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[Hiphop:] "I'll sign you as a producer and a rapper", |
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Yo **** you, Kanye, first and foremost |
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For making me do this shit. Muh'****er |
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Had to throw everybody out the mother****ing room |
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'Cause they don't ****ing.. |
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(I'd like to propose a toast) |
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(I said toast mother****er) |
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And I am (here's to the roc) |
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And they ask me, they ask me, they ask me, I tell them (here's to Rocafella) |
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Raise your glasses, your glasses, your glasses to the sky (here's to the roc) |
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This is the last call for alcohol, for the... (here's to Rocafella) |
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So get your ass up off the wall |
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The all around the world Digital Underground, Pac |
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The Rudloph the red nosed reindeer of the Roc |
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I take my chain, my 15 seconds of fame |
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And come back next year with the whole ****ing game |
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Ain't nobody expect Kanye to end up on top |
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They expected that College Dropout to drop and then flop |
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Then maybe he stop savin' all the good beats for himself |
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Rocafella's only niggaz that help |
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My money was thinner than Sean Paul's goatee hair |
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Now Jean Paul Gaultier cologne fill the air, here |
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They say he bourgie, he big-headed |
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Won't you please stop talking about how my dick head is |
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Flow infectious, give me 10 seconds |
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I'll have a buzz bigger than insects in Texas |
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It's funny how wasn't nobody interested |
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'Til the night I almost killed myself in Lexus |
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And I am (here's to the roc) |
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And they ask me, they ask me, they ask me, I tell them (here's to Rocafella) |
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Raise your glasses, your glasses, your glasses to the sky (here's to the roc) |
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This is the last call for alcohol, for the... (here's to Rocafella) |
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So get your ass up off the wall |
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Now was Kanye the most overlooked? Yes sir |
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Now is Kanye the most overbooked? Yes sir |
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Though the fans want the feeling of A Tribe Called Quest |
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But all they got left is this guy called West |
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Better take Freeway, throw him on tracks with Mos Def |
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Call him Kwa-lI or Kwe-li, I put him on songs with Jay-Z |
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********************************************* |
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It come out sweeter than old Sadie |
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Nice as Bun-B when I met him at the Source awards |
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Girl he had with him - ass coulda won the horse awards |
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And I was almost famous, now everybody loves Kanye |
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I'm almost Raymond' |
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Some say he arrogant. Can y'all blame him? |
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It was straight embarrassing how y'all played him |
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Last year shoppin my demo, I was tryin' to shine |
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Every mother****er told me that I couldn't rhyme |
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Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem |
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Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams |
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I use it as my gas, so they say that I'm gassed |
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But without it I'd be last, so I ought to laugh |
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So I don't listen to the suits behind the desk no more |
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You niggaz wear suits 'cause you can't dress no more |
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You can't say shit to Kanye West no more |
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I rocked 20,000 people, I was just on tour, nigga |
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I'm Kan, the Louis Vuitton Don |
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Bought my mom a purse, now she Louis Vuitton Mom |
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I ain't play the hand I was dealt, I changed my cards |
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I prayed to the skies and I changed my stars |
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I went to the malls and I balled too hard |
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'Oh my god, is that a Black Card?' |
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I turned around and replied, why yes but I prefer the term |
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African American Express |
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Brains, power, and muscle, like Dame, Puffy, and Russell |
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Your boy back on his hustle, you know what I've been up to |
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Killin y'all niggaz on that lyrical shit |
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Mayonnaise colored Benz, I push Miracle Whips |
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And I am (here's to the roc) |
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And they ask me, they ask me, they ask me, I tell them (here's to Rocafella) |
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Raise your glasses, your glasses, your glasses to the sky (here's to the roc) |
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This is the last call for alcohol, for my niggaz... (here's to Rocafella) |
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So get your ass up off the wall |
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So this A&R over at Rocafella, named Hiphop |
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picked the Truth beat for Beanie. And I was in the session with him |
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I had my demo with me. You know, like I always do |
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I play the songs, he's like "Who that spittin?" |
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I'm like "It's me." He's like "Oh, well okay." |
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Uhh, he started talkin to me on the phone |
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going back and forth, just askin me to send him beats |
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And I'm thinking he's trying to get into managing producers |
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cause he had this other kid named Just Blaze he was messin with |
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And um, he was friends with my mentor, No ID |
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And No ID told him, "look man, you wanna mess with Kanye |
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you need to tell him that you like the way he rap" |
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(No ID:) "Yo, you wanna sign him, tell him you like how he rap" |
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I was all, I dunno if he was gassin' me or not |
