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RESPECT. looks back at an excerpt  from Pamela Littky’s extraordinary work featuring Mr. Carter, that was showcased in RESPECT. in 2013.

Here’s a piece of Hip-Hop history!

LIL WAYNE

Los Angeles, 2007

“That was my second time working with him, and I honestly just love the shit out of him. He’s such a sweet guy, and super willing, and really fun. I really enjoyed that shoot. I went back and I was looking at all the proofs, and it’s so much…he’s just laughing, and you can tell we were having this really fun exchange.”

– Pamela Littky

Lil Wayne photos Copyright Pamela Littky. RESPECT. Archive, issue #15, published 2013

 

RESPECT.

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Rich Homie Quan made the decision to leave the group Rich Gang, deciding to focus more on his solo endeavors. As we wrap up 2015, Rich Homie’s “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)” became a hit, also including his signature dance to go along with it. Young Thug’s music archives includes too many hits to recount, so we’ll just say he had a ton of hits that stuck for a while.

Rich Homie Quan took to his IG account to show off a picture of himself laying down on the Cash Money Records logo. His caption read:  “@birdman5star let’s turn up RICH GANG PART ✌?️ on the way.” A part two to that project would be dope to get a listen to. Stay tuned for more news around the Rich Gang situation.

https://instagram.com/p/-F-Tc0voSd/?taken-by=richhomiequan

https://instagram.com/p/-GLScgPoTH/?taken-by=richhomiequan

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It was around this time last year that Young Thug revealed that he would be naming his debut album Carter 6. That revelation came on the heels of Lil Wayne (who we all know is Young Thug’s idol) announcing that he’d stop his Tha Carter series after the fifth one. Wanting to keep the Carter legacy going, Thugger simply said “Carter 6 to 10. He did 1 to 5, I’m gonna do 6 to 10”. His announcement, however, seemingly fell on deaf ears, at the time.

Fast forward to December 4th, 2014 when a disgruntled Weezy hit a boiling point, regarding the continuously delayed release of Tha Carter V, and took to Twitter venting his frustrations with Cash Money Records and Birdman. In doing so, a whole new can of worms was opened up, causing mass speculation. If Lil Wayne wants off of Cash Money Records, then where does that leave Drake? What’s gonna happen with Nicki Minaj? What about Lil Twist, and all the other miscellaneous artists on the label whose albums may never see the light of day?

To make things worse, Lil Wayne files a $51 million lawsuit against his estranged label, not to mention Drake slyly releasing If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late, in what some believe was a move to fulfill his contractual obligations and jump ship, ASAP.

You know who’s seemingly not breaking a sweat though? That’s right. Birdman. With all that’s going on, you’d think this man would be shaking in his Lugz. The artist who was like a son to him, now hates him, and is threatening to take the two biggest signees, since him, with him. All this spells trouble; or so you would think.

Enter the wildcard. Enter the aforementioned Young Thug. As we all know, Thugger is one third of the now seemingly defunct Rich Gang, which consisted of him, Birdman and Rich Homie Quan, who recently stepped away to focus more on himself. In the midst of all that is going on, Young Thug is putting out record after record, touring the country and becoming one of the hottest and most controversial artists in the game. So what better time to announce (again) that you are in fact naming your album Carter 6?

But here’s the thing…

People who slept the first time he made the announcement, think that he’s naming his album Carter 6 to spite Lil Wayne. And if you combine how close Thugger now is with Birdman and the fact that Carter 6 will hit the streets before Tha Carter V (April 17th), things look really sticky.

So now you have the most recent incident in which Weezy finally broke his silence about Young Thug, taking the stage and telling fans not to listen to “the music of niggas who pose naked on they motherfuckin’ album covers”, clearly referring to YT’s unveiling of his Carter 6 artwork where he’s basically nude. Not even a day later, Young Thug would take to Instagram and instead of trading shots with Lil Wayne, he opted to take the high road, continuing to express his gratitude for Lil Wayne and the influence he has had on him.

You know why Young Thug took the high road? Because as it was mentioned in the beginning of this article, LIL WAYNE IS YOUNG THUG’S IDOL! The last thing Young Thug wants is to beef with Lil Wayne. The only reason it even looks like there’s any beef is because he’s so closely associated with Birdman, who is the object of Weezy’s frustration.

If you were looking for some sort of firefight, between Lil Wayne and Young Thug, you should probably stop here. Thugger smartly deaded this “beef” on Friday April 10, 2015. If Lil Wayne was to say anything further, it would just look lame.

