From the pages of RESPECT. magazine. Issue #5. Derick G archive feature. 2011

Artists: Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj

Date: February 2010

Location: On the set of “Knock Out,” Miami

 

“I’ve never even shot on film,” he says, laughing. “I’m the new breed. The last time I shot with film was in middle school.”

– Derick G

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Long standing Hip-Hop MC Lil Wayne is caught up in yet another financial situation, this time in the form of a lawsuit from American Express. Weezy, who has had substantial history with lawsuits with a variety of people, allegedly owes AMEX $86,396.75, which he has had over six month’s time to pay, says TMZ.

Weezy’s has been involved various of lawsuits throughout the years, from being sued by Rolling Stone for copyright infringement, to suing Cash Money for unpaid royalties in the past, despite having settled disputes with Birdman, to owing 2 million for a private jet.

The rapper has released a substantial amount of albums in the past and will surely continue to do so, which means his net worth of approximately $150 million dollars will only continue to rise, making AMEX’s $80,000 lawsuit and his $2 million for a private jet, almost look like pocket change.

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After reaching record breaking status with last week’s release of VIEWS, Canadian superstar Drake has been the talk of the town and under the microscope. During the first verse of “Weston Road Flows,” the Boy made the claim, “Shout out to KD/We relate we get the same attention” and now it seems the lyric has come to fruition. In February, Drake took to Instagram to announce that he had signed to London sensation Skepta’s label BBK. With details being scarce and the deal having obvious hurdles such as the infamous Birdman’s approval, fans of both artists were hesitant to celebrate the partnership quite yet. It seems now that those fans can gather up more excitement as Skepta recently confirmed Drake’s apparent signing during an excellent interview with Timeout London.

The first Canadian signed to BBK. Big up my brudda @skeptagram for life yeah. And my section gunners too. ??

A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Feb 24, 2016 at 3:41pm PST

While the details are still limited at best, the Section Boyz leader did offer his comments on the situation. “We’re putting together an official worldwide BBK label.” The London emcee says, “But we haven’t talked about how it’ll work yet. It’ll be separate to his existing contracts. Trust me, I am not gonna sue Lil’ Wayne.” With Lil’ Wayne engaging in his own battles with the Cash Money lawyer team, Weezy would most likely be the least of Skepta’s worries if he wants to bring Drake to the London based label. Another question that arises would be how it effects Drake’s OVO label? OVO Sound has built quite the roster over in the 6 with PartyNextDoor and Majid Jordan reaching pop success as well as their newest signees DVSN who have been making waves with their recently released debut album SEPT. 5TH.

Despite all of the drama surrounding the business issues, the pairing of the two would be great musically. Though the duo only has one officially released collaboration with last year’s remix of Wizkid’s “Ojuelegba,” the success of that song combined with the rumored closeness between the two, highlighted with Drake’s BBK tattoo, could only be a positive move for each side. Hopefully with the recent success of both VIEWS and Skepta’s Konnichiwa, the two will now have the time to work out the details and get this deal on track.

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July 4th 2015, was a real Independence Day for Lil Wayne. It’s the day the Free Weezy Album, Wayne’s first official release since asking for his walking papers from longtime home, Cash Money Records, hit outlets.

The project’s first single, “Glory” hit the net several weeks ago and falls in line with many of the songs we’ve recently heard Wayne on. Simply put: he’s rapping his ass off and gives listeners verses that are full of slick metaphors and that ooze swagger. Honestly, it feels like the “A Milli” rapper has spent the majority of the past twelve or so months demolishing just about every beat that has ended up in one of his recording sessions. On “Glory,” as well as on other tracks like A$AP Rocky’s “Ms,” which finds Wayne unleashing what feels to be a never-ending amount of bars of fury over the Da Honorable C.N.O.T.E. and Mike Dean-produced banger, the living legend has given MVP-type performances and has sounded hungry, re-energized and like a man with a point to prove. For a die-hard Wayne fan such as myself, this has been super exciting, especially since I once questioned whether he could reclaim his spot as one of hip hop’s elite rappers. He’s spitting harder than he’s spit in recent memory, but does it really even matter in this era?

