20 Rappers Who Almost Signed To Other Labels

Rap is full of endlessly entertaining hypothetical questions. It’s fun to look back and think what if this or that had gone differently, what would the rap landscape look like today? What if your favorite rapper had signed with a different label? Labels can have a lot of influence on a career, especially for young rappers, and its amazing how close many rap legends came to signing elsewhere.

Can you imagine 2Pac as a No Limit soldier? What about if Lil Wayne dipped from Young Money to Roc-A-Fella in 2006 or if Cam’ron had signed to Bad Boy way back when? Might sound crazy, but believe us, these things almost happened. Some came closer to fruition than others, but all were discussed at some point. Come back in time with us and check out 20 Rappers Who Almost Signed To Other Labels—and then you can start speculating.

Written by Max Goldberg (@goopygold) & Imani Mixon (@ImaniMixon)

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Label They Almost Signed To: Def Jam
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Rutheless, Priority Records
Circa: 1987

The beginning of N.W.A’s demise was rooted in a distrust of how their finances were being handled by Ruthless Records, the label started by Eazy-E and Jerry Heller. The group famously grew to distrust each other, leading to Dr. Dre and Eazy-E beefing until Eazy’s untimely death. According to Rick Rubin, he tried to sign the group while they were on Ruthless Records.

Rubin remembers going into the studio during the recording of Straight Outta Compton and crafting a relationship with the group. Rubin said nothing came of it because of the group’s “existing relationship with a company.” It makes us wonder: Had Rubin signed N.W.A, could the financial issues that caused the group’s downfall have been avoided?

Label They Almost Signed To: Roc-A-Fella
Label They Ended Up Signing To: N/A
Circa: 1996

Remember when a young high-top-faded and Hawaiian-shirt-clad Jay-Z was not so magically suspended in front of a painfully cheap backdrop? That was in Jaz-O’s video for "Hawaiian Sophie.” Jaz-O, commonly known as Big Jaz, is the producer behind “Ain’t No Nigga,” a beat that he famously made with a live rendering on drum pads instead of prerecording it. In the mid 1990s, Jay-Z offered Jaz a deal while he was preoccupied with getting Roc-A-Fella off of the ground, but Jaz was not impressed by the $300,000 offer.

Jay-Z sums up this encounter on "What We Talking About" when he rhymes: “Dame made millions, even Jaz made some scraps, he could've made more but he ain't sign his contract." Jaz claims that Jay-Z jacked his name and sound, so the two have had beef for years. Rumor has it that Jaz was even in Nas’ ear fueling him with vital Jay information (and disses) as he created "Ether.” Jay and Jaz teamed up for a few more songs so it looks the two were able to make amends.

Label They Almost Signed To: No Limit
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Interscope, Death Row Records
Circa: Early '90s

At this point, it's difficult to think about 2Pac without thinking about Suge Knight, that legendary Vibe Death Row cover, or the entire Death Row attitude. However, 2Pac was apparently almost part of another famous rap collective. No Limit Records head Master P said that he almost signed ‘Pac while both were still based out of the Bay Area. P told HipHopDX.com that Pac was the "one little piece that I was looking at like, ‘You know what? This could be alright.'" Although P says there was a mutual interest between the two, obviously nothing major ever came of it. It’s hard to picture Pac’s career without Death Row, but we know he would’ve rocked the shit out of the No Limit tank.

Label They Almost Signed To: Def Jam
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Columbia
Circa: 1992

Nas’ debut album, Illmatic, is looked at as not only the album that launched his career but also one of the best albums ever. Apparently, not everyone always saw it that way. As a young rapper in the early 1990s, Nas struggled to find a deal. With Illmatic basically finished, he was close to inking a deal with Def Jam but Russell Simmons passed on a young Nasty because he felt Illmatic would flop commercially. Though Russell was right—Illmatic didn’t fly off the shelves—the album was critically acclaimed and launched an amazingly successful career. Nas chronicles all his early label troubles on his song “Surviving The Times,” saying, “Russell said I sounded like G, the nigga fronted.” Don’t worry about it Russ, even legends make mistakes.

