He’s seen the rap radar come and leave his New Orleans stomping grounds on more than one occasion. He’s seen his records fly off shelves as well as leak months in advance. He’s been called a joke. He’s been told he simply can’t rap. He’s been accused of being a thief.
But guess what? 18 years later he’s still here and stunting as hard as ever.
With his fourth solo album Priceless in stores now, Birdman could care less what people say about him. He’s living life and overseeing the careers of two of the biggest rap artists on the planet (Drake and Lil Wayne) and has crossed over into pop territory with the recent success of Jay Sean. While his rapper/CEO peers have been busy buying restaurants, nightclubs and clothing lines, Birdman’s been getting money in the oil industry.
He’s outlasted some of Hip Hop’s biggest stars and has the scars (under his uncountable amount of tattoos) to prove it. Unfortunately for his detractors, it doesn’t look like he’s going to stop anytime soon.
While in Atlanta promoting Priceless, OZONE’s Eric Perrin caught up with Birdman to talk about life, business and the things that matter most to him.
What aspects of this music game still excite you? Is there anything left for you to do?
Man, I think we’ve got a lot of room [to grow]. I still ain’t never put out an R&B act. I’ve only got one pop act, so we gotta double up on all this shit, homie, and we’re gonna do it now. We’re just going for something that ain’t never been done. I got a strong staff and I know we can do this.
I was talking to Jay Sean earlier and he said your dedication to the music is the main thing that attracted him to Cash Money. Is it true that you really live, breath, eat, sleep, and shit music?
Yeah, when he came down here I guess he saw how we worked, and I just want motherfuckers to know, to be a part of this you gotta have these same ethics. I don’t like that lazy shit, and everybody that’s a part of it is the same way. That’s how I know, when you come to Cash Money, that’s what you gonna get.
I know you said you’re not satisfied with your lack of R&B acts—
Not just R&B, I wanna do everything.
What about Country?
Of course. Country is where the other money at. I just ain’t found me a Country act yet, but as soon as I do, it’s on. We’ve already had some Country records; my son rapped with Kid Rock and shit and it blew up, so I’m just waiting to find the right Country act to sign so my son can do a song with him and blow him up.
You seem to find money no matter where it is, from the Lugz shoes, to videogames, to music…
I’m trying to buy some of the [Miami] Dolphins next.
How did you become so business savvy?
I was just born with that shit, brah. When you have a business you need to know to budget, spend, and manage. I think those are the three hardest things to do in business. If you don’t do those things, your business is gonna go under. I was just blessed to know how to do those things [as well as] hustle. Honestly, you gotta hustle and know how to flip money. And to flip money, you’ve got to always get new money. Niggas be trying to hold on to old money and they don’t spend it, but you’ve gotta keep flipping that shit.
What’s the worst business investment you’ve made throughout your career?
Probably the worst investment I did was fuckin’ with R. Kelly. That was a waste of my time. I could’ve made money if I wasn’t fuckin’ with that clown-ass nigga.
I heard the tattoo on your head represents an oil rig. Is it true you’re an aspiring oil tycoon?
I’ve been in the oil business about 4 or 5 years now. That’s something me and my brother decided to do outside of music. I read about oil a lot and I was able to get in business. [My company] is called Browner Oil, and I’m making good money off that; that’s something for my kids and my kids’ kids. They can live off that money forever.
Not to get in your pockets too much, but I heard you’ve made over $100 million off oil.
I did a few different deals. That was just one of them. When you’re dealing with oil, you buy in different areas. Right now I’m active; I got pumps and shit that are getting money monthly. I like that oil shit. I’m gonna put some more time into it.
Getting to your new album Priceless, what are you trying to say is priceless? The music, the lifestyle, or are you just borrowing a term from the MasterCard commercials?
I feel like life is priceless, but the term Priceless has a lot of different meanings. What means the most to me outside of God is my family; that’s priceless. Loyalty is priceless. Love is priceless. Life is priceless—once it’s gone it’s over. That’s what Priceless mean to me.
How has your music been able to evolve so well over the years?
I’m talented. I stay around talent, and I’m able to adjust to the time. You got niggas who still think its ’98, man. It’s not ’98, it’s 2009! I did the “Bling Bling” era, but that shit is over, and you’ve gotta let that go. I think niggas be caught up in the past and then you’ve got older niggas who are still trying to rap, still trying to make hits, and can’t. You’ve got to be able to change. I was fortunate enough to know to let my son go, and to just fuck with him. It’s his world. I’m gonna rock with him and these young niggas, support what they’re trying to do, and make them more successful.
Speaking of working with new, young artists, what did you see in Drake early on, and what made him sign to Cash Money?
