Birdman is making a lot of headlines these days for his firm, abandoned, and burned bridges in the rap game. He defended criticism of Drake's new album For All The Dogs, spoke on a distant but amicable relationship with Rick Ross, and started some new beef with Gillie Da Kid. During his most recent Clubhouse appearance, Stunna reflected on a bridge that helped him become a pivotal executive and figure in the rap game. Moreover, that credit goes to J. Prince, whom he called a mentor in the early days of his career. Most importantly, Baby revealed how, before he signed with Universal for $30 million in 1998, Cash Money almost belonged to the Houston icon's Rap-A-Lot Records.
"I fuck with old head," Birdman began. "I respect old head. He's very respectable and I learned a lot from him. He taught me so much early on in the game. I have no ill feelings with the old man. I respect him… He taught me so much in my early stages. If n***as don’t know, I tried to sign with the old man before I went to Universal. I tried to sign with the old man. I respect the old man. He’s a great man, a respectable man, an honorable man. I have no ill feelings with the old man because he taught me so much and he taught me the game.
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Birdman Reflects On Almost Getting Cash Money Signed To J. Prince's Rap-A-Lot Records
"I wanted to sign with J. Prince but he didn’t have the structure to sign me," Birdman continued. "What I respect about it, he said, ‘Y’all go do y’all because I can’t do it.’ That’s what I honored about it. He told me, 'Go ‘head man, I can’t do it.'" Of course, that Universal deal ended up being a blessing for the New Orleans native, kickstarting a dominant label and collective in rap music. Last month on The 85 South Show, the 54-year-old spoke on being an up-and-coming Southern label and how that was tough to maintain back in the day- and how it all paid off.
"The East and the West was the last two places that would embrace our music if you were from the South,” he stated. “It’s always been a competitive thing for us with them. ’Cause they felt like they was better than us and we felt like we was better than them, especially in our neck of the woods, the South. You’ll have a hit in the South and it’ll take a long time to hit in the East and the West. But once they caught onto us like it is now, I don’t think they’ll ever get it back. We here forever, ’cause they had it forever. The East and the West, they had it forever. It was challenging for us coming up. Very, very challenging because they wouldn’t play our music in no kinda way." For more on Birdman and J. Prince, keep checking in with HNHH.