Birdman's dislike of paying his rappers and producers is legendary.

He boldly explained his philosophy of non-payment to a business school class earlier this year:

“Any contract can be re-contracted. I swear to God every deal I do … bitch we going to redo this in the morning. I’m a real gangster with this bullshit,” Baby told the students.

Producer Jake One told podcaster Big Wos of an encounter with Birdman early in his career. Unlike the other producers Baby ripped off, Jake did get paid ... but with a personal check.

"So that must be how infrequently he pays people," Jake said. "That he’s writing handwritten checks to producers. That blew me away. Umm, just not a good sign."

"I remember that shit was handwritten," he continued. "I mean, just think of how many releases they’ve had and how many records they’ve sold."

[Related: Birdman explains how he doesn't pay people.]