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The story of Lil Wayne is an interesting one; especially as of late. The once proud Cash Money Records front man has been at his label’s neck for not releasing the fifth instalment of his Carter album series, Tha Carter 5. Push back after push back coupled with lackluster promotion forced Wayne to shoot out a brutally honest string of tweets expressing his desire to leave Cash Money and to have “nothing to do with these people“. Quite a contrasting statement from the same man who previously rapped “Cash Money Records, where dreams come true” and “Dear Mr. Ronald Williams, to you I shall forever give thanks like a pilgrim” amongst other devoted quotes to the almighty CMR. Regardless of who said what, Tha Carter 5 still has no release date. So Wayne did what he does best and dropped a mixtape.

The tape is appropriately titled Sorry 4 The Wait 2 which is a follow up to the first instalment released back in 2011. Back then, Wayne was apologizing for the delay of Tha Carter 4 which eventually came out soon after; the circumstances are different this time around but the sentiment remains the same. These days, pushbacks and project cancellations are basically second nature. So much so that it seems as if rappers are numb to the fact that their project comes out months or even years after the original set date. With Wayne it’s different. He seems legitimately upset when a project of his is delayed, cancelled or pushed back. Obviously this could be for a multitude of reasons but in all honesty it feels like he just wants his fans to hear his new music.

Sentiments or not, there is something radically different on this one though. Just by looking at the cover art you can see that Wayne feels handcuffed over at Cash Money and this tape serves as his exit interview. Sure, it follows the same rap-on-other-people’s-beats formula that you would expect from a Wayne mixtape but something feels unusual. Instead of the quirky punchlines and metaphors found on other tapes, on Sorry 4 The Wait 2, Wayne is definitely getting something more serious off his chest.

He opens the tape with a 4 minute snap off on OT Genasis‘ recent smash hit “Coco”. He wastes no time addressing the Cash Money issue with lines like “All I got is Young Money., no more Cash n***a“, “Cash Money is an army, I’m a one man army, and if them n****s coming for me I’m going out like tommy” and the most radical of them all comes right to Birdman himself as Wayne raps “Birdman Junior, more like ugly duckling“. As a matter of fact, every single line in the opening track could be taken as a direct statement to the entire CMR situation until he recycles OT’s ‘baking soda’ line in the last 10 seconds. The rhymes and flow aren’t awful but it feels awkward hearing Wayne rap against the label he was previously president of. Usually rappers are at their best when angry  but Wayne sounds more salty than angry and it doesn’t translate well.

He talks more Cash Money smack on his rendition of Future’s “Sh!t”. He doesn’t switch subject matter until about 4 tracks deep and even then, he seems off. His lines are all over the place and don’t stray far from the usual rhymes about stealing your girl and murdering his enemies. Don’t get it twisted, there are some quality punchlines and witty wordplay  but it’s few and far between. The true highlights on here come with feature tracks. “Used To” featuring Drake is easily the tape’s standout track which makes it ever more evident that Drake brings out the best in Wayne. If that wasn’t clear before, it’s strikingly obvious here. Even part-time rapper Mack Maine brings out some fire from Wayne on Dej Loaf‘s famous “Try Me” beat.  The expectations weren’t too high for this mixtape but on monster beats like “Hot N***a”, “U Guessed It” and “Dreams and Nightmares” you would think Wayne would prove the haters wrong and just absolutely rap circles around its originator. The infamous “mixtape Weezy” has previously made some of original songs irrelevant with his remixes but out of all 17 tracks on this mixtape, the original noticeably is better.

All in all, Sorry 4 The Wait 2 leaves you with mixed emotions. On one hand, Wayne’s proactive stance on releasing music is exciting and gives hope for a near future Carter 5 release. But on the other hand, his jabs at Birdman and Cash Money are off putting while the other rhymes are mediocre at best. Does this project tarnish his legacy? No. Does it make us more excited for Tha Carter 5? Maybe not. Either way you slice it, Wayne shows no signs of slowing down his conquest to get more music to the people and we appreciate him being sorry for our prolonged wait. Apology accepted. For now.

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Ace Hood is the most successful artist, other than DJ Khaled, signed to the We The Best label imprint, under the Cash Money Records umbrella. The rapper is a native of Deerfield Beach, FL and raps about the hard life struggle and hustle that one has to go through while trying to make a living in his city, as well as the responsibilities that come along with it. Hood, who has released three albums (Gutta, Ruthless and Blood, Sweat & Tears) on Def Jam Records, has always been the underdog compared to big Def Jam stars like Kanye West, Fabolous, Rick Ross, Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Nas and The Dream. Those seven Def Jam artists have something that Ace Hood does not: at least one gold or platinum album or single.

Ace Hood, who has never put a out a lukewarm album, is back with a new label home: We The Best/Cash Money.  The new single selection appears on Hood‘s Body Bag Vol. 2 mix-tape.  It features R&B singer Trey Songz and is titled, “I Need Your Love.” All about finding the right significant other to enjoy life with forever, the track is a continuation from where Ace‘s “Body 2 Body” single left off. Hood tells a story about a young man in a bad relationship, looking to find the woman that will eventually make him happy.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR1BJ1UsGLQ

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