Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. Rooted in Southern hip-hop, he is regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, and widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Known for his creative lyrical ability—which often uses punchlines, homonyms, word play—and braggadocio, his music often deals with the subjects of wealth, drugs, and sex. Born and raised in New Orleans, he was discovered by hometown rapper Birdman in 1993 and signed with the latter's record label, Cash Money Records, at age eleven. He emerged as the flagship artist of the label in the following years until his departure in June 2018.
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Baby" Williams. The label gained prominence in the late 1990s for having signed and released albums for New Orleans–based musical acts including Lil Wayne, Juvenile, B.G., and Hot Boys. It became an imprint of Universal Records, a division of Universal Music Group in March 1998, and remained so during its following iterations as Universal Republic, Universal Motown and ultimately Republic Records.
Bryan Christopher Williams, better known by his stage names Birdman or Baby, is an American rapper and record executive. He is the public face of Cash Money Records, a record label he co-founded with his older brother, Ronald "Slim" Williams, in 1991. Birdman released his eponymous debut studio album in 2002, and released three follow-up albums—Fast Money (2005), 5 * Stunna (2007), and Priceless (2009)—to moderate commercial success and mixed critical reception. Along with his solo career, he is a member of the hip hop duo Big Tymers with producer Mannie Fresh, as well as the supergroup Cash Money Millionaires.
Like Father, Like Son is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Birdman and Lil Wayne. The album was released on October 31, 2006, through Cash Money Records and Universal Records. Guest appearances include Fat Joe, T-Pain, Rick Ross, Tha Dogg Pound and All Star Cashville Prince. Producers included Swizz Beatz and Scott Storch.
"Make It Rain" is a song by American rapper Fat Joe, released in 2006 as the first single from his seventh album Me, Myself & I. It features American rapper Lil Wayne, who only raps the chorus, and was produced by Scott Storch. The song peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was released through EMI, Virgin Records, and Fat Joe's Terror Squad Entertainment.
Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne in 2005. It was launched as an imprint of Cash Money Records — a joint venture colloquially branded as Young Money Cash Money Billionaires — and Republic Records until 2018, after which the label operated severally as an imprint of latter. Wayne's longtime affiliate, rapper Mack Maine was appointed the company's president in 2009.
5 * Stunna is the third studio album by American rapper Birdman. It was released on December 11, 2007, by Cash Money Records and Universal Records. The album includes the productions from Kane Beatz, T-Mix, Cool & Dre, Young Yonny, DJ Tone, the Fliptones, Tommy Gunnz, Drumma Boy, Steve Morales and Raymond "Sarom" Diaz, among others. Rapper Lil Wayne has featured 7 out of 22 tracks throughout the whole album. The album debuted at number 18 on the US Billboard 200, selling 80,000 copies in the first week. To date, the album has sold 372,000 copies in the United States.
"Pop Bottles" is the first single from Birdman's third studio album, 5 * Stunna. The track features rapper Lil Wayne. The track samples "Put Ya Hands Up" performed by Jadakiss from his 2001 album Kiss Tha Game Goodbye. The song has since sold over 3,690,000 copies.
"Got Money" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne featuring American singer T-Pain, released as the third single from the former's sixth studio album Tha Carter III (2008). Both artists use the Auto-Tune effect in the song. The single was released as a digital download on iTunes on May 27, 2008. Lil Wayne and T-Pain performed the song at the BET 2008 awards and the 2008 MTV Music Video Awards. MTV also ranked the song as the number 19 Hip-Hop song of 2008.
"Always Strapped" is the first single from rapper Birdman's fourth studio album, Priceless. It was released officially on iTunes on March 17, 2009. The song features Lil Wayne and Mack Maine, and was produced by Mr. Beatz. The song peaked at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Money to Blow" is the third single from rapper Birdman's fourth studio album, Priceless. It was released on September 16, 2009 and features guest appearances from then-Cash Money Records artists Drake and Lil Wayne. The song was first leaked in early 2008 and originally belonged to the former, who gave it to Birdman as a lead artist. Lyrically, "Money to Blow" is an ode to each performer's success in the music industry. It was produced by Tennessee-based producer Drumma Boy.
"4 My Town (Play Ball)" is the fourth single from rapper Birdman's fourth studio album, Priceless. The song features Young Money/Cash Money artists Drake and Lil Wayne. Drake's verse and the unmastered instrumental to the song was originally leaked and titled as "Play Ball" by Richie Wess and featuring Drake and Yung Dred, and then later placed on Soulja Boy's mixtape Paranormal Activity again as "Play Ball" featuring Drake.
"Loyalty" is a song by American rapper Birdman. The song features Young Money/Cash Money artists Lil Wayne and Tyga. It is about loyalty and not forgetting where one has come from.
"Fire Flame" is a song by American rapper Birdman. The song features a guest appearance from fellow rapper Lil Wayne, who was not originally intended to appear on the song: however, his vocals were added following his release from prison. The rappers wrote the song, along with record producers Mr. Beatz and Kill Will, who also handled the song's production.
"Y.U. Mad" is a hip hop song by American rapper Birdman. The song features Cash Money/Young Money recording artists Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. The song was sent to U.S. Urban radio on September 20, 2011. and U.S. Rhythmic radio on October 11, 2011.
"Born Stunna" is a hip hop song by American rapper Birdman. The song features Rick Ross and was produced by Beat Billionaire. The music video was released on June 11, 2012, on Vevo. and was directed by Derick G. The remix, featuring Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj, was released July 10, 2012.
Young Money: Rise of an Empire is the second studio album by American supergroup Young Money Entertainment. The album was released on March 11, 2014, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. Rise of an Empire's recording process took place from 2013 to 2014. It contains contributions from several Young Money recording artists including, Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tyga, Christina Milian, Shanell, Mack Maine, Jae Millz, Cory Gunz, Gudda Gudda, Lil Twist, Chanel West Coast and PJ Morton, among others.
We Alright is the first single by hip-hop group Young Money Entertainment from their collaboration album Young Money: Rise of an Empire. It is performed by Young Money rappers Euro and Lil Wayne and features Cash Money artist Birdman. The song was released on January 22, 2014.
"Tha Block Is Hot" is the debut single by American rapper Lil Wayne, and features fellow American rappers B.G. and Juvenile. It was released on October 23, 1999 via Cash Money Records as the lead single from the former's debut solo studio album of the same name (1999). Recording sessions took place at Cash Money Studios in Metairie, Louisiana. Production was handled by Mannie Fresh with executive producers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Birdman.
Khaled Mohammed Khaled, known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry artists to perform on singles and albums, for which he often serves as hype man. His distinctions are his booming voice presence, "motivational" abstractions, and numerous catchphrases. While his musical contribution is often questioned, Khaled's role has been described as "organization, direction, [and] promotion".
