
Birdman speaks about Lil Wayne and Cash Money
ATLANTA — Lil Wayne is facing a year behind bars in February, but don’t expect either the rapper or his label, Cash Money, to fall off the radar in his absence.
Birdman, who is the co-founder of Cash Money, already has a plan in place to keep both the label and rap’s top-selling artist in the limelight. Birdman recently released his own album, “Pricele$$,” and a new Lil Wayne CD, Rebirth, is planned for release soon; albums by rappers Drake and Bow Wow are to come early next year. They also have the hot singer Jay Sean, who had a No. 1 hit with Lil Wayne, “Down.”
Still, Birdman’s biggest concern isn’t about Cash Money — he’s grappling with how to deal with the pending imprisonment of Lil Wayne, who pleaded guilty last month to an illegal weapons charge. Birdman discovered the 27-year-old rapper at age 11 and often refers to him as “my son.”
The Associated Press: What is the premise behind your CD’s first single, “Always Strapped,” featuring Lil Wayne and Mack Maine?
Birdman: My philosophy for “Strapped” ain’t just about a gun. You could be strapped about life. I think people just took to it. The music and beat was hot, the content of the song. All of it.
AP: Where do you see yourself fitting in the rap paradigm — obviously Lil Wayne is on top. Do you care anymore?
Birdman: I love to still do it. I could be doing a lot of other things. But I love being an artist. I love the other things like dealing with my son Wayne and his music. It’s half and half.
AP: Lil Wayne emerged as the best-selling figure in music after last year’s success of “Tha Carter III.” Now, he’ll have to spend a year in jail. How do you think being incarcerated will effect his career?
Birdman: My son is the most rapping (expletive) on earth. But at this point, I don’t care about that. Forget rap. It’s about him right now. I got to deal with a situation I’ve never had to deal with in my life. It ain’t cool with me, but we have to live through it.
AP: After Lil Wayne left the courthouse, what kind of advice did you give him?
Birdman: To keep doing what he loves — music. That’s the only thing we’ve got. You take that away from us, we really don’t need to live. Music, that’s the only thing that gets the stress off your mind to make you feel better. It’s how good it sounds after you’ve done it. The enjoyment of it.
AP: Will Lil Wayne continue to release music while he’s in jail?
Birdman: Of course. I don’t know how many, bruh. It’s up to him. It’s his world. My son is his own boss. Whatever he wants to do, we’ll back him up.
AP: Lil Wayne is easily the mainstay for Cash Money. When he’s gone, will your record label suffer?
Birdman: Not as a company. But we will suffer in losing my son Wayne, who we love. Him as a person means more to me than anything.
AP: Up-and-coming rapper Drake is becoming more popular. Do you see him being a bigger star than Lil Wayne?
Shoutouts to the Associated Press. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Birdman: Drake is already a superstar.
AP: But as big as Wayne?
Birdman: That’s 20 years from now. Hopefully, he’ll be bigger. That’s what we’re striving for. We ain’t tripping. We’re working hard for him to be bigger than anyone else. We want the best for him.
AP: How does Cash Money compare to other rap label empires?
Birdman: Now, I don’t see any top labels. I look around and see all those people who did it before me. To me, the labels, I don’t see no company with constant success with a clique. At some point, there was a lot of people doing this. It used to be crowded. I see a lot of people who have done it, and now don’t see them.
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DAMMM
DAMMMM
yea im not so sure about that tat.
but decent interview.
I’m glad Birdman cares about Wayne more as a person instead as always an artist.
He ain’t wanna admit that drake is rising fast as a artist. I think he’s right up thhere with Wayne lyrically maybe better
Drake aint better than Wayne. The only reason hes that big is because of Wayne’s success. Drake knows that so thats why hes so humble.
Hell no drake aint better than wayne never will be drakes alright but not any where near weezy f baby waynes better than any artist ima miss wayne rap is gonna go down till the KING gets back wayne i have much respect 4 and i have respect 4 birdman to but DRAKE SUCKS COMPARED TO LIL WAYNE
drake is no where near Wayne.
there are still LOTS of people who havent even HEARD of Drake!!
