Kanye West was almost Cash Money

Before his days with Roc-A-Fella Records and his later days with his own GOOD Music, Kanye West was an independent hip hop producer. He had made a name for himself in the Chicago area, but he was hoping to land a deal with any label. Because of his skills, he had met with Jay-Z, but nothing was official. At the time, he was just beginning to work his future classic, The Blueprint. Kanye West would produce for that album, but after it went platinum was when Kanye signed to the Roc.

Despite being contacted by Jay-Z, nothing was official and Kanye West was looking for a steady job. Every now and again, various rappers would call on him to produce a track, here and there, but it was nothing like consistency. At the time, Kanye had just linked up with his future GOOD artist, Mikkey Halsted. Halsted was trying to land a deal with Cash Money Records. With him, he would bring West to help negotiate the deal. After hearing Halsted's rhymes over the Kanye beats, Birdman wanted to sign them both to Cash Money.

This was right after Juvenile and B.G. had left the label, so Cash Money was desperate for talent and they were willing to go to Chicago to revive their roster. What stopped Kanye West from going to Cash Money was Jay-Z signing him on to be an official producer for The Blueprint. The deal was only good for the time it would take to create the album, but Kanye saw it as an opportunity for more. Cash Money Records was willing to take a long-term risk on Kanye West, but they had no albums planned at the time. Kanye West was faced with the challenge of making money now or waiting until later. He chose the right now as opposed to later and The Blueprint ended up becoming a 5 mic album.

After the successful work with The Blueprint, Damon Dash signed Kanye West to become an in-house producer for Roc-A-Fella Records. Just like that, Cash Money lost out on a great producer, who would go on to become a great rapper, and they lost out on a great rapper in Mikkey Halsted. Last year, Kanye West left Roc-A-Fella Records, but he moved over to his own label, GOOD Music. Things worked out great for Cash Money Records, too, with Lil Wayne leading their roster. Former Roc-A-Fella rapper, Freeway is also on the Cash Money roster. But, had things happened just a little differently, Kanye West would have produced for Lil Wayne as opposed to Jay-Z. The entire Jay-Z legacy is built upon The Blueprint, which is built upon the production of Kanye West. If that is taken away, what would that album have been?