Kanye West

It's the thug against the preppy boy. And the battle between 50 Cent and Kanye West goes down starting today. The heat is on to see which of the pop-friendly rappers will sell the most CDs in the first week: 50's Curtis or West's Graduation. 50 has vowed to stop making solo albums if West outsells him. But the much-hyped beef has been mostly friendly - generating buzz (not bullets) for waning mainstream hip-hop. What's at stake? 50 is all flash and no substance, whereas West is about 90 percent flash and 10 percent substance.

After Janet Jackson's bare breast made a quick appearance during the Super Bowl half-time show back in February, as America watched two aloof, moneyed men run for president, pop artists moved in divergent directions in 2004. Either they adhered to a somewhat conservative approach, incorporating safe, classy elements into their image and music (think Alicia Keys, who straightened her hair, put on some heels and crooned over pseudo-classical piano runs; and Kanye West, who rocked a white suit and rapped about Jesus)

Downloaded singles 1.Gold Digger, Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx 2.Photograph, Nickelback 3.My Humps, Black Eyed Peas 4.Run It! (Remix featuring Juelz Santana), Chris Brown 5.Boyfriend, Ashlee Simpson[ Courtesy iTunes] Downloaded albums 1.Unplugged, Alicia Keys 2.Extraordinary Machine, Fiona Apple 3.Elizabethtown (Music From the Motion Picture), Various Artists 4.Late Registration, Kanye West 5.Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1, Jackson Browne[ Courtesy iTunes] Video Game Sales 1.Madden NFL 2006, PS2 2.Madden NFL 2006, Xbox 3.NCAA Football 06, PS2 4.Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike , Xbox 5.Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends, DS

The mayor can rock out. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake shared her Spotify playlist this week -- the songs that ostensibly get her pumped up before big Ravens games. She goes with M&T Bank stadium standbys like The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army. " There's Ray Lewis' walk-on song "Hot in Herre" by Nelly. And she tells Spotify her "personal favorite" is "This is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan. We like that she picked "Run This Town. " Which, you know, she kinda does.