Arguably, Lil Wayne’s and Birdman’s saga is, perhaps, one of the most dragged-out feuds to have ever been carried out in public within hip-hop. The mentor-protégé relationship between the two that kicked off years ago at the age of 12, when Wayne signed with Cash Money Records, had gone terribly sour over financial disagreements.
By the early 2000s, tensions within Cash Money began surfacing. In 2003, Lil Wayne formed Young Money Entertainment, a Cash Money imprint, but he retained less than full creative control, suggesting greater problems with Birdman and his brother, Slim. By 2004, Wayne was speaking to Jay-Z about signing with Roc-A-Fella Records. Jay-Z, observing basic industry protocol, alerted Birdman to these conversations, which prompted Cash Money to fire off a letter to Roc-A-Fella accusing them of “tortious interference”.
In December 2014, Lil Wayne went across social media and attacked his onetime father figure and business partner for the continuous delays in releasing Wayne’s long-completed 11th studio album, Tha Carter V. He squarely placed the blame on Birdman and Cash Money Records, the label that was his musical home for years. “I am a prisoner and so is my creativity,” wrote Wayne in this brief communique that kicked off a years-long beef.
The following month, Lil Wayne’s manager, Cortez Bryant, entered the battlefield. In a series of Instagram posts, Bryant rallied to Wayne’s work in success for over a decade for Cash Money. These created the narrative of an artist who loved his art and wanted contract emancipation. Things went even further when Jay-Z, another bigwig in the hip-hop circles, apparently wanted to rope Wayne into Roc Nation. Birdman, however, responded with threats of a possible lawsuit, reportedly counter-attacking his deal having been “torturously interfered” with.
When Lil Wayne 1st encountered “problems” with Birdman, he went to visit JAY-Z in hopes of being signed. Jay gave Birdman a friendly heads up and then Roc offices received a letter for “torturous interference”. Hov could have still signed him but decided not to. Years later it… PIC.TWITTER.COM/DUVPNCDHKI
— 💎🍾 (@TheRocSupremacy) MAY 23, 2024
That tension boiled over into a legal battle, which saw Lil Wayne suing Cash Money Records for a staggering $51 million in early 2015 in his bid to be freed from the record label and finally drop Tha Carter V. Not one to be outdone, Birdman quickly responded with a countersuit of the same amount. The undoing of this one, however, came through legal skirmishes fought in courtrooms, on social media, and, absurdly, through the release of diss tracks.
While the lawsuits took on a life of their own, more personal details to the dispute began to gradually surface. For starters, during the inauspicious 2015 year, a shooting involving Lil Wayne’s tour bus took the industry by storm. Although the incident could not be directly traced to the feud, rumors spread throughout the online community that Birdman and Cash Money were responsible for putting Young Thug, another CM artist, up to performing the deed as a means of rattle Wayne. While not directly related, this incident was yet another strain on the former working relationship.
Fast forward to the present, and a semblance of peace appears to have settled. During a recent performance at a Miami nightclub, Birdman addressed the crowd with Lil Wayne standing beside him. This public display suggested a resolution to the conflict, potentially paving the way for Tha Carter V’s long-awaited release. However, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the lawsuits – are they truly settled, or is this a facade?
Shocking revelations emerged that Birdman had been stealing from Lil Wayne. This was a bombshell revelation that might throw a whole lot of complexity into the relationship of things. Was this just a business feud, or was the betrayal much deeper?
The confrontations of Lil Wayne with Birdman and Cash Money are a cautionary tale for the music industry. From album delays to multi-million dollar lawsuits and now even a reported shooting, the story seems to have been taken over by one negative spin after another of sad news. With legalities worked out, apparently showing a togetherness on the home front, one has to ask if it’s for real or only strategic. Time will judge. If for nothing else, then this feud shall go down in history as a tale of betrayal of trust, creative captivity, and price of loyalty in the unforgiving world of hip-hop.
