American hip hop mogul Birdman claims he spent over Sh. 150 billion ($1.4 billion) to pay Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj.
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Birdman reveals how much he paid Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Drake [Pulse Contributor's Opinion]
Wayne and Drake were paid $500 million each, while Nicki received $400 million.
Wayne and Drake were paid $500 million each, while Nicki received $400 million, reveals Birdman.
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Cash Money Records CEO and co-founder Bryan "Birdman" Williams has faced multiple lawsuits in the past years due to funds he owes his artists and other workers at his label.
An example is the infamous suit filed by Lil Wayne that ended up blocking the release of Tha Carter V, Tunechi's twelfth studio album. The album was finally unveiled in 2018, leading to the presumption that the two parties had settled their suit.
![American rapper Lil Wayne [Instagram/LilTunechi]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'790'%20height%3D'669'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "American rapper Lil Wayne [Instagram/LilTunechi]")
American rapper Lil Wayne [Instagram/LilTunechi]
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Birdman, alias Baby, recently revealed how much he spent to pay Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaji's debts in an extensive interview with the Big Facts Podcast.
According to the rapper and businessman, he signed a deal with Universal Music Group that enabled him to pay his artists.
Birdman revealed he went into his own pockets and paid Wayne and Drake over Sh.55 billion ($500 million) each, while Nicki received over 44 billion ($400 million).
“When Universal gave me a bag, brother, I could honestly say I gave Wayne about $400 to $500 million, Drake got about $500 million and Nicki got about $300, $400 million out of my pocket,” he boasts in the clip. “No cap. If you don’t believe them, ask ’em.”
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Back in December 2014, Wayne blamed Birdman for the delay of Carter V release, making it clear that he wanted to end his deal with Cash Money.
"I want off this label and nothing to do with these people but unfortunately it ain't that easy," the No Ceilings 3 rapper wrote on Twitter. "I am a prisoner and so is my creativity."
Lil Wayne later decided to take legal action against Birdman and sued him for over Sh.5 billion ($51 million) in 2015. In the lawsuit, Weezy wanted to get paid for his Carter V work, as well as royalties from Drake's releases via Wayne's label, Young Money Records.
The suit also indicated that Wayne wanted the judge to release him from the Cash Money contract along with his Young Money (YM) signees including Drake and Nicki Minaj. Other YM artists included Gudda Gudda, Jae Millz, Mack Maine, Lil Twist, Tyga, and more.
The following months, Lil Wayne dissed Birdman several times including in the Young Money cypher, Up Next, and at a Jacksonville, Florida show where he openly screamed "f**k Cash Money."
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Musician Nicki Minaj at the 019 Met Gala.
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During this time, Birdman took Atlanta rapper Young Thug under his wing with the Rich Gang movement. Many believed Thugger was an attempt to replace Wayne.
In April of that year (2015), Lil Wayne's tour bus was shot at in Atlanta while it pulled away from the Compound nightclub. No one was injured in the shooting.
Around a month later, Young Thug's affiliate Peewee Roscoe was arrested and charged with attempted murder for the shooting.
The indictment later accused Birdman of his involvement in the plot to kill Wayne. Baby denied these claims saying Lil Wayne "meant the world to him."
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Although the two parties had a frenemy-type of a relationship throughout 2016, they would go back and forth over finances over the years until they reached a final settlement in 2018 when Carter V was released.
Pulse Contributor Timothy Mwachia
Pulse Live Kenya
The foregoing is an Opinion Article submitted to Pulse Live Kenya for publication as part of the Pulse Contributors initiative.
Pulse Contributors is an initiative to highlight diverse journalistic voices. Pulse Contributors do not represent the company Pulse and contribute on their own behalf.
Should you wish to submit an Article to Pulse, do so via contributors@pulse.co.ke.
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Timothy Mwachia is a young journalist interested in writing about entertainment and lifestyle. He has contributed news articles at Daily Rap Facts and The Dope Way and he's obsessed with knowledge - "I've got a thing for watching documentaries, reading and writing," he says.
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