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, tying Knowles with Jennifer Lopez for having her first three number-one Hot 100 singles stay on top for five weeks or more. “Check on It” spent a total of twenty-eight weeks on the Hot 100. The song also topped the Pop Songs, the Hot Dance Club Play, the Rhythmic Top 40, and the Hot 100 Airplay charts. It reached number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

“Just a Lil Bit” (2005)

“Just a Lil Bit” debuted at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #3 on the chart. The song was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA.

“Déjà Vu” (2006)

This track peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart, the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). “Déjà Vu” peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 20 in Europe. “Déjà Vu” was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best R&B Song at the 2007 Grammy Awards.It was also nominated for Best Collaboration at the BET Awards.

“Outta Control (Remix)” (2005)

“Outta Control (Remix)” featuring Mobb Deep reached #6 on the Billboard charts, becoming 50 Cent’s seventh top-ten solo single on the chart as the lead artist. It also marked his tenth top-ten single overall.

“Irreplaceable” (2006)

This became Knowles’ fourth #1 in the U.S., was B’Day‘s most successful release, and remained at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for ten consecutive weeks. “Irreplaceable” was the best-selling U.S. single of 2007, the twenty-fifth most successful song of the 2000s (decade) in the U.S., and was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It became Knowles’ second single to achieve 200 million audience impressions in 2006. She is the second singer to achieve this feat in the U.S., the first being Mariah Carey in 2005. “Irreplaceable” peaked at number one in Australia, at number four in the United Kingdom, and reached the top twenty in several European countries. “Irreplaceable” was 2007’s tenth best-selling digital single with over 4.6 million copies sold worldwide. It won the award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female, at the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards, and the Favorite Song award at the 2007 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in the 2008 Grammy Awards, and Song of the Year at the VH1 Soul Vibe awards. “Irreplaceable” was recognized as one of the five most-performed songs of 2007 by the ASCAP Pop Music Awards.

“Straight to the Bank” (2007)

Six days after the song was leaked on the Internet, it debuted at #48 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and peaked at #30 weeks later. “Straight to the Bank” debuted at #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of May 26, 2007. It remained on the chart for 3 weeks, before falling off. It peaked at #3 on the iTunes single chart.

“Beautiful Liar” (2007)

Immediately after its release, “Beautiful Liar” reached number one on the iTunes best-seller list in March 2007. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and experienced the largest upward movement on that chart until 2008. The song peaked at #1 in many European countries, including France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. “Beautiful Liar” won the Most Earthshattering Collaboration Award at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.

“Amusement Park” (2007)

This song peaked at #17 on Billboard’s Rap chart.

“Get Me Bodied” (2007)

“Get Me Bodied” initially reached number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2007, then reached a new peak of #46 in 2013. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized it as the best R&B and Hip-Hop song of 2007. It spent a total of eighteen weeks on Hot 100. It peaked at #10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It reached #88 on the Pop 100 chart. “Get Me Bodied” was ranked at number 26 on the US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs year-end chart. In 2013, a video of a woman named Deborah Cohan and her doctors breaking out dancing to the song before she underwent a double mastectomy was posted on YouTube and went viral. Due to Billboard‘s new 2013 streaming rules, the song became eligible to chart on the Hot 100, giving it a new peak of number 46 for the week of November 23, 2013.

“I Get Money” (2007)

“I Get Money” was #14 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. The song peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The remix, titled, “Forbes 1-2-3 Billion Dollar Remix,” included Puff Daddy and Bey’s husband, Jay Z.

“Green Light” (2007)

The single performed moderately on charts, peaking at #12 on the UK Singles Chart and at #46 in Ireland. The Freemasons remix of the track peaked at number eighteen on the Dutch Top 40 chart.

“Ayo Technology” (2007)

This song, featuring Justin Timberlake,  became 50 Cent’s second highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100, entering at #22. The following week, it rose to #18, before falling to #21. One week after, “Ayo Technology” rose to #19. One week later, during the release of 50 Cent’s Curtis and Kanye West’s Graduation, the song skyrocketed to a peak of #5, becoming 50 Cent’s eighth top-ten single as the lead artist, and eleventh overall.

“If I Were A Boy” (2008)

If I Were a Boy” peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The single was a commercial success as it placed in the top ten on twenty-five different singles charts. It topped the charts in more than eight European countries. The digital version of the song debuted at the top of the Hot Digital Songs chart, selling 190,000 units. It became her fourth number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart, following “Check on It” (2005), “Irreplaceable” (2006), and “Beautiful Liar” (2007). “If I Were a Boy” also became her tenth top-ten single on the Hot 100 as a solo artist.

“I’ll Still Kill” (2007)

“I’ll Still Kill” features Akon and peaked at #95 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (2008)

“Single Ladies” peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has been certified quadruple-platinum by the RIAA, having sold more than 5 million paid digital downloads as of October 2012. The song reached the top ten on the singles charts of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom, and achieved multi-platinum certifications in many of these countries. “Single Ladies” was 2009’s seventh best-selling digital single with over 6.1 million copies sold worldwide, and is one of the best-selling singles of all-time. It won the Grammy Awards for the Song of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. It received many other awards and nominations between 2008 and 2010, and was named one of the best songs of 2008 by media outlets including MTV News, Rolling Stone, and Time magazine.

According to Billboard, Beyonce was the #4 Top Artist of the 2000’s decade, with 50 not quite making the list.

This breakdown was solely based on 50’s remarks regarding Beyonce being one of his competitors in the 2000’s decade. Based on the facts and figures, 50 definitely won in the first half of the decade, but Mrs. Carter continued to progress and ended the decade as the big winner.

SOURCE: Billboard | PHOTO CREDIT: Tumblr

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