Lil Wayne expresses love for Nirvana's "Nevermind"

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

It was not until after the release of Tha Carter until Lil Wayne had full creative control. For years, Lil Wayne was forced to rap simple rhymes to fit into the Cash Money mold. But, after the departure of Juvenile and B.G., Cash Money was willing to give Lil Wayne creative control.

Lil Wayne with creative control resulted in him becoming the biggest rapper in the game. After Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne said he mastered the rap game. While he always rapped, he also had love for rock music. Long before he ever came up with the Rebirth concept, Wayne loved rock.

Twenty years ago, Nirvana released their Nevermind album, which Lil Wayne loves. Lil Wayne said that album inspired his rebellious spirit. The Young Money CEO said he listened to the lyrics of the album and he could relate his life in the lyrics. Lil Wayne will be featured in a documentary about the release of the album, MTV News' "Nirvana: The Nevermind You Never Knew."

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Rappers turned Executives #9: Lil Wayne

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

In 2005, Birdman gave Lil Wayne the keys to the castle, when he named him the president of Cash Money Records. Wayne's first move as head of Cash Money was the formation of his own subsidiary label, Young Money. While Lil Wayne was becoming one of rap's central figures, no one expected his next move.

After the release of Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne said he was going to develop the talent on the Young Money roster. Within a year, he had signed Drake and Nicki Minaj. In 2010, Lil Wayne was sent to prison, but he still had a chart-topping album out. Also, his artists dominated the game.

Out of nowhere, Young Money took over the radio during the summer of 2010. Now, a year later, Lil Wayne is free and his team still has a firm grip on things. With the summer here, the label is looking for more talent, preparing for new albums from Lil Wayne and Drake, along with releasing the debut albums of the other artists signed to the label.

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50 Cent feels Drake sold well because Lil Wayne was in Prison

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Ever since Lil Wayne took over the game, 50 Cent has provided theories as to why he has done so well. 50 Cent was on top of the game before Wayne embarked on his run at the top. Lil Wayne having a bigger name than him has not sat well with 50 Cent.

Any time Young Money Entertainment has some sort of news, 50 Cent is the first to comment. Despite his past remarks about Lil Wayne, 50 Cent said he is a very big fan of Drake. Recently, 50 Cent explained the success of his debut album.

50 Cent said the only reason Drake did so well last year was because Lil Wayne was in prison. 50 said Lloyd Banks' debut album would have likely sold 5 million copies had he been in prison during the promotion for the album. At the time of Banks' debut, 50 Cent was the biggest name in rap music, period. Because of his association, Lloyd Banks was able to land a platinum release.

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Slim discusses Lil Wayne and "Tha Carter IV"

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

When he launched Cash Money Records, this is what Slim envisioned his comapny being like. Aside from the mainstream Cash Money label, the label has labels under Cash Money working and making money. In only three years, Cash Money Records has gone from a boutique label to being one of the biggest record labels.

Lil Wayne is credited for this growth. In the late 1990s, Cash Money seemingly caught their big break when they added The Hot Boyz and landed a deal with Universal Records. Cash Money Records had a huge roster and multiple hits. But, this would not be enough to keep the artists on the label when they had the option to leave.

By 2002, Lil Wayne was the only artist left on Cash Money. In 2004, he stepped his lyrical game up, releasing Tha Carter. Following his 2005 album, Tha Carter II, Lil Wayne hit the mixtape scene. From the bottom up, Lil Wayne took the game over, establishing Young Money under Cash Money. In 2008, he became the biggest rapper on the planet, releasing Tha Carter III, a triple platinum album.

In 2009, Lil Wayne released the We Are Young Money album, introducing Drake and Nicki Minaj. A few months later, Lil Wayne released Rebirth and soon ended up going to prison. While behind bars, Wayne released another album, I Am Not a Human Being, and released the "Right Above It" hit. Upon getting out of prison, Lil Wayne began promoting Tha Carter IV. Slim has been watching his top moneymaker and he is very impressed with Wayne's savvy.

Slim said it takes an incredible man to do what Lil Wayne has done. He has released four albums since 2008, each of which has been a platinum success. In the middle of this, Lil Wayne has released several hit singles and is running his own successful label under Cash Money. While behind bars, Lil Wayne helped make Drake and Nicki Minaj into superstars in their own right. This is what Slim helped do with several of the local New Orleans talents two decades ago and it is impressive he is doing this on a worldwide basis.

