2 CHAINZ REVEALS LIL WAYNE AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION

2 Chainz provides insight into how Lil Wayne encouraged him to be a success.

Any emcee looking for a model of success need not look further than Lil Wayne. Accordingly, 2 Chainz made sure he paid attention to the Young Money head's advice.

"The thing behind me and Wayne was that he always believed in me as a musician, as well as being a cool dude," said 2 Chainz of Weezy in an interview with AlLindstrom.com.

"And everybody thought he was the illest nigga in the world. So that's where my confidence kinda started. Just derived from him. It's like, 'everybody fucks with you, and you fuck with me!' So that's where our relationship came in."

2 Chainz revealed the effect of Wayne's advice. "He used to say encouraging things that I'm sure another rapper, [if] that didn't get that, they'd start figuring something else out."

"Me even being around him, seeing what they have, seeing the things you can get from puttin' words together, it kinda kept me inspired."

NAS SPEAKS ON COLLABORATING WITH NICKI MINAJ FOR "PINK FRIDAY: ROMAN RELOADED"

Nas says that he "loved" collaborating with Nicki Minaj for her sophomore album.

When Nicki Minaj's tracklisting for her sophomore set Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded released late last week, some were surprised to see Nas included on a song called "Champion," also featuring Young Jeezy and Drake.

Speaking with MTV News, Esco revealed that the Harajuku Barbie reached out to him for the song, which will surface on the April 3rd release. "Nicki hit us up. I got love, so it was nothin' — I did the record," he said. "It's Hip Hop music; music is music. If I feel it, I can get on it. I heard the track, I felt it, I loved it."

Additional guest stars on the LP include 2 Chainz, Cam'ron, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. She most recently released the RedOne-produced single "Starships" and filmed its video.

2CHAINZ BRINGS OUT KANYE WEST & BIG SEAN AT SXSW

2 Chainz marked his set with guest appearances from Kanye West and Big Sean.

Last night, 2 Chainz brought out Kanye West and Big Sean during his performance at SOB's 30th Anniversary party at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

During the set, the G.O.O.D. Music brethren appeared to perform Sean's single "Marvin Gaye & Chardonnay," while 'Ye ran through his hit "Can't Tell Me Nothin'."

2 CHAINZ CONFIRMS SIGNING WITH DEF JAM, HAS RECORDED WITH KANYE WEST

2 Chainz discusses new deal with Def Jam and shares that he's been collaborating with Kanye for the past year.

The rapper formerly known as Tity Boi has found a new home and a prominent cultural figure to work with. 2 Chainz has now announced that he is officially a Def Jam artist and that he has been collaborating with Kanye West for the past year. The Chicago-Atlanta partnership is one that he feels may "shake up" the culture, adding that both can learn from one another.

"One thing that people may not know is that I've been working with Kanye West for the past year," 2 Chainz announced on RapFix Live. "We have records together, we have ideas that we're planning on releasing to the world real soon. I'm tryna get my 'N in Paris' swag up."'

According to 2 Chainz, the two have been conversing, sharing what they feel they can bring to the table. He added that their relationship will benefit both parties and explained just how much they have in common.

"For the most part, when we started building our relationship, we found out we had more things in common than different from a musical standpoint," he shared, adding that similarities were found despite some differences. "It's no secret that I came from the hustle background, from that trap, and it's no secret that he's maybe more of a hipster swag, backpack kinda guy. So I think it'll be interesting when you just drop that in the pot, in the blender, and see the outcome and results of some of that."

Their partnership may surprise some but 2 Chainz also shared that he is learning new things and teaching Kanye a few things along the way. He even went on to talk about how this will "shake up" the game.

"I'm one of those people that feel like you're never too old to learn new things and even bruh, he still can learn new things from the avenue and path that I come from," 2 Chainz added. "It'll be cool, we gonna shake up Hip Hop a little bit, shake up Rap a little bit. You see what I did on my own."