Juvenile quit and rejoined at least twice, and in 2006, he said on a radio show that he wanted to fight Baby: "I want to show the world that you're a sissy boy, and I'm going to smack you when I catch you." Turk was convicted of second-degree attempted murder in 2004. It was a stunning loss, considering his techno-styled, 808-drum-heavy beats were Cash Money's signature sound. Mannie Fresh and Baby emerged as stars with a duo called Big Tymers, but Fresh eventually departed too. checked himself into rehab with a heroin addiction and left the label over a financial dispute. (The latter was a Cash Money supergroup composed of Juvenile, B.G., Wayne, and another rapper from the Magnolia projects named Turk.) All four albums would go platinum, and each would reach number one or number two on the charts.īut the money, cars, and drugs went to everyone's heads. That album spawned "Bling Bling," a term that eventually made the dictionary and the vocabularies of old white ladies in Hollywood movies.Īlso moving massive quantities were Tha Block Is Hot, the debut from 17-year-old Lil Wayne, and Guerrilla Warfare, the second album from Hot Boys. the "Baby Gangsta," who was then only 18 years old - had a big hit with Chopper City in the Ghetto. 400 Degreez sold nearly 5 million copies on the strength of singles "Ha" and "Back That Azz Up." B.G. In 1999, No Limit was already fading, but Cash Money ruled the charts. The trunk of Juvenile's blue Bentley, for example, featured a unique promotional display: When you popped it, a mounted copy of his CD, 400 Degreez, spun atop a tiny motor. Their artists piloted a fleet of luxury cars, souped up with giant chrome rims and TV sets. The media became obsessed with the crew, which was just as streetwise as No Limit but released tracks that were less grimy and had a better sense of humor. In the first week of December, Cash Money artists appeared on eight of Billboard's Hot 100 songs and had another eight in the R&B/rap Top 50.īut that wasn't the case in the late '90s, when two brothers from the Magnolia housing projects - Baby and his brother, Ronald "Slim" Williams - first emerged on the national scene. Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III was 2008's top-selling album, period, and 2009 was another banner year for the label. "If I was making moves the way corporate wanted us to make moves, I probably wouldn't be in business, because they really don't know how to hustle how we hustle."Ĭash Money moved to Miami in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and after taking a bit of time to find its footing, the label has rebounded with a vengeance. "We have control of our business," cofounder Bryan "Baby" Williams says. Buoyed by new faces Drake, Jay Sean, Kevin Rudolf, and Nicki Minaj - and of course Lil Wayne - the label is dominating like it's 1999. It was fair to assume the same fate would befall Cash Money, especially after the departures of early stars Juvenile, Turk, B.G., and in-house beatmaker Mannie Fresh.īut ten years later, Cash Money is somehow as strong as ever. But No Limit soon burned out, at least partly because founder Master P was more interested in making the NBA and mentoring his dreamboat son, Lil' Romeo. Its rise was as meteoric as that of fellow New Orleans label No Limit. By the end of 1999, it boasted four albums simultaneously in the Top 20. That kept the label largely independent but brought it tens of millions of dollars. Still, the label moved hundreds of thousands of albums from those humble digs and signed an unprecedented distribution deal with Universal Records in 1998. Early tracks were cut in a building previously occupied by the Louisiana Center for Retarded Citizens. Cash Money Records' original New Orleans offices were located between a body shop and a hot tub dealer.
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