Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj and The Problems With Young Money

Cash Money Records has held the rap game in a strangle hold for the last few years. Through the label of Young Money, Cash Money Records has made a place for itself within hip hop history as few could have predicted. There have been very few record companies as consistent and that have persevered through industry changes so well.  Since its beginning in 1991 Cash Money has forcefully taken a hold of the music industry and muscled out the competition (No limit Records) by providing a more talented roster of artists that straddle the fine line between hip hop and mass appeal. Under the leadership of Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams Young Money have utilized this recruitment tactic to the fullest and in doing so have sold millions and millions of records while further solidifying their position in the rap game.  Through the years Cash Money Records has remained firmly in tact while other companies have come and gone (Bad Boy Records, Rocafella Records).

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But a serious crack has emerged in the armor of Cash Money Records. And it’s coming through the same label Cash Money currently anchors. Young Money. There seems to be a growing level of disagreement in the ranks. Records are not being sold at the same level as their predecessors. Rumors are starting to emerge.  Leadership seems to go one way on some days and then another way on other days. What is going on?

It is my personal opinion that unless the leadership at Cash Money and Young Money makes drastic changes, we are witnessing the end of the domination of Cash Money and quite possibly the end of Young Money. Let’s take a look at these issues and how each “visible” member has contributed to the recent decline.

1.       Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams: All successes and failures begin at the very top. The leadership of a company displays the corporate culture, behaviors, and motivations of its staff and team. Most of the blame usually and should ultimately be placed here. Birdman can’t decide if he wants to be a rapper or a CEO. He feels the need for public validation in the same ways that Diddy jumped into almost every one of his artists’ videos and danced around like a clown. Cash Money Records jumps into business ventures without thinking. One minute they’re a perfectly viable record label. The next minute they’re diving head first into dumb oil and gas investments. After seeing the success that Jay Z had with sports management, new rumors are starting to circulate about them jumping into sports management as well. They’ve also signed more than enough vanity acts to rival Andre Young. Limp Bizkit, Bow Wow, Mystikal, Paris Hilton (what was that about) and Busta Rhymes. And of the artists that truly have talent and are signed to the label? They’ve chosen to put them on the backburner, none of them seeing the true shine they deserve to have. Cash Money/Young Money released a compilation that many viewed as a tossed bone to that group of artists; it was an act to placate them. And the dismal promotions and sales showed it. There’s not a wonder that the world is confused about Cash Money. The owners don’t seem to have focus and they jump in any direction.

2.       Lil Wayne: As the CEO of Young Money Records he’s been the man mostly responsible for its success. He’s also been more than responsible for several of its failures. With his incarceration in 2010, during the height of Young Money’s success, the event sent several shock waves through his company.

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     One, the artists that he so heavily mentored and advised began to make ill-advised moves. Sure he advised from jail, but being in jail limits you to being at arm’s length. And when you have such a large company as Young Money had grown to be, it proved to be an issue. His incarceration also killed T-Pain’s move to the label (but seeing how badly T-Pain has recently fallen off, I wouldn’t necessarily call that one a bad move). Ultimately jail and probation changed Weezy. Sobriety revealed a new version of Lil Wayne and the public was not pleased. The albums he released sold decently, but content-wise were horrible. He made inappropriate comments about Emmett Till and caused an uproar in the African American world.  Lil Wayne lost focus and started skateboarding. Next he started telling the world that he would be retiring soon. All of these factors definitely had an impact on his artists as well as the label.

3.       Drake:  Drake has been killing it with sales. He’s absolutely been on fire. But so has his “diva” streak. Instead of accepting his new popularity with grace he’s been quick to lash out against anyone that doesn’t agree with everything he says. He’s engaged in unnecessary feuds with R&B artist Chris

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     Brown (dude you’re the number one selling hip hop artist, why are you fighting over a woman). He’s attacked a hip hop legend in the media (Common) but cowardly refused to respond to his outright challenge to an MC battle (and this again is rumored to be over a woman). Drake kicked Future off of his tour because of Future’s perceived preference towards his own music. Drake got angry at Kendrick Lamar for Kendrick’s verse on “Control”, although Kendrick didn’t release or reveal the track (Big Sean did). Also the “Control” track wasn’t even included on the any commercial album (which made Drake’s anger that much more confusing since he alluded to his belief that Kendrick’s release of the track during the same time that he released his album, kind of made him mad). And when Kendrick called him out for it, once again Drake chose to speak to the media instead of taking things in the tradition of the hip hop greats and engage him in lyrical combat. That was seen as a cowardly move by most hip hop heads. Next is the “Amen” debacle. Drake is Jewish, which isn’t a problem, unless you get on a track with Meek Mill called “Amen” and you openly support the words being said and are considered offensive to many African American Christian families.  It came across as exploitative. Why not make a track about the Jewish faith and say the same types of things to exploit your own religion? Add all of those things up and Drake has a big chunk of the problem on his plate.

