Chesney joins 50 Cent/Kanye album battle

Country singer Kenny Chesney has blasted rival rappers 50 Cent and Kanye West for ignoring the fact his album is coming out at the same time as their latest discs.

50 Cent has vowed his album Curtis will outsell West's Graduation when the two discs are released on September 11.

Chesney - ex-husband of Renee Zellweger - is stunned the two rappers think the competition is just between them, because his new album Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates is also released on the same day.

Chesney says: "It's funny how with every record that comes out, we're aware of the urban (competition), and none of those acts acknowledge that I exist - until I have that No. 1 debut on the Top 200."