By now, the story of how Big Sean got signed to Kanye West is pretty familiar to the rap world-- Sean Don was working at a radio station in Detroit at the time, when 'Ye came through. Big Sean was encouraged by friends to spit a 16s for the rapper, and low and behold, Kanye thought it was dope. The rest, as they say, is history.
Recently Big Sean paid a visit to The Rickey Smiley Show, where he talked about the incident and how, since then, 'Ye hasn't really signed people right off one rap like he did with Sean. As the Detroit rapper explains, he had a special something to him which apparently reminded Kanye of Notorious B.I.G.
"I've been with Kanye when a lot of people rapped for him," Big Sean. "I was always like, 'Damn, man. You ain't ever sign nobody else that rapped for you. Why'd you sign me?' Obviously I've been getting better over time, just being around him and Jay [Z], just legends. He was like, 'Man, the crazy thing about it was you were clever and witty and all that, but it was your voice. Your tone of voice was crazy.' As different as it is, he was like, 'I haven't heard a tone of voice that shocked me like that since I heard Biggie.' He was like, 'You don't sound like Biggie in any way, but when I heard you spit, it did something to me like when I first heard Biggie.'"
As the Finally Famous rapper continues, he reveals that Jay Z wasn't feeling his style in the beginning, before later having a change of heart and specifically requesting Sean's appearance on "Clique."
Peep the full interview below.