Irv Gotti is one of the best producers and music execs in rap/R&B history, as Murder Inc. empire made an indelible imprint on the game in the early 2000s. But even bosses make mistakes – and in a recent interview, Gotti admitted that he missed out on a chance to manage Nicki Minaj.

Gotti revealed the news during a recent visit to Everyday Struggle, where he spoke to DJ Akademiks and Nadeska about his viewpoints on the music industry, the new season of his show “Tales,” and other topics. In the tail end of a discussion about the Lil Wayne and Birdman feud, Irv said that he once had the chance to work with Nicki Minaj.

“I tried to sign Nicki. She said, ‘Gotti, you ain’t really poppin’ right now,’” he said, giving his best Minaj impersonation. “And I wasn’t. I didn’t take offense to it, but I was dumb. She said, ‘I don’t want to sign to Murder Inc., but you should manage me though, because you’re super smart.’

“I’m like, ‘what? I ain’t no manager, I’m a label owner.’ I should’ve managed her. That was a mistake. Because management became the label owners. I should’ve managed her, and I probably could’ve gotten even more money to be honest with you.”

The Murder Inc. co-founder also gave his take on the Birdman and Lil Wayne legal battle. He gave props to Birdman for Cash Money’s long run and for their rare distribution-only deal with Universal Records (Universal only takes 10 percent, he said, while Cash Money brings in the remaining 90 percent), but insists that he should pay Wayne a fair amount for his contributions to the label.

“I don’t get the Weezy and Birdman thing. You say this guy is your son, you’ve known this guy forever. You should work that out. Just pay him, man. He deserves it,” Gotti said.

Watch the full interview above.