In the immediate years leading up to his triumphant return to eating rappers and beats, there weren’t many stellar performances coming from Lil Wayne. However, though he regularly took verses off during what I’d like to call The Lil Wayne Dark Ages, he didn’t skip a beat, career-wise. He managed to drop multiple platinum albums, top ten hits and introduced the world to the likes of Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga.

But since having had stepped his lyrical game way, way up and being in the best lyrical shape he’s been in in years, Weezy’s career is seemingly at a standstill. As he faces label limbo, the biggest story attached to his long-delayed Tha Carter 5 album hasn’t been the music released in anticipation of the project. Most of the talk surrounding C5 has instead involved Wayne’s legal issues and falling out with Baby, his one-time mentor, Baby blatantly refocusing his attention and resources on the less talented and very-influenced-by-Wayne, Young Thug and the supposed beef that’s been brewing between he and Thug. His “Glory” single did garner some attention, but mostly because it was released as a Tidal exclusive and the announcement that Wayne himself had joined his idol JAY Z, frequent collaborator, Kanye West and others as a Tidal owner.

So why aren’t more people going crazy over Wayne’s return to lyrical glory? Could it be because no one really cares about lyricism anymore? I think so. Being an ill lyricist is no longer a requirement for being a top-tier rapper. In all actuality, today’s rapper doesn’t actually have to be a “rapper” by traditional standards. This is evident seeing as how many of the young rappers currently racing up the various Billboard singles charts don’t seem to care much about proving their skills on the mic and have instead chosen to build their careers off of cool flows, catchy melodies, hypnotic production and antics outside of making music like being leaned up, turn up trap gods. Many of the fans of this generation of rap stars don’t necessarily care what their favorite rappers are saying or how they say it. They actually seem to be more interested in following the lifestyles of their favorite trappers, than they are into deciphering the lyrics of the rap acts on their iPods.

Wayne is seemingly aware of this reality. On “Deep,” a song by Big Sean, which features a fire verse from Wayne, the former Hot Boy raps, “I feel like Sean don’t get enough shine / Is it because he ain’t got the tattoos? He ain’t throwing up signs?” This is worth noting, because Sean is an artist who consistently out-raps many of his collaborators and competitors, and yet and still he manages to continuously get looked over when compared to many of those rappers he out-shines. Wayne then goes on to continue to kick some knowledge towards the end of his “Deep” verse, when he spits:

Fuck the finish line, just finish your lines / And if getting your point across crosses the line / Some of the time then cross it with pride / That’s real, my nigga, remember that / And it ain’t about if they remember you, they remember rap / So just spit it back and hope somebody diggin’ that / Cause this shit is deep, deep.”

Lil Wayne let it be known a few years back that he ain’t got no worries, so charting hits in 2015 or competing with the rappers of the moment (especially the ones building their careers off of a formula he helped create) aren’t concerns for him. Lately, he’s been sounding more inspired than he has sounded in years, which is certainly something real fans of not only Wayne, but Hip Hop at large can dig. Hopefully, those fans will remember these raps and also the time that the self-proclaimed Best Rapper Alive prove that he was indeed still one of the best rappers alive.

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It seems like Lil Wayne’s “Carter 5” is almost nonexistent. We know it’s delay is due to some label issues, but the delay is sending his fans into withdraw. He gave fans their quick fix as he demolished the “Hot Boy” and “Off The Rip” remixes, but with those bars, Wayne only increased his demand. With that being said, Tunechi announced last night that his “Free Weezy” album will be released July 4th. Will Wayne be releasing this album under Cash Money or Roc Nation? Stay tuned for updates. (via Complex)

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