Man, that nigga Drake is cold as a motherfucker! That boy’s bad, man. That young nigga’s got some wordplay. He’s gonna be around for a long time. I was more than impressed, I wished I would’ve been knew [about him]. My son been knew, but I didn’t. Drake’s a bad motherfucker. That nigga can rap his ass off, and he can sing. He’s not just an artist; he’s like Wayne, he’s all around with it and what I love about him more than anything is [that] he understands the leadership. He know who’s the Kobe, who’s the Phil Jackson, ya heard me. And we’ve got everything on our team.
Why do you think he chose to sign with Cash Money?
Well, you gotta understand Drake comes from us, yaheardme? He came from over there with Rap-A-Lot. Lil James, whose daddy is James Prince, put us on to Drake. He was birthed through Young Money/Cash Money, so it was only right. That was his heart’s place from the start. How can you go wrong when you’re with Young Moola? You can’t. And that nigga is talented as a muthafucker. The boy got what it takes and then some.
Does Drake write for Wayne?
C’mon, man. Wayne don’t even write, man. Honestly Wayne don’t write. I don’t know how he do that shit he do, but don’t no nigga do it for him. Wayne don’t play that shit, he never did. We ain’t with that shit. That’s cheatin’ to me, when you’re trying to be great. When you’re just an artist that wants a hot record, that’s something different, but when you’re trying to be great you ain’t bout to let no nigga write for you, cause you don’t wanna lose none of the credit. Wayne wants to be the best to ever do it. To be the greatest ever takes your skillful thoughts, not another person’s.
Why do you think people make such a big deal out of the relationship between you and Wayne?
I think it’s a symbolic situation for everybody, and it’s a family thing, you know, father and son. Maybe that’s it. Or maybe it’s the business and how successful we’ve been. I really don’t know why muthafuckers care so much, but I’ve bred him through it. We came up together and we did everything together. Maybe they just wish they had a father-son relationship like we’ve got. But [people’s opinions] don’t bother me. I been stop letting shit a nigga say out his mouth bother me. It’s the music industry, and people are gonna make good and bad statements about you. So I hear no evil, see no evil.
If Wayne does end up doing some time behind his current legal issues, do you feel any benefit could come from him sitting down for a little while?
Shit, I don’t even look for a benefit from that, that’s just a fucked up experience that we’ve all probably had someone close to us experience. I don’t look for a benefit from jail, I don’t look for that, yaheardme? I’d rather him not even go in that muthafucker at all. Ain’t no benefit from that shit. He’s a man, so there ain’t too much to it. Just do it and come home. That’s all I can tell him.
Let’s talk about your tattoos for a minute. Do you have any idea how many you have?
I been stop counting, bruh. I get ‘em everyday, every chance I get, so I don’t even remember the last one I got. I can tell which tattoo is the most recent by whichever one itches the most. When I get a whole bunch of them done at the same time and all that shit itches at the same time, that’s a fucked up feeling. I gotta cut my fuckin’ nails real low to keep from fuckin’ my skin up, but my tattoos mean the world to me. I don’t have nothing on me unless it represents family, loyalty, God, or love. My tattoos speak without me having to speak, and it comes from the heart because it be about things I done been through. My family, the losses, the lives, the people I love. They all mean a lot to me, and all of ‘em come with pain. I’ll take pain for my loved ones.
I know you’re entrenched with the business aspect of the music industry, but do you genuinely still love to rap?
Yeah, I love to do it. I love to be an artist—a group artist. The solo shit is cool, but I’d rather be in a group. The next album is gonna be another “Father Like Son” album, but I’m a group nigga. I like to be in a group.
What lyric or song that you’ve put out throughout your career best represents who you are as an artist?
“Number 1 Stunna.” That’s my life. I’m gonna live that, and I’m gonna breath that and anybody who loves living life and came from nothing can relate to that song. I’m gonna live my shit shining every muthafuckin’ day, every chance I get, cause life is priceless.
What are you doing differently on Priceless?
Well to me, you’re gonna always hear growth from us. I’m a firm believer in that, so you’re gonna hear growth on this album. And you know I never do any albums without my son. I don’t even do music without him. But I pretty much kept it family on this album: Drake, Young Twist, Chuckee, Nicki [Minaj], Kevin Rudolf, Jay Sean—I just kept it right there, but you’re gonna see that we’re reaching for different sounds. The bass is still there in the music, but we’re trying to diversify. If you ever come to one of our shows you’ll see that the nationalities ain’t the same. Our audiences are predominately white, and we do 20-30,000 every night. It’s amazing. I think once you get to a certain level, it takes more than one nationality to get to where you’re trying to go. //