Label They Almost Signed To: Bad Boy
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Untertainment, Epic Records
Circa: 1996

There’s about a million things that you could associate with Cam’ron: Harlem, Dipset, Bill O’Reilly, amazing Vines, great music, interior decorating—the list goes on and on. However, most people don’t know that list almost included The Notorious B.I.G and Bad Boy Records. Before Cam hit it big with Dipset, Ma$e had him rap for Biggie. As Cam recounted to Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg on the Juan Epstein Show, "[Biggie] was like, 'Yo you want a deal? Lets do it' I was like, 'I want $250,000' and he said, 'Aight." Easy as pie. Unfortunately, Big passed before anything became official but the relationship did lead to Cam signing with Big’s homie Lance “Un” Rivera at Epic Records.

Label They Almost Signed To: Bad Boy
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Ruff Ryders
Circa: 1997

“How many times do I have to tell you rap niggas I have no friends?” DMX barked in 1999. But apparently, two years earlier, he was trying to buddy up with Bad Boy Records. Puffy ended up choosing The LOX over DMX because he thought they were more marketable and couldn’t quite figure out how to synchronize his signature dance moves with DMX’s gravelly delivery. "One thing I respect about Puff, he told me to my face," said DMX, in an interview with AllHipHop. "His voice is too rough, he's not marketable." Ironicallly, by 1999, The LOX were unhappy rocking shiny suits and jumped ship to Ruff Ryders to roll with their old Yonkers neighbor, DMX.

Label They Almost Signed To: Aftermath
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Death Row Records
Circa: 2000

After a promising start to his career on Virgin Records, Crooked I found himself without a deal. Back in his native Long Beach, Crooked says that he had two options: (1) Daz Dillinger offered him a deal with Death Row, which at this point had long been vacated by legends like Snoop and 2Pac and was being run by an incarcerated Suge Knight. Or (2) An offer from Dr. Dre’s Aftermath, which came with one condition—Crooked would have to wait for Dre to finish his album 2001 before they could work together.

When asked what helped him make the decision, Crooked told Vlad TV, "Man, Suge just offered me a giant check." The Slaughterhouse MC's decision to roll with Death Row leaves us to imagine what his career would have been like had he signed up with Dre. Ehh, he probably would have just sat on the shelf like everyone else.

Label They Almost Signed To: Murder Inc
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Columbia
Circa: 2002

The first couple years of the century was a weird time for hip-hop. (Post-millenial tension?) Irv Gotti, Ja Rule, and Murder Inc. Entertainment dominated the airwaves with a combination of gangster posing, pop hooks, and gelatinous, ecstasy-fueled soundscapes made by a producer named 7 Aurelius. Things got even weirder when rumors started to circulate that Nas would be joining the label’s ranks. Irv went on record saying that the deal was almost done, and Nas’s verse on “The Pledge” remix seemed to cement it when he said, “In the beginning, it was me, Nas, I stood alone/But now? It’s Murder!” For one reason or another, the deal never happened. Looking back, it hardly seems like it would have been a good fit. And Irv Gotti told MTV's RapFix that his dalliance with Nas, who was at the high point of his beef with Jay, hurt one of his oldest relationships in the business. "It hurt me and Jay bad," he said.

Label They Almost Signed To: Capitol Records
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Circa: 2002

Before throwing up the Roc and launching his own G.O.O.D. Music, Kanye West nearly inked a deal with Capitol Records. According to the song “Last Call” on his 2004 debut, The College Dropout, Capitol A&R execs thought his producing chops outweighed his rapping skills and squashed the deal at the last minute. “I played them ‘Jesus Walks’ and they didn’t sign me”, said Kanye. Imagine him as a labelmate with artists like Katy Perry and Elton John. Who would watch Jay-Z’s throne went he went to Paris for a weekend?