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Cory Gunz addresses Rick Ross' album title

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Earlier this week, Rick Ross revealed the title of his latest album would be God Forgives, I Don't. The album title has made waves because it is the same title as Cory Gunz' mixtape. When Rick Ross announced the title, many hip hop sites predicted controvery to soon follow.

Cory Gunz has finally opened up about the mixtape. He said it is very frustrating to come up with a title and have it taken. The Young Money rapper said he came up with the title three years ago. There is no way, he thinks, that Rick Ross could have come up with that title on his own.

Not only is the title his, but Cory Gunz said he has also given the title to songs and had t-shirts made with the quote on it. Cory Gunz admits his title was for a mixtape and Ross' is for an album. Still, he does not think that gives him an excuse to use that name because it is not his. Cory Gunz brushed off the title situation and said he is glad someone like Rick Ross is thinking like him and that he will be in his shoes soon.

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Birdman says Lil Wayne/Drake album is possible

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Lil Wayne is already back in the studio barely a week after being released from prison. While he was behind bars, he mentioned that he would be doing an album with Drake. During the summer, their collaboration, "Miss Me," hit radio stations and became a hit. Now, they are ready to create an entire album.

Birdman, the CEO of Cash Money Records, has now broken his silence on the possible album. Due to their chemistry, Birdman said an album could work between the two of them. Because they are often together, they already record a lot of material together. Birdman thinks it would be easy for them to make an album out of it.

Outside of running the label, Birdman has plans of releasing another solo album, Bigger Than Life, early next year. Following the release of his album, he and Lil Wayne will release the Father Like Son album around Father's Day next year. While he is still releasing his own solo music, Birdman wants the focus to be on his artists because they can carry things long-term.

Birdman also confirmed rumors about a second album from Drake being released next year. He said to expect the album sometime in March or April with a single coming sometime in December or January.

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Lil Chuckee tells Kat Stacks to Cool It

Throughout the spring of 2010, a new video vixen has emerged on the scene. She follows in the footsteps of Tahiry and others, but she claims to be the baddest of them all. Kat Stacks claims to have slept with every rapper in the game. When she first made herself known to the public, she claimed to have slept with the entire Young Money crew.

Each time she does an interview, Kat Stacks ends up recounting her time with Young Money. But, in the time since she first made the statement, she has spent time talking about Fabolous. Initially, he tried to ignore her, but Fab has been caught up exchanging Twitter messages with her. But, her favorite topic has been Young Money.

Most people know the aim of Kat Stacks is to try and gain fame in the industry. The best way to receive quick attention is to latch onto the Young Money crew. However, when speaking of Kat, Lil Chuckee feels she has gone about this the wrong way. He feels if she wanted to roll with the Young Money crew, she could have come another way.

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Bow Wow pushed back to 2011

Last year, Bow Wow released New Jack City, Pi. II, his "final" album. Following the lukewarm reception to the album, Bow Wow decided that he could not go out like that. In response, he began working on another album. Soon, he began talking with longtime friend, Lil Wayne.

The result of their talk ended up with Bow Wow being added to the Young Money roster. Despite already being a star, a movement has been taking place with Young Money. The first order of action was to release Wayne's music. Following Wayne is Drake, then Nicki Minaj.

Drake has his album right around the corner, while Nicki Minaj wants to release her album in the fall. Meanwhile, Bow Wow was set to release his album right before Christmas. However, the leak of his first single, "Cuff Ur Chick," featuring Fabolous and Drake, has led to a push-back.

Bow Wow had initially planned to release his album right before the end of the year. With his album being pushed back, Bow Wow will have to release his album sometime in 2011. This will give him time to tie up all of the loose ends with his music. Still, Bow Wow would have preferred to have released his album before the end of this year. Bow Wow wants to release an album every year, but because of the mix-up with his single, he has become the first Young Money artist, aside from Lil Wayne to suffer a major push-back.

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Nicki Minaj is carrying Young Money

Last year, Drake officially signed with Young Money and many people predicted him to become the future of the label. His mixtape release, last year's So Far Gone, had more success than most albums that were released in 2009. With the buzz that he had, it appeared as if he were ready to take over the game.

Once it was revealed that Lil Wayne would be in prison for a year, it appeared that Drake would begin his run a little early. After all, if he could have an enormous buzz based off of the mixtape, imagine what he could do with an album. Most people viewed Young Money as Lil Wayne first, Drake second, and Nicki Minaj a distant third.

