In todays Hip Hop update - who won the album battle, whats happened to Scratch Mag, Diddy on his perfume ads,and Queen Latifa heads back to the gerRap roots

Results are in
Turns out Kanye outsold 50 Cent on first week sales in the rappers home country. Kanye West sold 957,000 copies of Graduation as opposed to 50 Cent selling 691,000 of his third album Curtis. This does however just reflect sales in America; it is expected that 50 Cent will outsell Kanye worldwide but figures have yet to be disclosed. however Vivendi the parent company of Universal records on which 50 cent records is stating that he has gone two times platinum worldwide in a week.It has been announced however that 50 Cent has postponed his tour of the UK and will not be appearing at the MOBO awards as expected tonight at the O2 arena in London.
Scratch Magazine No More
For all producers in the world, the one magazine that has continued to give them their shot at the limelight folded yesterday. Scratch magazine part of the Harris Publications family which also distributes the Hip-Hop monthly XXL came into existence in 2004. It has showcased the production talents of some of the biggest names in the Hip-Hop world such as Kanye West, Dr Dre, Eminem and has also allowed the more underground beatsmiths their time to shine.

Reshuffling at the magazine earlier this year has industry insiders speculating just how long the magazine would last. So from yesterdays news..apparently, not long

Diddy says No way
Sean Combs refuses to edit the new commercial shot for his Unforgivable line of perfumes and colognes. The commercial for Unforgivable Woman has been deemed as too raunchy for TV and the Bad Boy CEO has been advised to change the commercial if he wants it to air on TV.

But Combs is adamant that he doesn't want to change anything. "I feel strongly that this movie needs to be viewed and judged by the public rather than by executives," he said in a statement. "Some people may be uncomfortable with the sensuality and sexual content, but it is important for them to make that decision personally."

The perfume is created and marketing by Estee Lauder and the company continue to stand behind Mr. Combs and his decision.

Queen Latifah talks come back
Dana Owens may have made a name for herself in Hollywood with her acting capabilities, but she will never forget what got her her name in the first place.

Talking about releasing a new Hip-hop album, Queen Latifah had this to say "I think there's a bunch of rap heads and hip-hop lovers who are my age," she explains. "They just want good music that's not shallow. They really want more from their music. Nobody's really filled my shoes yet. There's still room for me to do my thing."

So once she completes promotion for her up and coming release Trav'lin' Light" which hits shelves on Sept. 25, perhaps the time will be right for one of the first females to ever do it to get back to the booth on a Hip-Hop level. Her last Hip-Hop release was back in 1998 when she put out Order in the Court

Melanie J Cornish