Lil Wayne, whose real names are Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., is an American rapper, songwriter, singer, and record executive. He was born on September 27, 1982, and started his career at twelve. He is often referred to as one of the best hip-hop artists of his generation and has influenced the style of rap around the world. He grew up in a poor neighborhood called Hollygrove in Uptown New Orleans in Louisiana, USA. Let us know about ‘Lil Wayne Wins Lawsuit Record Label’.
Lil Wayne Wins Lawsuit Record Label
In late 2012, Lil Wayne had decided to retire after releasing his album Tha Carter V. However, in a twist of events, he accused his mentor and co-founder of Cash Money Records Bryan Williams, nicknamed Birdman, of refusing to release the album.
About The Lawsuit
This American record label was created in 1991 by two brothers Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams and Bryan Williams. With his manager siding with the label, there’s no doubt that he was cornered and that his only hope was to seek legal assistance.
After that Lil Wayne filed a lawsuit against Cash Money Records for a breach of contract, withheld advances, and failure to pay their royalties to him. It was a financial lawsuit worth $51 million to be paid to him. It is to be noted that this lawsuit was not a result of this one incident but rather years of harsh words and disagreements between Lil Wayne and the label’s CEO Bryan Williams.
How Was The Lawsuit Settled?
Lil Wayne agreed to settle the lawsuit out of court for $10 million as reported by Forbes. In addition to this, Wayne obtained ownership of this label and as of 2018, turned it into an over $150 million empire. The lawsuit ended, of course, with Lil Wayne forsaking his previous plans of retiring and signing up other musicians with Cash Money Records. This also meant the release of his series of songs in the Tha Carter V album.
Incidents That Led To And Followed The Outcome Of The Lawsuit
According to the COMPLEX paper:
In December 2014, Lil Wayne started the accusation of Birdman the Carter V album’s delay. Cortez Bryant, Wayne’s manager, told TMZ that Wayne and Birdman were on friendly terms like before. Still, in December 2014, Mack Maine, Wayne’s friend, and partner in Young Money Records told Miami’s 99 Jamz that the Carter V album would be out soon.
In January 2015, Wayne announced that he had sued Cash Money for 51 million United States Dollars. In February 2015 in an interview with Rolling Stone, Wayne said he was not on speaking terms with Birdman. In March and April 2015, Wayne kept dissing Cash Money on stage but there were also rumors that he had dropped his charges against the record label. Still, in April 2015, gunshots were fired at his tour bus in Atlanta.
In May 2015, Peewee Roscoe, Young Thug’s affiliate was imprisoned for being responsible for the shooting. Birdman denied collaborating with Young Thug in the attempted murder of Lil Wayne. In June 2015, Wayne released about two albums via other records and streamed videos with TIDAL. In August 2015, Roscoe blamed Birdman for the bus shooting but was sentenced alone to a 10-year prison sentence.
In January 2016, Birdman and Wayne reunited at Drake’s New Year’s Eve party, were seen in the studio together, and later in the month performed together on stage. In May 2016, tables turned again and the two parties resumed fighting each other. In June 2016, Birdman started talking about reconciliation with Wayne but in the following months, Wayne was tweeting hints of retirement.
By November 2016, all talks of reconciliation were out the door and Birdman threatened those who requested Wayne to be given his money (he had cheated him on a $100 million worth advance). In August 2017, Wayne held onto the Carter V album and refused to have it released by Cash Money as leverage. For the whole half of 2018, Birdman and Wayne were on and off again and again until June 2018 when they decided to settle their dispute out of court
In August 2018, Birdman apologized to Lil Wayne, and the Carter V album was finally released in September of the same year. Then both Wayne and Birdman, the latter Lil Wayne’s surrogate father, maintained a healthy relationship
Conclusion
Lil Wayne’s lawsuit against Cash Money Records was a long overdue conflict between him and the label’s CEO. Lil Wayne had been cheated on several occasions and had perhaps refrained from publicizing his discomfort with the label even longer. His filed lawsuit wasn’t taken too kindly by his career mentor, Birdman, of course, but it was about time. In the end, however, both of them had to find a fitting solution that could save their financial interests and their lifelong relationship.
