Recently Big Sean stopped by The Rickey Smiley Show, where he talked about the defining moment when Kanye signed him to his label and how, since then, Kanye hasn't signed people right off one rap like he did with Sean. The Detroit rapper explains that he had an intangible. That intangible? He apparently reminded Kanye of the legendary Notorious B.I.G.

"I've been with Kanye when a lot of people rapped for him," Big Sean said in an interview with The Rickey Smiley Morning Show. "I was always like, 'Damn, man. You ain't ever sign nobody else that rapped for you. Why'd you sign me?' Obviously I've been getting better over time, just being around him and Jay [Z], just legends. He was like, 'Man, the crazy thing about it was you were clever and witty and all that, but it was your voice. Your tone of voice was crazy.' As different as it is, he was like, 'I haven't heard a tone of voice that shocked me like that since I heard Biggie.' He was like, 'You don't sound like Biggie in any way, but when I heard you spit, it did something to me like when I first heard Biggie.'"

In the interview, Big Sean also says he rapped for Jay Z prior to rhyming for Kanye West. He says Jay went from not "rockin' with" his style in his early days to eventually requesting that he be added to "Clique."

Source: HipHopDX