Music Stars Who Interned on the Road to Success

Kanye West, Diddy, and Wale's dream gig at the WWE.

Humble Beginnings - The road to success is not paved in gold, but filled with bumps and detours. Many of those starts included working for free in efforts to gain as much knowledge as possible, which is priceless. Some stars like Wale and Kanye West have even volunteered to intern after the achieved money and fame in order to spread their creative juices.Read on and check out some of your favorite music stars who worked for free in their quest to reach the top. — Michael Harris (@IceBlueVA)(Photos from Left: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, Mike Coppola/Getty Images, Johnny Louis/WENN.com)

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Humble Beginnings - The road to success is not paved in gold, but filled with bumps and detours. Many of those starts included working for free in efforts to gain as much knowledge as possible, which is priceless. Some stars like Wale and Kanye West have even volunteered to intern after the achieved money and fame in order to spread their creative juices.Read on and check out some of your favorite music stars who worked for free in their quest to reach the top. — Michael Harris (@IceBlueVA)(Photos from Left: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, Mike Coppola/Getty Images, Johnny Louis/WENN.com)

Bad Guy - Wale is a die-hard wrestling fan and told TMZ he was down to work for free in order to break his feet into the squared circle. "I think I should intern for Vinnie Mac. I would totally intern for WWE. [I would work in] creative or intern just to soak up the business. I'm a fan of how it works and Vince McMahon is one of the last real Don Dadas of business and he's flirted with being a billionaire a few times so I'm sure it's a lot I could learn from him."(Photo: The Breakfast Club/Power105.1 FM)

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Bad Guy - Wale is a die-hard wrestling fan and told TMZ he was down to work for free in order to break his feet into the squared circle. "I think I should intern for Vinnie Mac. I would totally intern for WWE. [I would work in] creative or intern just to soak up the business. I'm a fan of how it works and Vince McMahon is one of the last real Don Dadas of business and he's flirted with being a billionaire a few times so I'm sure it's a lot I could learn from him."(Photo: The Breakfast Club/Power105.1 FM)

Photo By Photo: The Breakfast Club/Power105.1 FM/ The Breakfast Club/Power105.1 FM

Runaway - Mr. West was serious when he let the fashion world know he was entering their building. Not satisfied with just being a musician, Ye interned with The Gap in New York in 2009 and studied closely with Creative Director Patrick Robinson. Later that year he went to Rome and put his ego aside to learn some game from fashion powerhouse Fendi. He also planned to take it further and even interned at Louis Vuitton before finally taking the plunge and starting his own line.(Photo: Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Roc Nation)

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Runaway - Mr. West was serious when he let the fashion world know he was entering their building. Not satisfied with just being a musician, Ye interned with The Gap in New York in 2009 and studied closely with Creative Director Patrick Robinson. Later that year he went to Rome and put his ego aside to learn some game from fashion powerhouse Fendi. He also planned to take it further and even interned at Louis Vuitton before finally taking the plunge and starting his own line.(Photo: Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Roc Nation)

The Pressure - Childish Gambino earned his stripes to be a triple threat. Before becoming a force in front of and behind the camera — and putting people in stitches with his stand-up routines — the Stone Mountain MC interned at Comedy Central as part of their Summer School Program before graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.(Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Power 105.1)

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The Pressure - Childish Gambino earned his stripes to be a triple threat. Before becoming a force in front of and behind the camera — and putting people in stitches with his stand-up routines — the Stone Mountain MC interned at Comedy Central as part of their Summer School Program before graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.(Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Power 105.1)

Ultimate Victory - Chamillionaire has always been on the cutting edge of technology, and the Houston MC is looking for new ways to flip his money after caking up on the indie and major scenes. Venture capitalist Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures announced in February that Chamillionaire was "moving to L.A. for a while ... developing his ideas" as an "entrepreneur in residence."(Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

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Ultimate Victory - Chamillionaire has always been on the cutting edge of technology, and the Houston MC is looking for new ways to flip his money after caking up on the indie and major scenes. Venture capitalist Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures announced in February that Chamillionaire was "moving to L.A. for a while ... developing his ideas" as an "entrepreneur in residence."(Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

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Juice - It's all about who you know, and Chance the Rapper got a chance to meet President Obama a few times, following in his father's footsteps. Helping round up the troops for Obama's 2008 presidential run, the Chicago MC told Nardwuar, "I worked on the campaign. I was an intern, I did some phone banking, I got to keep the old laptop we worked off of, so that was cool."    (Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Anheuser-Busch)

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Juice - It's all about who you know, and Chance the Rapper got a chance to meet President Obama a few times, following in his father's footsteps. Helping round up the troops for Obama's 2008 presidential run, the Chicago MC told Nardwuar, "I worked on the campaign. I was an intern, I did some phone banking, I got to keep the old laptop we worked off of, so that was cool."    (Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Anheuser-Busch)

