Bryan "Birdman" Williams imetumia miongo miwili iliyopita kujenga Records Money Fedha, studio yeye na ndugu yake Ronald "Slim" Williams ilianzishwa mwaka 1991, katika moja ya timu yenye nguvu zaidi katika historia ya hip-hop.
His YMCMB imprint, stacked with Drake, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, and a gang of other successful artists, keeps racking up No. 1s, largely thanks to the #1 Stunna’s relentless drive and work ethic.
The 43-year-old mogul, who’s known for his flashy lifestyle, could be kicking his feet up, but instead he keeps doing 12-hour studio sessions daily as he plots to make Cash Money the music industry’s first billion-dollar brand. In fact, he says he has never taken a vacation.
That’s why we had to get with him for our "Shotcaller" interview in our 10th Anniversary Issue. But the magazine version barely scratched the surface. Read on for the raw uncut as Birdman tells us how he discovered Nicki Minaj, why he didn’t get involved in the Drake/Common beef, and whether or not he plans on signing Rick Ross to Cash Money...
What is the difference between the music business today and 10 years ago?
Time changes time. Everything about the game changed from 10 years ago to now. You never had none of the things that we have now, like the Internet. So many different ways for us to make money now in music. And it’s so digital. We’re a digital-driven brand, we’re an Internet brand.
We global nowadays. 15 years ago, when we first jumped on the scene with Universal, we had gotten too big as artists to be independent. But I still look at us as an indie company because we’re self-contained, we’re self owned. We came in the game self-contained, we probably the last independent label that lasted as long as it did. We our own bosses, run our own ship.
For years we did it all off our own money. [The Universal deal] was a risk from day one, but I refuse to let somebody take something that we work hard for and just take half of it. I couldn’t see myself doing that.
Unaona nini kinachotokea katika hali ya baadaye ya biashara ya muziki?
It’s gonna keep getting bigger. Music is spreading into all TVs, networks, and sports. It’s gonna keep expanding. There gonna be quicker ways to become a millionaire. People gonna be playing with millions off of music.
It’s more prosperous, we have so much technology. You don’t have to be an artist if you got some different type of technology—you can make money in a lot of different ways.
Mimi itabidi pia kusema tutaweza kuwa wa kwanza wa dola bilioni brand ya muziki, hiyo ni lengo letu. Sisi kamwe alikuwa brand billionaire katika muziki, jambo karibu tulikuwa na alikuwa Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson kuuzwa rekodi milioni 750. Nadhani sisi ni gonna kuweka tone kwa vijana wengine kufanya zaidi ya fedha na kuona kwamba dola bilioni inaweza kukamilika.
How many records has Cash Money sold so far?
We sold 150 million so far. Our track record runs deep. We’ve been the most dominant force of 2011, we gonna be the most dominant force of 2012. We have 16 releases in the first six months of this year. Our goal, as a brand, is to put out 100 albums a year. So I’m trying to figure out how we gonna reach that…100 albums a year?
We gonna do 16 in the first six months and we gonna try this year to try to put out at least 30 this year. Next year, we’ll try to put out 50. We just gonna keep growing. To have 100 active acts is a lot. It ain’t just rappers, it’s different artists in different parts of the country: rap, pop, country, gospel—its everything.
What was the hardest lesson for you to learn?
Staffing and being able to run your machine. For years, I was so dependant on Universal to do things but the way we work and the way we drop records—they don’t work like that. It’s hard to with with a label because they’re not used to a brand like us who will just drop a record in the morning and work it [the rest of the day].
We had to have our own staffing to do our own things in conjunction with their staffing so they can get the feel of what we do. Its more understandable now that we’ve been working together for a long time. Now they allow us to do what we wanna do, how we wanna do it.
What is your proudest moment?
My proudest moment was watching my son [Lil Wayne] emerge. I’m proud of all our accomplishments, but when I see my son do what he do, that shit means the world to me.
I saw the emergence from Tha Carter. At that time, that’s when all the bullshit happened, when everybody was leaving [the label]. Honestly, I was like “It’s on you Wayne. I’m done with it.”
