Kanye West has shown some love to his old Roc-A-Fella Records cohort Beanie Sigel as he gears up to celebrate a couple of big milestones.
The Philadelphia rapper is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his debut album The Truth this year, even though it was technically released 24 years ago. He is also set to turn 50 years old on Friday (March 8).
In a video posted on Instagram on Tuesday (March 5), Ye gave Sigel a shout out ahead of his special day.
“Yo, this is Yeezy, shout out to Beanie Sigel,” he said. “Happy birthday, happy anniversary to The Truth. Sorry, I’m a little bit tired, I just got off the plane from Paris.”
Alongside the brief video, Beanie wrote: “This Friday celebrating 25 years of history… I’m in them books for real, love it or hate it, can’t be erased or duplicated.”
Check out the post below.
Kanye West and Beanie Sigel go way back, with the former’s first credit for Roc-A-Fella appearing on The Truth as he produced the album’s eponymous opening track.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the project, Mack Mittens has recruited fellow members of State Property as well as The LOX for a special performance at The Met in Philadelphia on March 8.
Sigel is also the person who gave Kanye his Yeezy nickname and once claimed that the fashion mogul was going to give him shares in his clothing brand.
“I got a phone call from the muthafucka the other day. He said ‘Sig gon’ get $50 million and a five percent stock in Yeezy.’ And I don’t know if n-ggas know, Yeezy’s did $1.7 billion last year,” the Broad Street Bully said at an event in 2021.
He later added: “I did name him that, but as far as his business mind and where he took it, Kanye worked hard for this. Kanye don’t owe me nothing.
“I don’t know if I would take a number. Because you give somebody a fish today, he gon’ eat for the day. If you teach somebody how to fish, he’s gon’ eat forever. He’s gon’ teach his family how to fish.”
He continued: “I’m not even thinking about a number, but I would love to do some business where I can earn some money ’cause I’m an earner. I never was the type to take just for a handout. My mind is sorta like Kanye’s mind… I think outside the box.
“I’ve got a lot of business ventures that I think if me and Kanye were to sit down and I had that opportunity to present it to him, it’s some money on the table that I can earn.”
Though they have not released anything together since the early ’00s, Beanie Sigel was spotted working with Kanye West in 2022 during sessions for Donda 2.