|
|
| Lil Wayne |
Lil Wayne returns as president with a sequel
By Quibian Salazar-Moreno
Lil Wayne isn’t really in the mood to talk. He’s sitting in a New York hotel room fielding questions that he’s
probably answered a million times this week. He’s giving the shortest answers possible to every question asked probably
in an effort to get the interview over with as quickly as possible.
But when he’s asked about a rumor circulating around the internet concerning him and Trina, he suddenly perks up.
“WHOA!!! Damn! What magazine said this?” he asks inquisitively.
It wasn’t in a magazine, but back to that later.
Right now, Lil Weezy is promoting his new single “Fireman” off his forthcoming album, The Carter II, set to hit
stores on November 22. He just wrapped up filming the video for “Fireman” which took place between Houston where
he’s currently in his second semester at the University of Houston and Atlanta showcasing a day in the life of the newly
christened president of Cash Money Records.
“You get a glimpse of my life as it is now,” Wayne says about the video. “I’m going to school in the
video, we shot at it on campus at the University of Houston, so I’m going to school, I’m in class. Then the second
half of the video is me going to the office with Baby, shows me walking to the office in my new role as Cash Money Records
president.”
The new album, Tha Carter II, is the sequel to last year’s Gold-certified album Tha Carter. It was expected to drop
during the summer, but due to some unfortunate circumstances, Wayne had to re-record the entire album.
“It got bootlegged man, 22 songs got leaked,” Wayne says. “So I had to go back in the lab and redo it. I
wasn’t going to put out the same album that the streets already had. I think I took two off of the one that got leaked
and even those I changed the verses, I just used the same beat.”
The delay was also because of Hurricane Katrina ripping through Wayne’s hometown, making him put the album on the backburner
so he could take care of more important things like his family
“My family made it out,” Wayne says. “Everybody made it out, we just got to turn the page and keep going.
I got other people who had bad things happen to them too, so we’re dealing with that. My heart goes out to those in
that situation.”
Wayne says that Cash Money Records is doing several charitable things that can be accessed through the label website, cashmoneyrecords.com;
but as far as his opinion to the government’s response to the tragedy in New Orleans?
“I have no opinion on that,” he says flatly. “Opinions are weak anyway, so I have no opinion at all.”
Okay, back to the album. You can expect appearances from Kurupt, Sixshot and artists from Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment
label, Currency the Hot Spitter, Mac Mane and Nikki. Production-wise, Cool & Dre, Heatmakerz and up and coming producers Develop,
DJ Nasty, Big D and Young Yanni all contribute to the project. Wayne says that the biggest difference on this project compared
to previous albums is the production.
“Every time you make an album you try to do better than the last one,” Wayne says. “That’s what I
did on this. I went forward with it I put my heart in it just like I do with everything. I have a lot of different production
on here… there’s no Mannie Fresh production on this album man.”
Mannie Fresh left Cash Money Records earlier this year and hints of bitterness between Wayne and Mannie was evident in a recent
XXL interview, but when specifically asked about their relationship, Wayne simply states: “Yeah, it’s all good.”
He rather talk about his label, Young Money Entertainment and the work he’ll be putting into his artists early next
year.
“Currency will be the first artist to drop, he’s a former No Limit Records artist and his album will come out
in March sometime called Something to Fly To,” Wayne says. “You can find him on The Carter II plus you can find
him on Baby’s new album that’s out right now, Fast Money. Mac Mane, he’s from my hood and Nikki, an R&B
songstress from Ohio. I found her in Ohio. She just came up to me, she sang for me and I loved what I heard.”
Until then, Wayne will be hitting road with T.I. and Young Jeezy as part of a nationwide tour launching on November 4. Other
than that, he’ll probably have his mind wrapped around the internet rumor that he got Trina pregnant.
“Damn. That’s my best friend,” he says. “I don’t even know anything about that… not as
of yet. She looked good [on the cover of King Magazine].”
|
