Kanye West originally produced and wrote his 2005 hit “Gold Digger” for Shawnna. Kanye wrote the hook from a female’s perspective, and the song was meant for Shawnna’s 2004 debut album, Worth Tha Weight.
Shawnna passed on the song and Kanye rewrote the hook to fit a male’s perspective and featured Jamie Foxx on it. Gold Digger gave Kanye his second No. 1 single and one of his biggest hits ever.
During a 2006 interview with MTV on the making of “Gold Digger,” Kanye West’s A&R executive at the time, Plain Pat, revealed that Kanye West produced the beat at Ludacris’ house in Atlanta for his Luda’s artist Shawnna who passed on it.
“He did that beat a while before the movie [‘Ray’] was even thought of. He did the beat at Ludacris’ house in Atlanta and he did it for Shawnna. She passed on it, actually. I’m not sure why.” Plain Pat told MTV.
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