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but he's like he wanna manage me as a rapper AND a producer |
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I'm like oh shit |
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I was messin with, uh, D-Dot also |
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People were like this, started talking about the Ghost production |
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But that's how I got in the game. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be here |
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So you know. After they picked that Truth beat |
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I was figuring I was gonna do some more work |
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But shit just went poppin off like that. I was stayin in Chicago |
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I had my own apartment. I be doin' like, just beats for local acts |
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just to try to keep the lights on, and then to go out and buy |
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get a Pelle Pelle off lay-away, get some Jordans or something |
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or get a TechnoMarine, that's what we wore back then |
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I made this one beat where I sped up this Hal Melville sample |
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I played it for Hip over the phone, he's like "oh, yo that shit is crazy |
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Jay might want it for this compilation album he doin, called The Dynasty." |
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And at that time, like the drums really weren't soundin' right to me |
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so I went and um, I was listening to Dre Chronic 2001 at that time |
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and really I just, like picked the drums off Xxplosive and put it like |
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with it sped up, sampled, and now it's kind of like my whole style |
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when it started, when he rapped on 'This Can't be Life.' |
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And that was like, really the first beat of that kind that was on the Dynasty album |
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I could say that was the, the resurgence of this whole sound |
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You know, I got to come in and track the beat, and at the time |
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I was still with my other management. I really wanted to roll with |
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Hiphop. 'Cause I, I just needed some fresh air, you know what I'm |
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sayin, 'cause I been there for a while, I appreciated what they did |
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for me, but, you know there's a time in every man's life where he |
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gotta make a change, try to move up to the next level. And that day I |
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came and I tracked the beat and I got to meet Jay-Z and he said, "oh |
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you a real soulful dude" (Jay-Z: "you a real soulful dude"). |
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And he uh, played the song 'cause he already spit his verse by the time I got |
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to the studio, you know how he do it, one take. And he said |
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(Jay-Z:) "check this out, tell me what you think of this, right here" |
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And I heard it, and I was thinking |
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like, man, I really wanted more like of the simple type Jay-Z, I ain't |
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want like the, the more introspective, complicated rhy- or the, in my |
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personal opinion. So he asked me, "what you think of it?" |
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(Jay-Z:) "so what you thinkin?" |
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And I was like, "man that shit tite," |
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you know what I'm sayin', man what I'ma tell him? I was on the train |
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man, you know. So after that I went back home. And man I'm, I'm just |
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in Chicago, I'm trying to do my thing. You know, I got groups. I got |
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acts I'm trying to get on, and like there wasn't nothin really like |
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poppin' off the way it should have been. One of my homeys that was one |
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of my artists, he got signed. But it was supposed to really go through |
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my production company, but he ended up going straight with the |
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company. So, like I'm just straight holdin' the phone, gettin' the bad |
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news that dude was tryin' to leave my company. And I got evicted at |
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the same time. So I went down and tracked the beats from him, I took |
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that money, came back, packed all my shit up in a U-Haul, maybe about |
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ten days before I had to actually get out. So I ain't have to deal |
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with the landlord 'cause he's a jerk. Me and my mother drove to |
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(Mother:) "Come on, let's just go" |
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Newark, New Jersey. I hadn't even seen my apartment. |
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I remember I pulled up |
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(Mother:) "Kanye, baby, we're here", |
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I unpacked all my shit. You know, we went to Ikea, I bought a |
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bed, I put the bed together myself. I loaded up all my equipment, and |
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the first beat I made was, uh, 'Heart of the City.' |
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And Beans was still working on his album at that time, so I came up |
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there to Baseline, it was Beans' birthday, matter of fact, and I |
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played like seven beats. And, you know I could see he's in the zone |
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he already had the beats that he wanted, I did nothing like already at |
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that time. But then Jay walked in. I remember he had a GuccI bucket |
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hat on. I remember it like, like it was yesterday. And Hiphop said |
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"yo play that one beat for him." And I played 'Heart of the City.' And |
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really I made 'Heart of the City,' I really wanted to give that beat to DMX. |
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(Hiphop:) "No I think Jay gon' like this one right here". |
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And I played another beat, and I played another beat. And I remember that |
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GuccI bucket, he took it and like put it over his face and made one of |
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them faces like 'OOOOOOOOOOH.' Two days later I'm in Baseline and I seen |
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Dame. Dame didn't know who I was and I was like "yo what's up I'm Kanye." |
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(Dame:) "Yo, you that kid, Kanye?" |
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"You that kid that gave all them beats to Jay? |
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Yo, this nigga got classics" |
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(Dame:) "Jay got classics, G." |
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You know I ain't talkin shit. |
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I'm like "oh shit." And all this time I'm starstruck, man. I'm |
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still thinking 'bout, you know I'm picturing these niggaz on the show |
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The Streets is Watching, I'm lookin, these were superstars in my |
