Jeezy recently stopped by the HipHopDX offices in Los Angeles to talk his recently released final LP TM104: The Legend of the Snowman.
During the conversation, he revealed Kanye West’s hit song “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” was originally meant for his album The Recession.
“‘Wait Until I Get My Money Right’ was a song with me and T.I. for my album, The Recession,” Jeezy explains. “I sent it to Ye and [he] put a verse on it but wanted to know who produced the record.”
After Jeezy told him DJ Toomp had crafted the instrumental, Ye contacted the producer and had him adjust the overall sound of the beat.
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“When he sent it back, I’m just like, ‘Yo man, it’s a whole different song,” he says. “And I gotta turn my album over to the label in two days.’”
Despite being told how dope the track was, Jeezy ultimately decided to leave it off the album.
“Time goes by, six months later, I’m in L.A. and [Kanye] calls me to come to the studio,” Jeezy says. “He wanted to play me something … he played me ‘Wait ‘Til I Get My Money Right.’ It was the same song and same verse he sent me, he just added another verse to it.”
Ye then asked Jeezy if he could keep his original ad-libs and Jeezy granted him permission.
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“I was just like, ‘Dang, I just gave you a hit record,'” he says. “In my mind, I was like, ‘Yo, he owes me one.’”
Soon after, the song — released as “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” — was one of the biggest songs of 2007, appearing on Kanye’s third album, The Graduation. As of April 2018, it is certified 2X-platinum by the RIAA.
It was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Rap Song category but lost to another DJ Toomp-produced song off from The Graduation called “Good Life” featuring T-Pain.
Watch the full clip above.