4.       Nicki Minaj: When Nicki arrived on the scene she showed so much promise and opportunity. Here was what hip hop truly needed. A woman. And not just any woman but a woman with the lyrical skill to break down misconceptions and sexist views about women and hip hop. But since signing to Young Money Nicki has done nothing but reinforce those bad views. Her contribution to the big crack in Young Money is just as bad as her peers. Her skin has seemed to become several shades lighter.

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     Instead of teaching women to be respected and to try to solidify her status as a real MC, she’s created “Barbies”. Unlike the best female MC to ever do it (MC Lyte) Nicki has taken Black Women back to being objects of desire instead of intelligent women with minds. Nicki released an album (Pink Friday) that was so un-hip hop that few could actually believe it was labeled as such. In the album she pushed forward pop singing and sexual behaviors like a woman intent on penetrating the Billboard Charts. Hip Hop fans were disgusted. Her next move was to American Idol as a judge. A hip hopper on a pop show? Who was advising her? Reaching a new audience isn’t a bad look for anyone but don’t you first need to solidify your hardcore hip hop fans? Only time will tell if this gamble of hers paid off. Next she released an offensively titled song with the photo of Malcolm X on the internet promo. The swift storm and anger she created currently threatens her new album sales unlike anything she could’ve done. Occasionally she shows promise. The verse she spit on Kanye West’s “Monster” killed every single artist that appeared on his album. The whole thing. But hip hop is about consistency and if you don’t learn that rule first, you won’t last long.

 These issues have currently put Cash Money and Young Money in the positions they are in. The issues are correctable and there is plenty of time to right the course of the ship. But someone had better pay attention to what’s going on and fast. Hip Hop has a short amount of patience. 

Why Rappers Have Money Problems

On March 26, 2014 The Smoking Gun reported that Wyclef Jean’s previous attorneys filed a document in court that revealed recent communication with Wyclef’s accountant in which the accountant revealed that the rapper was broke.

On March 21, 2014 Radaronline reported that Lauryn Hill was in trouble with the IRS again. Six months after she had served a prison sentence for tax evasion the IRS decided to hit Lauryn with a stack of tax liens totaling nearly $867,000.

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Other rappers that have had serious money issues recently include Nas, Fat Joe, Jermaine Dupri, Lil Wayne, Tyga, DMX, and the list goes on.

What is happening with hip hop and why are more and more artists getting into financial trouble? If you listen to any radio station you can hear them bragging about the luxurious lifestyles they live and all of the property and jewelry they own. Jermaine Dupri once bragged “Money ain’t a thing” on one of his most popular records. Now his whole record company and catalog are exposed due to acquiring a loan to deal with his day to day living expenses. How can so many of them be facing financial ruin?

There’s a difference between what someone tells you and reality.

The reality of the matter is this. The majority of the hip hop artists’ financial problems can be traced back to the home. There are so many hip hop artists that come into the game without the proper teachings on responsibility and how to govern their financial lives.  With the number of single parent homes on the rise, mothers and fathers are becoming more and more concerned with getting overtime and paying the bills than with what their children are learning. A lot of hip hop artists come from poor areas in which checkbook management isn’t a primary concern. Ghettos or slums present challenges that force a child to learn more about protecting themselves from physical violence or finding their next meal. Rarely do those places teach anyone about the importance of paying their taxes or making wise investment decisions.

The other problem that is rarely addressed is the way the music industry uses and abuses certain artists. While almost any good attorney can negotiate a decent contract, most artists are so happy just to have a hit record that they sign ridiculous deals that benefit the record companies and rarely benefit the artist. The record company has no interest in treating the artists as “partners” because of fear that the artist will eventually become a formidable opponent. Additionally, a wise artist might also discover all of the numerous ways that the company has nickeled and dimed him and cheated him out of funds, thus setting up lawsuits against the company. Ignorance is bliss for them.

But there is also a large amount of responsibility that can be put on the artists themselves. At what point do you stop utilizing your upbringing and your neighborhood as an excuse for misbehavior? Since life is a continuous class of learning, shouldn’t someone learn how to manage their finances after a few years?

The answer to those questions is yes. You should absolutely learn something after numerous incidents of falling on hard times. But often rappers are learning this lesson at the worst time possible; when the IRS shows up at their doors with cuffs. Uncle Sam doesn’t want to hear anything about a poor upbringing, a bad environment, or corrupt record companies. The government only wants one thing. They want their money.

So what’s the solution? One thing that I think would help artists is for their record companies to automatically have a contract that makes them attend a certain amount of financial management classes. This would definitely assist people in not only learning what to do with the money they make but it would also protect them against bad management and bad deals.

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But hold up… Aren’t the record companies a part of that poisoned tree of exploitation? Expecting them to do it would be absolutely dumb.

What about the government? Can’t they make it a requirement?

Nope. The government can’t even agree on protecting children from guns and you want them to think about protecting hip hop artists from financial mismanagement? Uncle Sam stands to gain so much more by letting people go into default so that they can reap that tax penalty percentage.

So who should be responsible and how can this problem change?

Once again, all roads lead to home. Mom and Dad. The hardcore truth is that if the parents don’t start their children out on a path of responsibility, it’s too late. And since more and more single family homes are being created, the truthful answer to the question is….

Nothing can be done.