Birdman Reveals Why he Didn’t Sign Kanye West
September 27, 2021 9:42AM EDT

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 13: Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower, December 13, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Birdman said in a recent interview that he could have signed Kanye West to Cash Money Records but didn’t.
He said, “Kanye West was with be before he was Kanye West. I knew he was special. I let him go.”
The reason he let him go was because of Mannie Fresh, who was already signed on as a producer.
He said “Kanye came to me as a producer and I wasn’t gonna ever disrespect Mannie Fresh ’cause I started with Fresh. I wasn’t gonna play with Fresh ’cause Fresh was my day one.”
Things worked out for Kanye, obviously, as he later signed with JAY-Z at Roc-A-Fella.
Would you have liked to see Kanye be part of Cash Money Records?