Birdman shared that he gave Lil Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj, $1.4 billion combined out of his pocket.
The Cash Money Records CEO boss defended himself on the “Big Facts” Podcast on Tuesday as he addressed several allegations and rumors over the years, which claimed that he ripped off Lil Wayne and others.
Birdman co-founded Cash Money Records with his brother Ronald “Slim” Williams. In the decades that followed, it was one of the more prosperous labels churning talents like Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Drake, Nicki Minaj, and others. In the same interview he said that he paid Wayne, Drake, and Nicki over a billion dollars since singing them.
“I can honestly say I gave Wayne about 400 to 500 million dollars, Drake got about 500 million dollars, and Nicki got about 300 to 400 million dollars out of my pocket, no cap, if you don’t believe me ask them,” the head of Cash Money Records said.
According to Birdman, his influence on the industry has been wide, but he hasn’t received proper recognition for it.
“I can say this here. I bless more lives than any one of these dudes who do what I do,” the 52-year-old expressed, noting his intentions are not to disrespect other figures in the business. “But ain’t no ni**a put on more n**** than me. No n**** in the game. My list go long.”
He continued, “But, I don’t get the [credit] and I ain’t tripping. I don’t give a f*** about it because I get the money. That’s what matters the most to me more than anything. I just think because we southern, we don’t get the respect.”
He also addressed the rumors of him stealing from Lil Wayne and denied that he ever stole from him or anyone else.
“I ain’t never took from no n****. I always bless n****,” he began. “I had some incidents early on because I was really young in this sht. I ain’t know no better,” he explained. “But, any problem I had I cleared it up. I paid any n****. Remember because I was young. I’m telling you 20 years old. So, a lot of sht happened early on, I just ain’t know. And I’m with these white folks and they not attending to the business. [And] I’m not really knowing, but any n**** that had any problem from my son on down — and I gave him 50 million — and I cleared it up.”
Wayne and Birdman had a close relationship, but they later had a falling out that threatened their bond as Wayne sued Cash Money for $51 million in 2015. Among the allegations in the lawsuit were that the label violated the contract with Wayne and withheld monies owed as well as delaying his album Tha Carter V.
However, the lawsuit was later settled in 2018, with Lil Wayne receiving a large payment from Cash Money.
Birdman added that he has continued to help people into the game and he is motivated knowing he can “continue to bless young ni**as.”
He noted, “I want continuously to make these ni**as millionaires and superstars.”
Meanwhile, Birdman isn’t impressed by the younger generation of rappers, especially those that become involved in drugs and crime. Of late, quite a number of rappers have been arrested for having illegal guns in their possession or for drugs.
“You got these little young ni**as nowadays is all the way wilding. That’s why they all going to penitentiary,” he said. “I was like that too so I can’t say nothing about it. I live like they live… All that sht they was doing we were doing this sht, but now I think the technology different. They couldn’t watch us. I was a bad boy, like, we were really thuggin’. We was thuggin’ like they thuggin’. Now you got social media they could [get] caught quicker.”
According to him, rappers need to stick to music and understand “they could become powerful with the money than just the fame.”
