50 Cent and Kanye West: Watch the Hip-Hop Titans Behind the Scenes at the Rolling Stone Cover Shoot

"This is a rock & roll moment right here," says Kanye West on the set of his Rolling Stone cover shoot with 50 Cent. Watch the two hip-hop heavyweights get camera-ready at photographer Albert Watson's New York studio, discuss the Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier confrontation that inspired them, chat about what it means to be on the cover of Rolling Stone and more as the two gear up for the September 11th releases of Curtis and Graduation. Check out excerpts of the 50 Cent and Kanye West interviews, too.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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