Memphis Bleek Says He Was Supposed to Star in ‘Drumline,’ Jay-Z Was ‘Mad’ He Turned It Down

Instead, Nick Cannon got the lead role in film, and Bleek and Cannon then started hanging out in Marcy Projects together. However, Bleek’s decision to not star in the movie didn’t sit well with Jay-Z, who Bleek said was “mad.”

“You know what’s so ill? Me and Nick [Cannon] had the same management…Nick wanted to be a rapper so he used to be in Marcy with me back in the day,” he added. “And Nick took the role and here we are.”

“But that’s one thing: if I could rewind time, I would have did that,” Bleek continued. “I was on some, ‘I’d rather to do this rap sh*t.’ Almost like Ja [Rule] did with the Fast & Furious sh*t. I super f**ked up with that…Hov was mad at me! I remember Hov was super-steamed at me. Like, ‘Why you ain’t do it?!’ And I remember telling him, ‘Bro, I was scared. I’ve never acted.’ And I remember Hov, he paid for acting classes for me. Rap was everything to me then. Hip-Hop, it saved my life, so I didn’t want to jeopardize that.”