Despite what they’d have you believe, Kanye West and 50 Cent (and Osama Bin Laden) aren’t the only shows in town on 9-11. What about country boy Kenny Chesney, for example? I posed that question to 50 Cent recently, and he got his tight manzier-styled wife-beater bent all out of shape.

“Listen,” he barked. “Do you listen to Country music!?”

“No,” I said.

“Nether do I. So why are we talking about him,” he snapped. “Chesney sees an opportunity to make himself popular by putting himself in the race.” He sighed. “It’s marketing, dayum!”

You don’t say, Mr. 50? And since when did the king of marketing begrudge a fellow opportunist seeking a little bump in sales the right to exploit a situation. Beyond that, why should inflated heads like 50 and Kanye (and Osama) get all the 9-11 attention? Why shouldn’t we expand the pool and include some left-out hawkers of discs on this national day of mourning? If Kanye and 50 are like Ali-Foreman, then why not have some warm-up matches to keep it interesting and to, at least, give some ring-time to the lightweights?

But this “SoundScan Showdown” lead-up was so successful, the two discs blanketed every other release on that day and beyond. And it was all good, mostly because it was an original idea and appropriate for the magnitude of artists involved.

It could possibly work once again, like say with Ludacris and T.I. The two rappers have been at each other for years now, the latest being a dispute over the Grammy for Rap Album of The Year, which went to Luda, and emboldened T.I.’s contempt for his ATL counterpart (see Luda’s “I Get Money” diss remix below”). So, eh, I can see the people deciding in a 50/Kanye Scan-off.

While a T.I.-Luda showdown sounds enticing, the problem with all this hoopla is that other, less significant, rappers and their handlers will eventually insert their releases into this nifty new formula. If we’re not careful, it’ll become the next bullet-scar promotion made trendy by 50’s 9-shots story won him the adoration of the public. So, before some record company dimwit gets the bright idea to make this SoundScan face-off a part of the usual marketing plan, we might as well start getting used to it.

For example, if you’re like me, you’ve probably totally overlooked good ol’ 40 Cal’s release. Okay, so he’s not Cam’Ron, Jim Jones, or Juelz Santana, but dude is still Dipset, dammit, and he’s got Chickens in the coop (see video below). And yes, his album comes out right alongside Kanye’s and 50’s (well, stacked somewhere near them, in a choice number of locations).

Yet, he can be found on no pages of Rolling Stone, his disc is absent from discussions of 9-11 album releases, and it’s missing from any of the betting sites—no odds offered.

So, if you’re thinking like a record company marketer, here’s an idea: 40 Cal will face-off against B5, P. Diddy’s Goya-flavored Jackson Five impersonators, who will also be coming out today. Sure, the odds are in favor of the Bad Boy R&B creampuffs, but at least there are some odds there.

Likewise, Krayzie Bone, of the multi-platinum Bone Thugs N Harmony, and Young Bleed, from No Limit fame, both have discs that are being largely ignored this day. Exhibition match, anyone?

So back to Kenny Chesney. Since 50 edged him out of the competition, Chesney will have to pick on someone his own size (and music style, perhaps). While he figures that out, we’ll surely see another rap sales battle come along. When it does, let us hope it’s more like Luda and T.I. than Krayzie and 40 Cal.

Either way, it will happen. Like 50 said, “It’s marketing, dayum!”