Kanye West is known for his perfectionist ways when it comes to the recording process of his projects, and in some cases, he backtracks on his promises if he has a creative epiphany. This is precisely what happened when Atlanta rapper Jeezy worked with the College Dropout musician in 2007.
In 2007, while recording his hit album Graduation, Jeezy (real name Jay Jenkins) asked West to record a verse for his song, ‘Wait Until I Get My Money Right’ featuring T.I. Detailing what happened after the request, Jenkins explained to online publication HipHopDX, “I sent it to Ye and [he] put a verse on it but wanted to know who produced the record.”
DJ Toomp was the producer behind the iconic instrumental that had been specially made for Jeezy. However, after a creative epiphany with a vision in mind, West contacted Toomp and had him tweak the beat in specific ways to his liking. However, Jeezy was not impressed when he heard it.
Recalling his dissatisfaction, Jeezy recounted, “When he sent it back, I’m just like, ‘Yo man, it’s a whole different song, and I gotta turn my album over to the label in two days!'” Following an extension granted by the record label Jenkins explained that it was a long time before he heard back from West.
Detailing that period, Jeezy remembered, “Time goes by, six months later, I’m in LA, and [Kanye] calls me to come to the studio,. 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.”
Despite knowing it was a good record, Jeezy ultimately decided to leave it and gave the entire track to West, and when Ye asked Jeezy if he could keep his original ad-libs, Jeezy granted him permission. Recalling how he felt after giving the track to Kanye, Jenkins divulged, “I was just like, ‘Dang, I just gave you a hit record!’ 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 Graduation project. It was even nominated for a Grammy but lost to another Kanye West track, ‘Good Life’ featuring T-Pain.
