Lil Wayne moved one step closer to delivering his long awaited LP Tha Carter V yesterday with the arrival of an album cover. Now, the rapper and his associates have opened up about the legal drama and delays that have plagued the release.
A profile on the rapper from Billboard reveals that Wayne is now the sole owner of Young Money Entertainment, which will no longer be a joint business venture with Brian "Birdman" Williams' Cash Money Records. Wayne and Cash Money settled their lawsuits for an undisclosed sum earlier this summer.
Billboard also notes that Tha Carter V will be the first release of Wayne's career to not feature the Cash Money logo on it.
The profile further revealed that the album will include a song that samples Sampha's "Indecision," on which Wayne admits that an incident in which he shot himself in the chest at 12 years old was a suicide attempt.
The piece notes that Wayne added new lyrics to the song this summer, following the suicides of designer Kate Spade and chef Anthony Bourdain.
"I don't know what it's setting me up for," Wayne told Billboard of the impending album release. "Some big comeback, or maybe some big fall back or whatever — but it's setting me up for something, and I'm ready."
You can read through some excerpts from the interview below, and can find the entire thing here.
On the legal troubles and delays leaving him feeling "mentally defeated":
"I'm a very passionate guy about anything I do," he says now. "So once I find out that I'm being fucked over, I'm going to be passionate about that emotion toward how I feel about it." But what Wayne really resented was the distraction from his art -- not the money he claimed he was owed ("My mama," he says, is the only one with "things in her mind that she wanna buy") or even the conflict with one of his closest friends. "The difficult part of it," says Wayne, "was finally having to pull the curtains back and see what the hell was out that window -- having to actually care about other things than my music and my lyrics."
On navigating the legal troubles between Young Money and Cash Money:
Wayne also relies on his children. "My four jewels -- when I FaceTime one of them, man, everything goes away," he says. "I didn't let it get to me too much," he continues, addressing how he pushed through the legal drama. "Just the confidence in knowing that there's always a tomorrow and I'm going to make sure that tomorrow is bright. Some people can't go on [like] that, like, 'OK, tomorrow will be better.' They need it to be better right now. And thank God I didn't, and I never did."
On this year's settlements between the two labels:
On June 7, over three years later, Cash Money and Lil Wayne finally settled their lawsuits for an undisclosed sum. Each side retained their stakes in previously established Young Money deals, and Wayne was paid in full. Young Money now belongs solely to Wayne, and its distribution deal with Republic remains in place. Tha Carter V will be the first album in his career to not have the Cash Money logo on it. "There's no hard feelings or animosity," says [attorney and manager Ron Sweeney]. "This is business, and we finally got our business straight."
On his current relationship with Birdman:
Wayne and Birdman are back to talking every day, usually about the Red Sox. But Wayne is less trusting and focused on his album. "Not even just with him, but my relationships with a lot of people have become different, just because of how different I work now," he says. "I'm submerged in everything about myself, trying to be better at who I am. It's something where you have to cut some things off."
A profile on the rapper from Billboard reveals that Wayne is now the sole owner of Young Money Entertainment, which will no longer be a joint business venture with Brian "Birdman" Williams' Cash Money Records. Wayne and Cash Money settled their lawsuits for an undisclosed sum earlier this summer.
Billboard also notes that Tha Carter V will be the first release of Wayne's career to not feature the Cash Money logo on it.
The profile further revealed that the album will include a song that samples Sampha's "Indecision," on which Wayne admits that an incident in which he shot himself in the chest at 12 years old was a suicide attempt.
The piece notes that Wayne added new lyrics to the song this summer, following the suicides of designer Kate Spade and chef Anthony Bourdain.
"I don't know what it's setting me up for," Wayne told Billboard of the impending album release. "Some big comeback, or maybe some big fall back or whatever — but it's setting me up for something, and I'm ready."
You can read through some excerpts from the interview below, and can find the entire thing here.
On the legal troubles and delays leaving him feeling "mentally defeated":
"I'm a very passionate guy about anything I do," he says now. "So once I find out that I'm being fucked over, I'm going to be passionate about that emotion toward how I feel about it." But what Wayne really resented was the distraction from his art -- not the money he claimed he was owed ("My mama," he says, is the only one with "things in her mind that she wanna buy") or even the conflict with one of his closest friends. "The difficult part of it," says Wayne, "was finally having to pull the curtains back and see what the hell was out that window -- having to actually care about other things than my music and my lyrics."
On navigating the legal troubles between Young Money and Cash Money:
Wayne also relies on his children. "My four jewels -- when I FaceTime one of them, man, everything goes away," he says. "I didn't let it get to me too much," he continues, addressing how he pushed through the legal drama. "Just the confidence in knowing that there's always a tomorrow and I'm going to make sure that tomorrow is bright. Some people can't go on [like] that, like, 'OK, tomorrow will be better.' They need it to be better right now. And thank God I didn't, and I never did."
On this year's settlements between the two labels:
On June 7, over three years later, Cash Money and Lil Wayne finally settled their lawsuits for an undisclosed sum. Each side retained their stakes in previously established Young Money deals, and Wayne was paid in full. Young Money now belongs solely to Wayne, and its distribution deal with Republic remains in place. Tha Carter V will be the first album in his career to not have the Cash Money logo on it. "There's no hard feelings or animosity," says [attorney and manager Ron Sweeney]. "This is business, and we finally got our business straight."
On his current relationship with Birdman:
Wayne and Birdman are back to talking every day, usually about the Red Sox. But Wayne is less trusting and focused on his album. "Not even just with him, but my relationships with a lot of people have become different, just because of how different I work now," he says. "I'm submerged in everything about myself, trying to be better at who I am. It's something where you have to cut some things off."