Undergod - Canibus was a lyrical terror in the late '90s who put the fire back into LL Cool J. Before releasing his 1998 debut Can-i-Bus on Universal, the "Second Round K.O." creator soaked up game as an intern at Island Records.(Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

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Undergod - Canibus was a lyrical terror in the late '90s who put the fire back into LL Cool J. Before releasing his 1998 debut Can-i-Bus on Universal, the "Second Round K.O." creator soaked up game as an intern at Island Records.(Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

We Won't Stop - Diddy started paving his road to success after interning at Uptown records in 1990. His former boss Andre Harrell saw the talent early and put him in a position to groom Jodeci and Mary J. Blige into stardom before going out on his own and launching his Bad Boy empire.  (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for The Jackie Robinson Foundation)

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We Won't Stop - Diddy started paving his road to success after interning at Uptown records in 1990. His former boss Andre Harrell saw the talent early and put him in a position to groom Jodeci and Mary J. Blige into stardom before going out on his own and launching his Bad Boy empire.  (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for The Jackie Robinson Foundation)

Photo By Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for The Jackie Robinson Foundation

Harlem World - A$AP Yams was an integral part of A$AP Mob's success as the key point man handling their business and marketing initiatives before his untimely death in January. The Harlem hustler went to school at Cam'ron's Diplomat Records, where he learned game as a teen. (Photo: John Ricard/BET/Getty Images for BET)

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Harlem World - A$AP Yams was an integral part of A$AP Mob's success as the key point man handling their business and marketing initiatives before his untimely death in January. The Harlem hustler went to school at Cam'ron's Diplomat Records, where he learned game as a teen. (Photo: John Ricard/BET/Getty Images for BET)

Remember the Time - Teddy Riley knew how to pick talent and recruited a young Skateboard P and his production partner Chad Hugo to learn from the maestro himself at his Future Recording Studios in Virginia Beach, Va., in the early '90s. A young Pharrell even scripted the New Jack Swing creator's verse from Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 smash "Rump Shaker."(Photos from Left: Mauricio Santana/Getty Images, Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

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Remember the Time - Teddy Riley knew how to pick talent and recruited a young Skateboard P and his production partner Chad Hugo to learn from the maestro himself at his Future Recording Studios in Virginia Beach, Va., in the early '90s. A young Pharrell even scripted the New Jack Swing creator's verse from Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 smash "Rump Shaker."(Photos from Left: Mauricio Santana/Getty Images, Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

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Word of Mouf - Everybody knows that Ludacris was a DJ and on-air personality Chris Lova Lova back in the day at Atlanta's Hot 97.5 (now Hot 107.9), but he had to work for free before he got put on. He revealed to VH1, "At the time, I was the youngest person up at the station and I started interning for the morning show and that's how I got my job."(Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Gabrielle's Angel Foundation)

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Word of Mouf - Everybody knows that Ludacris was a DJ and on-air personality Chris Lova Lova back in the day at Atlanta's Hot 97.5 (now Hot 107.9), but he had to work for free before he got put on. He revealed to VH1, "At the time, I was the youngest person up at the station and I started interning for the morning show and that's how I got my job."(Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Gabrielle's Angel Foundation)

Disparate Youth - Santigold kicked off her music career as a 16-year-old intern at Ruffhouse Records, which eventually led to her landing a job as an A&R scout at Sony before she became a major talent herself.(Photo: Simone Joyner/Getty Images)

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Disparate Youth - Santigold kicked off her music career as a 16-year-old intern at Ruffhouse Records, which eventually led to her landing a job as an A&R scout at Sony before she became a major talent herself.(Photo: Simone Joyner/Getty Images)

The Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga paid her dues on the road to success and completed an internship as a songwriter for Famous Music Publishing before graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Always wanting to learn more, she also interned under famed hat designer Philip Treacy in 2011.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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The Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga paid her dues on the road to success and completed an internship as a songwriter for Famous Music Publishing before graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Always wanting to learn more, she also interned under famed hat designer Philip Treacy in 2011.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

If I Could Go  - The Voice of New York burst into the game as an intern at Emmis Communications at age 16 going to get coffee and answering phones. The grunt work paid off as Angie Martinez took over New York and dropped a few bars in between as she skyrocketed to the top of the airwaves.(Photo: Rob Kim/Getty Images)

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If I Could Go  - The Voice of New York burst into the game as an intern at Emmis Communications at age 16 going to get coffee and answering phones. The grunt work paid off as Angie Martinez took over New York and dropped a few bars in between as she skyrocketed to the top of the airwaves.(Photo: Rob Kim/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Rob Kim/Getty Images