Birdman not only served as the founder of Cash Money Records but also a father figure to some of the label’s biggest artists, according to the rap mogul.
Bryan “Birdman” Williams founded Cash Money Records in 1991, along with his brother Ronald “Slim” Williams. Before they signed artists like Drake, Tyga, and Nicki Minaj, the pair found their niche in signing New Orleans-based rappers to the label.
Birdman was at the forefront of the search as he looked out for up-and-coming acts. During the label’s first year, he made the biggest find of his career when he met an 8-year-old Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter Jr., who went by the name Baby D at the time. Four years after they met, Carter signed with Cash Money at the age of 12 in 1995.
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This was not groundbreaking for the label, as two years earlier he signed Christopher “Lil Doogie” Dorsey, who would later be known by most fans as B.G. Baby D and Lil Doogie were a part of the early 90s rap group B.G.’z, and the duo dropped their album “True Story” in 1995.
While they were working on gaining mainstream success, Birdman was doing what he could to provide for the child stars. In a recent interview, the record producer said that he raised the young ones. Birdman said that Lil Wayne’s mother took the rapper from him. In a 2018 interview with Apple Music, Birdman said “she didn’t want Wayne around me because she knew how I was living.”
Birdman said that while B.G. was recording his album Wayne came back to live with him.
The “Still Fly” rapper said, “B.G. was already living with me. B.G.’s mom gave him to me.” The interview asked him what age he was at this point, and he said he was 17 or 18, while B.G. and Lil Wayne were 13. “I was a kid,” Birdman said, “I was a baby raising babies.”
While elements of his story are likely to be true, his ages are off slightly. B.G. released his first solo album, “Chopper City,” in 1996. If the young rapper was working on his album in 1995 this would put B.G. at 15, Wayne at 13, and Birdman at 26 years old.
Fans didn’t let this get past Birdman as they called out the slip-up. One said, “They’re 13 and you’re 17. That’s crazy. Birdman took a perfectly good story and put the cap on it FOR NO REASON. Bruh was 10+ years older than Lil Wayne & B.G.” Another wrote, “He was born in 1969 bg was born in the 80s lmao birdman be cap sometimes but he did what he did.”
He was born in 1969 bg was born in the 80s lmao birdman be cap sometimes but he did what he did https://t.co/WtZ8mmolxC
— CartierCal (@cartiercal1) October 23, 2023
While Wayne, B.G., and their alleged surrogate father have hit some rough patches in their relationship, Birdman has shown that he will always love and support them.
When Wayne took Cash Money to court in a $51 million lawsuit, Birdman had nothing negative to say about him. Birdman told Angie Martinez, “He’s my son and I love him to death,” when speaking about the situation.
The “What Happened to That Boy” rapper took care of his other “son,” B.G., when he was recently released from prison. After serving over a decade for gun charges and obstruction of justice, B.G. officially became a free man in early September.
Birdman live-streamed the “Move Around” artist’s first moments back into the real world, and he gifted B.G. an iced-out Cash Money pendant. Any beef between the two seems to be over, based on a recent episode of “The 85 South Show,” where Birdman said that B.G. was “official Cash Money.”
