NEW ARTIST #10: Big Sean

It wasn’t long ago when Sean Anderson worked as a telemarketer in Detroit making a measly $100 a week as a junior in high school. The rapper better known as Big Sean had bigger dreams, as telemarketing wasn’t the hustle he’d dreamed of. Luckily, one day a friend called him to tell him Kanye West was at the 102.7 FM radio station. In an effort to get signed, Sean rushed to the station and used his relationship with the staff to get close to Kanye. West denied him at first before telling him he had 16 seconds to spit. Sixteen seconds turned into 10 minutes.

"Kanye shook my hand and started walking away," Sean told MTV. "My friend was like, 'You gotta go for it.' So I tapped him on the shoulder and was like, 'I'm an aspiring MC. I do this show every Friday. Can I rap for you?' He was like, 'No. I gotta go.' I'm like, 'Man, please — you're my hero. Let me rap for you? Just let me spit for you.' "

Kanye let Sean spit as he walked out of the station. After a while a crowd had formed and Kanye was bobbing his head. "It was like out of the movies," Kanye told MTV. "I could hear his personality and character and style in it. He just walked up to me and said a rap and I said, 'I'mma sign you.' That's what happened and to this day Sean’s clear Midwest flow has skateboard kids and hip-hop heads alike bobbing their heads. Now signed to Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music, he’s set to release his debut album Finally Famous sometime this year. His persistence helped him find a new hustle. So much for that old telemarketing gig.