Label They Almost Signed To: G-Unit
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Doggystyle, Star Trak, Geffen
Circa: 2004

Between Snoop Dogg’s Rastafarian reincarnation and 50 Cent’s power moves, the two rap superstars are no strangers to marketing schemes. Snoop’s Dogg Pound and 50’s G-Unit were planning to join forces in the early 2000s after collaborating on the "P.I.M.P. (Remix)." In a recent interview with Young Jack Thriller, DJ Whoo Kid revealed, "It was kinda close. It wasn't like he was gonna sign, he was gonna have like a joint deal [with G-Unit]." Oh well. Maybe we should consider ourselves lucky that we never had to see Snoop rocking the infamous G-Unit tanktop.

Label They Almost Signed To: G-Unit
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Def Jam
Circa: 2005

In a rap world dominated by crews, folks like Fabolous stand out from the crowd. The Brooklyn veteran had the opportunity to be apart of 50 Cent’s G-Unit in 2005, actually, but he decided to remain a lone wolf. "I remember at one time 50 was offering me different things to come and be a part of G-Unit,” said Fab, to the Power 105’s Breakfast Club. “At the time where they were signing Mobb Deep, Ma$e and all of those kind of guys and I just didn't know if I wanted to be under something. I've always kind of had my own lane and everybody just respected me for what I do so that would have been a different turn and probably could have been successful, but successful for how long? You always got to think about it, too."

Label They Almost Signed To: Def Jam
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Interscope
Circa: 2005

Back in the middle of the ’00s, when Jay-Z was president of Def Jam, a young, sneaker-obsessed rapper from Washington D.C. caught his eye (or ear). His name was Wale, and every rap hopeful’s dream looked ready to come true for him—until Jay relinquished his post to return to rap with Kingdom Come. "I met Jay-Z three years ago when he was at Def Jam," said Wale, on The Mo' Nique Show. "I almost had a situation there but he left." Wale would sign to Interscope, and eventually MMG, but he's still managed by Roc Nation—a remnant of what might have been.

Label They Almost Signed To: CTE World
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Cinematic Music Group, Def Jam
Circa: 2006

Mississippian rapper/producer Big K.R.I.T. has enjoyed a long, gradual rise on the strength of critically acclaimed mixtapes like K.R.I.T Wuz Here and Return of 4Eva. Although everyone acknowledges his talent, both on the mic and behind the boards, his early career lacked the kind of big-name cosigns that are often so helpful to young artists. But, while it didn’t pan all the way out, one rap superstar almost signed K.R.I.T as early as 2006.

DJ Folk, an A&R exec for Young Jeezy’s CTE label said they’d almost signed K.R.I.T way back when, and that Jeezy has always been a huge fan. Folk tweeted that he throught K.R.I.T’s twin talents turning him into, "CTE’s Kanye." Folk even said that his discovery of K.R.I.T is what propelled him to the position of A&R for Jeezy’s Label. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be. K.R.I.T. signed to Def Jam two years ago, but everyone involved seems to be doing pretty good.

Label They Almost Signed To: Def Jam

Label They Ended Up Signing To: Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

Circa: 2005

It’s hard to envision Cash Money Records without Lil Wayne. But the rapper, who initially signed with Baby and Slim Williams New Orleans-based independent shop when was just 11 years old, almost left in in 2006. During Tha Carter II era, Wayne was reportedly in discussion with his idol Jay-Z’s Roc- A-Fella Records. According to Lil Wayne, Jay-Z expressed interest through a phone a call, but never provided an actual offer.

In a recent interview with Power 105’s Breakfast Club, Jay said that, after the conversation with Wayne, he’d called Baby to discuss the situation, but was immediately contacted by a lawyer demanding he put a halt to the proceedings. “I would rather lose that situation and do the right thing than the opposite,” Jay said. “’Cause I think I could have signed him and then told them after. But I did the right thing and I’m cool with that decision.”

Since then, Jay and Wayne have engaged in some low key beef-on-wax with tracks like “It’s Good,” “H.A.M.,” and most recently, “La Familia.” So it’s harder than ever to imagine them kissing on the mouth.