However, recently, that has not been the case. Drake is still one of the hottest rapers in the game. Despite his incredible run, Nicki Minaj is a little more popular than Drizzy. She has been called upon by Ludacris and Usher. Both of their songs have become hits and they both credit the verse from Nicki Minaj as the culprit.

Nicki Minaj does not have an album coming anytime soon, but it is her music that is getting the most airplay on radio stations. Drake is still dominating with "Over," but he is not dominating the way that Nicki is with music on other artists' albums. Promotion for her album is not set to begin until late in the summer. Meanwhile, promotion for Drake's album is currently in gear. Despite this fact, it is Nicki Minaj that has the most buzz, right now, and with her album around the corner, she may outsell Drake.

When the Young Money name is mentioned, a lot of people still say Drake, but the dominant artist in the crew happens to be Nicki Minaj. Her untitled debut album will be released sometime before the end of this year around the fall season.

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Nicki Minaj finally releases "Massive Attack"

For the past six months, Nicki Minaj has been talking about her debut album. She had been affiliated with Lil Wayne and his Young Money crew since 2006. But, she did not sign with the label until 2009. Her actual signing with Young Money did not come until after Drake signed with the label.

The focus of Young Money shifted from Wayne to Drake and his album will be released before Nicki's. She has been promoting herself in order to maintain her buzz. As the release date for Drake's album nears, Minaj has more buzz than he does. Without releasing a single or an album title, Nicki Minaj has kept herself popular.

Now, after months of talking, Nicki Minaj has released her long-awaited debut single. "Massive Attack" featuring Sean Garrett, was released to the radio and the internet earlier today. Later this summer, Nicki plans to release her debut album. It has become the job of the entire Young Money crew to step up while Lil Wayne is out of commission.

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Drake assumes leadership of Young Money

With Lil Wayne done for the rest of the year, there is a major hitch in the Young Money crew. Even before their franchise player was sentenced to prison, there was a plan to hand the game down. Now that Wayne is gone, this plan was put on rush.

Last year, Drake released his So Far Gone mixtape that made him into a household name. This year, he plans to duplicate that success with his debut album, Thank Me Later. But, with Lil Wayne gone, the record sales and the popularity of that album have to be extremely high.

The pressure is a lot on Drake, but he has said that it is nothing that he cannot handle. Drake said that he spoke with Lil Wayne before he went to prison. In their talk, he promised to lead Young Money while he was away. With the rap game changing every second, only time will tell if Drizzy delivers on this promise.

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Birdman talks post-Lil Wayne Cash Money Records

Birdman established Cash Money Records, along with his brother, Slim, in 1990. The label was created in New Orleans and they signed local rappers. Because they were new to the game, they offered each artist 50% of their profits on each album. They would sell their records to local CD shops and would land small deals. It did not take long for the Cash Money label to become well-known within New Orleans. Soon, they would be overshadowed by No Limit Records before the mid-1990s.

Things would change for the label when they added Juvenile, Turk, Lil Wayne, and B.G. to the label. At a time when boy bands were taking over, Birdman decided to turn the four young men into a hardcore rap group. In 1996, they released the debut album from B.G., Chopper City. The album would be hailed as a classic and it built a fan base for the rapper outside of Louisiana. Soon, the success of B.G. attracted a major record label in Universal Records.

Universal Records attempted to sign the teenage rapper, but the move was blocked by Birdman because B.G. was under contract with his Cash Money Records. The label tried to work out a joint venture deal, but it was turned down and Universal Records offered a distribution deal. Under the terms of this deal, Universal would become the exclusive distributor to Cash Money Records. At the time, Universal was not looking to distribute the entire Cash Money label, but it ended up being a profitable partnership. At one point, it appeared that deal was going bad as Juvenile and B.G. had left the label. During this frame of time, Lil Wayne was not looked at as one of the top rappers. This is what led to the assault that Wayne put on the rap game.

For the past three years, Lil Wayne has been on top of the game. However, unlike other stars, Wayne insured the future of his crew. Starting in 2007, he began signing acts to his Young Money label. Right before he was sentenced, Lil Wayne introduced them into the game. Now, the entire crew is stars. Not only are these artists, which include Drake, Bow Wow, and Nicki Minaj signed to Young Money, but they are also signed to Cash Money Records. Recently, Birdman spoke of how releases from these artists were going to keep his label on top of the rap game. Not only will they be holding things down, but Lil Wayne will be releasing singles off of his album, Tha Carter IV with the videos already being filmed.

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