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eyes. And they still are, you know. So, Jay came in and he spit all |
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these songs like in one day, and in two days... I gotta bring up one |
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thing, you know, come back to the story, the day I did the 'Can't be |
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Life' beat on track, I remember Lenny S, he had some Louis Vuitton |
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sneakers on, he think he fly. And Hiphop was there, I think Tata, John |
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Minnelli, a bunch of people. I didn't know all these people at the |
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time they was in the room, and I said, "yo Jay I could rap." And I |
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spit this rap that said, uh "I'm killin y'all niggaz on that lyrical |
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shit. Mayonnaise colored Benz, I push miracle whips." And I saw his |
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eyes light up when I said that line. But you know the West, the rap |
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was like real wack and shit, so that's all the response. |
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He said "man that was tite." |
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(Jay-Z:) "That, that was cool. That was hot." |
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That was it. You know, I ain't get no deal then, hehe. |
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Okay, fast forward. |
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So, Blueprint, H to the Izzo, my first hit single. And I just |
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took that proudly, built relationships with people. My relationship |
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with KwelI I think was one of the best ones to ever happen to my |
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career as a rapper. Because, you know, of course later he allowed me |
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to go on tour with him. Man, I appre-- I love him for that. And at |
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this time, you know I didn't have a deal, I had songs, and I had |
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relationships with all these A&R's, and they wanted beats from me, so |
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they'd call me up, I'd play them some beats. "Gimme a beat that sound |
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like Jay-Z." You know, they dick riders. Whatever. So I'll play them |
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these post-Blueprint beats or whatever and then I'll play my shit. I'll |
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be like, "yo but I rap too." Hey, I guess they was lookin' at me crazy |
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'cause you know, 'cause I ain't have a jersey on or whatever |
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Everybody out there listen here. I played them 'Jesus Walks' and they |
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didn't sign me. You know what happened, it was some A&R's that ****ed |
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with me though, but then like the heads, it'd be somebody at the |
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company that'll say "naw." Like, Dave LottI ****ed with me, my |
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nigga Mel brought me to a bunch of labels. Jessica Rivera, man |
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(Jessica:) "Man, you niggaz is stupid if y'all don't sign Kanye, for real." |
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I'm not gonna say nothin to mess my promotion up |
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"Y'all niggaz is stupid". Let's just say I didn't get my deal. |
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The nigga that was behind me, I mean, |
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he wasn't even a nigga, you know? |
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The person who actually kicked everything off was Joe 3H from Capitol |
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Records. He wanted to sign me really bad. |
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(Joe:) "We gonna change the game, buddy." |
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Dame was like, "yo you got a deal with Capitol, |
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okay man, just make sure it's not wack." |
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(Dame:) "you gotta make sure it's not wack." |
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Then one day I just went ahead and played it, I wanted to |
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play some songs, 'cause you know Cam was in the room, Young Guru, and |
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Dame was in the room. So I played... actually it's a song that you'll |
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never hear, but maybe I might use it. So, it's called 'Wow.' |
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"I go to Jacob with 25 thou, you go with 25 hundred, wow |
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I got eleven plaques on my walls right now |
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You got your first gold single, damn, nigga, wow." |
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Like the chorus went. Don't bite that chorus, I might still use it. So |
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I play that song for him, and he's like "oh shit" |
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(Dame:) "Oh shit it's not even wack." |
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"I ain't gonna front, it's kinda hot." |
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(Dame:) "it's actually kinda hot." |
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Like they still weren't looking at me |
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like a rapper. And I'm sure Dame figured, 'like man. If he do a whole |
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album, if his raps is wack at least we can throw Cam on every song and |
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save the album, you know. So uh Dame took me into the office, and he's |
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like "yo man, we, we on a brick, we on a brick" |
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(Dame:) "you don't wanna catch a brick" |
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You gotta be under an umbrella, you'll get rained on. |
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I told Hiphop and Hiphop was all, "oh, word?" Actually, even with |
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that I was still about to take the deal with Capitol 'cause it was |
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already on the table and 'cause of my relationship with 3H. That, you |
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know, 'cause I told him I was gonna do it, and I'm a man of my word, I |
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was gonna roll with what I said I was gonna do. Then, you know, I'm |
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not gonna name no names, but people told me, "oh he's just a producer |
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rapper" and told 3H that told the heads of the Capitol, and right-- |
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the day I'm talking about, I planned out everything I was gonna do |
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man, I had picked out clothes, I already started booking studio |
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sessions, I started arranging my album, thinking of marketing schemes |
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man I was ready to go. And they had Mel call me, they said |
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"yo... Capitol pulled on the deal" |
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(Mel:) "Yo, Capitol pulled out on the deal." |
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And, you know I told them that Rocafella was interested |
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and I don't know if they thought that was just something I was saying |
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to gas them up to try to push the price up or whatever. |
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I went up... |
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Icalled G, I said, "man, you think we could still get that deal with Rocafella?" |
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