Label They Almost Signed To: Maybach Music Group
Label They Ended Up Signing To: N/A
Circa: 2010

If you asked your favorite rapper to name influences, there’s a strong chance he or she would point to Corona, Queens legend Kool G Rap. G Rap’s career has spanned four decades, with the height of his popularity coming in the late '80s “Golden Era,” as part of DJ Marley Marl’s mighty Juice Crew. This year, he surprised many by revealing, in an interview with the Recognize the Movement website that after he recorded a verse a verse on Rick Ross’s “Knife Fight” in 2010, the two discussed joining forces. “He wanted me to sign with Maybach Music. So we was on that page for a second. But things just didn’t work out with the contract.” There were no hard feelings. “I like Ross a lot as far as an artist,” he said. “And personalwise, too."

Label They Almost Signed To: G-Unit
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Fool's Gold
Circa: 2010

With his conk, broken-tooth, and his friendship with bedroom-pop star Kitty Pride, Danny Brown isn't your typical rapper. So, it makes sense that he is signed to an independent, multi-genre label like A-Trak’s Fool’s Gold. But in 2010, the Detroit Brown iconoclast almost signed with 50 Cent’s G-Unit. He and 50’s right-hand man Tony Yayo G-Unit had just released a full-length collaborative mixtape, Hawaiian Snow, and talks of an official deal were getting real. But, apparently, 50 couldn’t imagine a teflon G-Unit vest atop a pair of skinny jeans. “50 liked the music,” as Brown told MTV's RapFix. “But he didn’t like the way I looked.”

Label They Almost Signed To: Young Money Cash Money
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Def Jam
Circa: 2011

In 2011, after years of middling success as a part of the duo Playaz Circle, Atlantan party animal and rapper known as Tity Boi, absolutely blew up—under the new name of 2 Chainz. Previously signed to Ludacris’s Disturbing Tha Peace, and on his way, eventually, to Def Jam, there was a moment there when it looked like he’d signed with Kanye’s G.O.O.D. music, with whom he’d been recording guest verses (like his show-stealing one on the monster hit “Mercy.”)

On May 12, 2012, Kanye tweeted, “2 Chainz is charging 100k for a verse now cause he’s G.O.O.D!!!!!” People thought it was a done deal. But G.O.O.D Music wasn’t the only clique courting him. Chainz has said that Lil Wayne invited him to join the YMCMB crew. Playaz Circle had their biggest hit when Wayne blessed their little “Duffle Bag Boy” with an unforgettable hook in 2007. Chainz turned his friend down because he didn’t want to seem like he was “clique hopping.”

Label They Almost Signed To: G.O.O.D. Music
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Bad Boy, Interscope
Circa: 2011

French Montana almost signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. 2011. After ditching his deal with Akon’s Konvict Muzik over problems with album delays, the Moroccan-born rapper boosted his street cred with a string of lauded mixtapes. "Right after that deal was done, it was literally like no label that was out didn't have a contract at my lawyer's office,” he said during a recent interview on The Combat Jack Show.

Kanye came calling, interested in expanding his ever-evolving roster. In a radio interview with DJ Envy, Montana explained that he preferred Diddy’s process of presenting a collection of artists at the same time over Kanye’s gradual and sometimes sporadic approach. Bad Boy has had its fair share of casualties, but after Montana’s debut album Excuse My French came out in May, French Montana seems to be in it for the long run.

Label They Almost Signed To: Roc Nation
Label They Ended Up Signing To: Cinematic Music Group
Circa: 2012

In a little over a year, Brooklyn’s Joey Bada$$ has gone from a promising upstart to a legitimate force in the rap game. That rise kicked off when a video of him freestyling caught the attention of Jonny Snipes of Cinematic Music Group, who quickly scooped him up. That relationship doesn’t mean that Joey hasn’t come close to signing elsewhere. On A$AP Rocky’s “1 Train,” one line from Joey’s show stealing verse had everyone talking. He says, “Just got back to the block from a 6 o’clock with Jigga/And I’m thinking ‘bout signing to the Roc.” He later elaborated on Complex’s own Combat Jack Show, where he talked about the actual meeting and how psyched he was when Jay told him, "'Yo, that 'Waves' track, that is it right there.'"