Kanye West Wanted To Sign With Lil Wayne, Birdman's Cash Money

If DC was focused on rap instead of superhumans and vigilantes, this would make an excellent entry into the What If...? series. Back in his grinding, crate-digging, struggling producer days, Kanye West approached Mannie Fresh and Birdman to become an in-house producer for Cash Money. The label that would steadily morph into Lil Wayne-centric juggernaut YMCMB failed to give him a deal, however.

Mannie Fresh saw potential though and may have helped 'Ye start on the path toward Roc superstardom.

"I didn't know him, but I felt he was a good guy," said Mannie Fresh, according to Musique Mag. "I lent him the stuff to do sounds and he never forgot."

Yeezy brought Mannie Fresh back into the fold last year. He invited one half of the Big Tymers to come out of retirement and produce on his G.O.O.D. Music album Cruel Summer. Fresh produced "The One" a track that features West, 2 Chainz and Big Sean.

Can you imagine? A world with no "Lucifer" or "Izzo"? One where Wayne's madcap dash through the late aughts was assisted by Kanye West-produced backing tracks.

In the immortal words of West himself, "That sh** cray."

What do you think? Would YMCMB have rose to even greater heights? How would late-era Jay-Z sound without Kanye West?