Like Birdman said, Drake’s got at least 20 more years before he could be near Wayne; and he better be spittin fire every one of the next 20 years!
drake aint nowhere bette then wayne but hes commin up and can spit forreal.ill give him that straight up
DRAKE THA HOMIE GREAT ARTIST STILL BECOMIN HIS SELF THO…TIME WILL SHOW…BT MUSIC GONA FALL OFF WITOUT WAYNE 4 A MIN…
And one more drake I fucks with u but u nees to find ur own swag cz u sound just like wayne on all ur songs… but urself man that’s what make u unique…. its not only me who thinks so everybody else does to…. just keepin it a mil….
yea i think Drake sounds like Wayne also but i do notice one thing about artist joining a label they always seem to sound like the main artist on that label r some kind of way develope their swagg i dont know if thats always a bad thing because mayb it helps their album sell but,personally i have always been a leader and not a follower and never tried to b anyone but myself but thats just me mayb things change when youre in the industry it shouldnt tho but i will also say Drake is doin his thing and he may not b up there with Wayne yet but he’s right behind him and i do wish him the best.
when drakes on a track i havent heard i listen to his verse(s) then if i like it i put it on my ipod, when wayne is on a track, i dont even need to listen, i automatically put it on my ipod
SHIT! I don’t understand why NIGGAS be thinking Drake is better than Wayne! Show me one Drake song that is better than Wayne’s UPGRADE YOU on Tha Drought 3 Mixtape….. And niggas remember…. Drake NEED Wayne…. Wayne doesn’t need Drake cos Wayne alone, he sold 1 mil first week… and I can bet on my ass Drake drop off Young Money right now… his album won’t sell 300k first week.
WEEZY IS THE BEST RAPPER EVER!!!
Read what Eminem said below about Weezy…
Eminem: Fabolous has got a great album. Jay-Z, obviously. Last year I was bumpin’ T.I.’s Paper Trail for almost the whole summer. I had bought Lil Wayne’s album, but I was so busy recording that it literally just sat in my CD case until like six months ago. There was the hype about him, but I didn’t see what all the hype was about. I felt like he was good, certainly above average from his singles, but it was like, “Is he that dope?” Then I listened to the whole album and was like, “Wow! My man is that dope—Lil Wayne is fucking dope!” You’ve got to listen to a Lil Wayne song four, five, or six times to actually catch everything he’s saying. We were at a video set a couple months ago and I’m bumping it in the trailer and I’m like, “Yo, Wayne is dope!” And Paul is like, “Really? You’re just now figuring this out? Where the fuck have you been?” They think it’s funny, but you know, being sober, my eyes have opened up to so much more shit that I was missing.
i dont think drake is as good as wayne but he is close
Damn birdmans tat look ugly as shit
birdmans head is a target for ariplanes now.
or for birds to shit on his headd
ha
they tiiite thoe
i love wayne
shit on birdmans head!
f’real drake aint better than wayne now. I tell u straight up tho drakes lyrics better than waynes lyrics when he first came out. but that’s mostly cuz he has wayne for inspiration
Drake hasn’t been in this game as long as Wayne has. Right now, Wayne is definitely the better rapper but I think he has a legitimate shot of being at Wayne’s level, if not better, when he’s Wayne’s age. The man’s only 23. He’s a beast right now and has a good shot of being better than Wayne.
Drake is almost better then wayne… Drake is the one who comes up for a lot of weezys rhymes.. been there… seen it… he helps out A LOT with lyrics
i agree with “ArafatWeezy” drake needs wayne, drake would be nothin without him and wayne he has always been the best rapper alive before drake and him got together, since wayne is going to jail i hope drake doesnt become better then him cause wayne is doin it good and we dont want drake ruinin that for him.
Lil Wayne you are the best thousand billions time am your number Ghanaian and we all lil fans pray for speedy release from jail for me I will keep praying until you be release and my most wish is that ….you come to Ghana one day perform live on stage with lil cooked
Pray for you always
And very happy…Birdman is surpporting his son alot
keep it up we love cash money records
PEACE