The rapper-turned-Hollywood star recalled a shocking encounter with Ye where he cooked up a beat in front of him within a few minutes. Even though the track was meant for Common, he ended up rejecting it. But Ye didn’t waste it. Integrating the beat into his own album, Ye’s track became a smash hit.

Common saw Kanye West jot down hit songs in minutes
Common, 52, sat down with hosts Carmelo Anthony and Kid Mero to talk about myriads of things, from hip-hop to basketball and Hollywood, on the 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast on Friday, May 17. Speaking of his earlier collaborations with Ye, Common revealed that he “passed on” at least 10 beats made by the hip-hop icon earlier in his career.

But many of them later made it to Ye’s albums, and Common saw them climb the charts. The Academy Award winner revealed the track, Heard ‘Em Say from Ye’s 2005 album, Late Registration was written in front of him within 10 minutes.

“I was like, ‘This beat dope.’ He was like, ‘You want it?’ and I was like, ‘Man I gotta…’ because it didn’t feel like it was fitting in my album [Be]… So I was like, ‘Nah, you good.’ He said, ‘Are you sure?’ I was like, ‘Nah I’m good’,” Common recalled in the podcast. Similarly, there were other tracks made by Ye that simply didn’t cut it for Common. The 2007 track, I Wonder, is another example of such a feat, per Billboard.

However, many Ye collabs made it to the Chicago MC’s albums, like 2004’s The Food, 2005’s The Corner, and They Say, featuring John Legend, Ye, and Common. The father of four produced Common’s 2006 LP, Be, and 2007 album, Finding Forever.

Interestingly, Ye name-dropped Common, originally Lonnie Rashid Lynn, for passing on his beats in the track, Everything I Am from the 2007 album, Graduation.

Common’s take on Kendrick Lamar vs Drake beef
The three-time Grammy winner also discussed the ongoing feud between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake in the podcast. He seemed rather impressed by the two artists’ jibes on each other while opining that they apparently didn’t take it too far, except dragging their families in the bout.

“In a battle, first of all, I think the criteria is that you’ve got to have lyrics…” the emcee told hosts Anthony and Kid Mero. Explaining the criteria of having rhythm and “punch” in these rap battles, he continued, “For me, I wasn’t like, ‘This is too far.’ I just was like, ‘Damn, this is a really incredible battle.’”

As of now, the feud has seemingly died down with the last diss track released by Drake, The Heart Part 6. However, in popular opinion, rap heads are declaring Lamar as the winner.