I knew however far this shit was going to go, it would have to be on Wayne. So I just gave it all to him, “It’s your turn homie. It’s your world. We’re going to follow your lead. Whatever you want to do is what we’re going to do.”
Wayne was always around grown folks at a young age, so he learned a lot young. When the time came I just gave it to him, he was ready. He was so fucking excited, he was eager for it. He didn’t even have to think about it. He showed me how bad he wanted it and he’s still showing me.
That was right around the time we did the Like Father, Like Son album. That was something he wanted to do like, “Let’s bring it back like this with me and you.” It’s been his movement ever since.
Sahihi, kwa wakati dada yako kufariki dunia tu, na watu kama Mannie Fresh na Juvenile anaondoka studio. Ilikuwa nini mawazo yako kama wakati huo?Sijui ambapo akili yangu ilikuwa. Dada yangu alikufa, mimi alikuwa anapita katika kitu binafsi. Mimi bado umakini na ndani yake kwa sababu mimi ni Hustler. Hii ilikuwa wakati wa kilele cha kazi yangu [na kumwambia Wayne], "Ni wote kuhusu wewe." Hiyo ilikuwa ni hatua pengine smartest nimekuwa milele alifanya katika maisha yangu.
Dada yangu kuumiza. Hiyo ni maumivu. biashara ya niggas kuondoka na wote wa kwamba alikuwa kitu nilikuwa na kushughulika na, kuishi pamoja, nwa na G up. Yote ilikuwa motisha kwa sababu dada yangu alitupenda na kupendwa music. Yeye alikuwa motisha kwa mimi zaidi kuliko wao niggas ni kwa sababu walipoondoka, najua tulikuwa goingto kufanya kile tulipata kufanya hivyo.
Hii ilikuwa wakati wa kilele cha kazi yangu [na kumwambia Wayne], 'Ni wote kuhusu wewe.' Kwamba labda hatua smartest nimekuwa milele alifanya katika maisha yangu.
Mimi basi wangu negatives wote kurejea katika chanya, mimi matumizi yao kama motisha. Amenifanya kwenda ngumu. Mimi kamwe aliyatoa kwa hasara na faida. Baadhi ya hasara inaweza bend wewe juu kwa sababu wewe ni binadamu na shit machungu; unaweza mpira juu. Mimi kinyume: Mimi G'd safari akaenda kwa bidii.
Yangu na mwanangu, sisi imefungwa chini. Sisi inaonekana karibu na barabara ilikuwa ni yetu. Mimi si unataka kupoteza [Juvenile na Mannie Fresh] lakini mimi nadhani kupoteza yao ilikuwa ni zawadi na laana kwa sababu ni kweli kutufanya kwenda vigumu na kuona maisha tofauti.
Ni kuhusu kuruhusu Wayne kufanya kile alichotaka kufanya. Mimi daima waliona alikuwa wengi wenye vipaji ya kila mtu na chochote sisi ilikuwa gonna kufanya, ilikuwa ni gonna kuwa juu ya Shorty. vipaji vipya sisi kuleta ilikuwa wote gonna kuwa umezungukwa karibu Wayne.
Je, umewahi kuwa na yoyote binafsi shaka?
(Nilipokuwa) kijana nilikuwa na mashaka juu ya maisha baada ya kupoteza sana katika umri wangu mdogo. Lakini kupoteza katika mchezo huu huwezi kulinganisha na hasara ya kuwa mimi tayari nilikuwa nimepoteza katika maisha hivyo sisi tu aliyaweka kusonga mbele.
Sisi kutoka New Orleans, kupanda juu huko kuja na kupoteza familia na marafiki. Sisi kamwe pili guessed oursleves. Tunaona kitu ambacho unataka kufanya, tutaweza kufanya hivyo. Mimi kamwe waliona kuna kitu siwezi kufanya, mimi daima waliona kulikuwa na motisha kwa ajili yetu kufanya hivyo.
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