Former G.O.O.D. Music artist Big Sean is undeniably one of the most prominent contemporary rap artists from Detroit. Raised by his mother, a school teacher, and his grandmother, the rapper (real name Sean Anderson) caught the eye of Kanye West after Anderson was brave enough to approach him at a radio station.
Anderson met West in 2005 at the headquarters of Detroit’s WDKL 102.7 radio station. Here, he rapped for the super producer and left his demo with Kanye, and precisely two years after, West signed Anderson to G.O.O.D. Music, and over the years, the two have worked together extensively. However, their mutual endeavours have not always been successful.
In an interview with Noreaga on the Drink Champs podcast, Anderson revealed that on one occasion, West ordered him to fire his best friend for violating what he termed “studio protocol.” Whether he’s working in Hawaii for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy or in Wyoming for Jesus Is King, Kanye has always had a mysterious and idiosyncratic approach to his studio sessions. The Chicago entrepreneur has imposed dress codes and once went through the effort of printing a poster that read, “No tweeting,” “No pictures,” and “No hipster hats.”
As bizarre and trivial as these criteria may seem, in 2010, Big Sean quickly found that West is deadly serious about his craft when he was forced to fire his friend after he breached the guidelines of a My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy studio session with Kanye West, Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
Before Jay-Z and Kanye fell out in 2013, the two were a dynamic duo, and after secretly taking a photo of Sean, West, Hov and Bey in the studio, both Roc-A-fella rappers insisted Anderson fire his pal with immediate effect. Recalling the event, Big Sean detailed, “We down there working on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in Hawaii. I’m out there playing my role, but I brought my mans with me in case I needed anything, he was going to help hold me down … It’s good to have a support system, to have one of your homie’s there when you trying to contribute.”
He continued, So anyway, I’m in a studio — it was me, Ye and Hov. Even then, I wasn’t trying to be thirsty or sneak a fucking picture. I’m here just taking it in mentally. He ends up taking a picture of all of us in the studio. Didn’t tell me. He ends up tweeting it, and it gets picked up on AllHipHop.”
Breaching the photography rule, the picture only came to Kanye’s notice after it started circulating on the blogs. Following this, even Beyoncé sought vindication in the form of job termination. Sean elaborated, “I don’t know who saw it, but it got to either Ye or Hov’s attention, and they thought it was me!” After telling Kanye, the Detroit musician disclosed that West scolded him and insisted he fire his friend.
Explaining how he let go of his friend, the Dark Sky Paradise act unveiled, I told [my friend], ‘I’m in a position where it’s Ye and Hov saying you gotta go. I’m sorry bro, we gotta figure out something else.’” You can listen to the full story below.