Guess Who Birdman Signed Back To Cash Money Records?
Day one Cash Money fans remember that before Lil Wayne, the New Orleans label had another flagship artist. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s it was Juvenile who was Birdman's biggest draw.
Juve left the label in 2001 after contractual disputes, returned briefly and released his last album (Juve the Great) with CMR in 2003. It was shortly after that when Weezy started his own rap reign with Tha Carter in 2004.
Well, Wayne is still Wayne, but Juve and Baby have let bygones be bygones, linking back up once again.
"It's already done, I signed the paperwork," Juvenile told MTV News in September when we were on the video set for Rich Gang's upcoming "Flava" video. "I'm signed back, Rich Gang, I'm getting ready to get my little tattoo and everything, it's all love, I'm back. I'm here to stay too."
On Monday night, Birdman gathered members of the press in a New York City studio to preview tracks from his upcoming Rich Gang project with Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan. Baby played over a dozen new tracks, including one Juve and Drake collaboration that was produced by London on da Beat. The Cash Money CEO didn't announce the song's title, but judging from the chorus, it might be titled "I Show Love."
"Even though we through what we been through, we're older now... we're grown. We all spoke, we always spoke, Wayne did music with him," Stunna told us of Juve back in September. "I just feel like the time is right, I had him in the studio and I think he got the right records. I really know how focused he is with his craft, he ain't lost that, he can rap his ass off."
Actually Birdman believes that he can take the veteran Juvenile to new heights. That's a tall order considering that Juve's 1998 album 400 Degreez sold over five million copies, spawned timeless singles ("Back That Azz Up" and "Ha") and is considered a hip-hop classic by many.
"To be working with Juvie again, I'm excited about that 'cause I know what I can bring out of him. I know with the platform I have he can be bigger than he was before," Baby said.
With that type of co-sign, Juve is confident that he will end his career with CMR. "Man, I plan on retiring here. You start where you finish -- I ain't going no where, I'm here," he said.
