Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel Blew $300K Budget Instead of Making Album

Memphis Bleek revealed that he and Beanie Sigel were supposed to make an album together.

During a recent episode of his new show ROC Solid, the Brooklyn rapper sat down with his friend and former labelmate Freeway and told a story about having to go to Miami to record music in the early 2000s. Free — who was an up-and-coming rapper out of Philadelphia at the time — tagged along with Bleek and Beanie to take advantage of the studio time while the two of them were supposed to make songs for a collab album that fans were clamoring for at the time because of songs like “My Hood to Your Hood,” “So What You Saying,” and “Hustlers.”

“Me and Beans were supposed to do an album,” Bleek explained on the show. “They flew us to Miami — me, I didn’t bring none of my artists with me, but Beans said, ‘I’m bringin’ Freeway with me.’ Because Free didn’t have a budget, he didn’t have nothing. We bullsh—tin’ in the studio, we get back to New York, Jay like, ‘Yo, what did ya do?’ So, me and Beans lookin like, ‘We ain’t got nothin’.’ So, he like, ‘Yo, ya blew $300,000 just in the studio? What ya do?’ [Young] Guru was like, ‘But Freeway got some records.’ And my n—a, Free, you came with the two monster records, bro.”

Freeway then added that he chose to lock in with Just Blaze in the studio instead of partying and recorded the hit record “Roc the Mic,” which peaked at No. 55 on the Hot 100. “That’s when I started developing my relationship with Just,” he recalled. “N—as wanted to go to the club when we in Miami, I’m like, ‘Man, f—k that, I’m in the stu.’”

And while Memph and Beans didn’t come back with a project, Bleek came back with “Round Here” featuring Trick Daddy and T.I. which eventually became the lead single to his 2003 album M.A.D.E.

You can watch the full conversation below.