Birdman and Young Thug have been named in an indictment about the shooting of Lil Wayne’s tour bus by Peewee Roscoe. Although the indictment is by no means a guilty verdict—and Thugger and Baby haven’t even been arrested—it does reveal the narrative the Georgia District Attorney D. Victor Reynolds is trying to draw behind the shooting. So we read through the court documents to see what we could learn (you can read them yourself here). Our main takeaway is that just before the shooting, Jimmy Winfrey, a.k.a. Peewee Roscoe, was in touch with Jeffrey Williams, a.k.a. Young Thug. And right after the shooting, the first person Peewee Roscoe called was Bryan Williams, a.k.a. Birdman. So what it sounds like is, Birdman and Thugger plotted to kill Wayne by having Roscoe do their bidding. Welp.
The indictment opens with basic facts, covering many things any rap fan should already know: Peewee Roscoe, Young Thug, Lil Wayne, and Birdman are all connected, they all rep the Blood gang, and Wayne has been beefing with Cash Money and Young Thug lately. You probably aren't familiar with Peewee, but you might have heard him on T.I.’s “Bankrolls on Deck” alongside Thug. An important detail from the indictment is that it claims that when Young Thug threatened Lil Wayne in an Instagram video, Peewee Roscoe was in the video showing off guns.
After shooting up Wayne's tour buses, the first person Peewee roscoe called was Birdman.
The highlight of the indictment deals with the night of April 26, 2015, when Lil Wayne performed at the Compound in Atlanta. That night, Wayne's tour bus got shot up while Thugger got booed on stage in Lil Wayne’s home state of Louisiana. According to the indictment, prior to the shooting, Peewee Roscoe used his cell phone to get in touch with Young Thug. Peewee and other Bloods were spotted at Wayne’s show by police. According to police, Peewee was driving a white 2015 Chevrolet Camaro with an assault rifle. When the police tried to detain Peewee, he drove off. Meanwhile, fearing violence, the cops escorted Wayne and his entourage into two tour buses and proceeded to escort them through I-285 North.
Once the police discontinued their escort, Peewee Roscoe and other Bloods rolled up alongside the tour buses in a white sports car and opened fire using a 9MM handgun and a .40 caliber handgun. After the shooting, the first person Peewee called was Birdman. Wayne’s tour buses headed to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel after the shooting where they were met by police. While Peewee was still on the phone with Birdman, he headed to the Mandarin himself, but the indictment does not say what he did there.
After the shooting, Peewee hid the white 2015 Chevrolet Camaro and went to Miami. He also tried to delete photos on his Instagram of the white Camaro. Eventually, police found the car at Peewee’s relative’s house.
And finally, the indictment claims that on Young Thug’s “Halftime” he actually raps about the shooting (which Peewee then carried out) rapping, “Fuck nigga try me I swear to God, Lil Whodi done pull up and pop at his noggin.” To be fair, Wayne did refer to himself as “Lil Whodi” way back in 2002 on 500 Degreez’s “Way of Life.” But this argument feels like a stretch, especially considering the song "Halftime" had been out since March—back when Thug was still calling Wayne his idol and saying he'd never beef with him. For what it's worth, in the “Halftime” video, when Thugger spits that line (around the 2:42 mark) a dude does point a gun at the camera. So there’s that.
This indictment is the latest in a string of incidents involving Birdman/Thug and Wayne, though those other incidents were all either pretty petty (Birdman throwing liquor at Wayne, Wayne saying not to buy Thug's album) or fairly professional (Wayne filing a lawsuit against Cash Money). But this takes things to a whole other level of street shit. It's especially sad since in a recent interview, Wayne once again spoke fondly of his early days with Birdman and didn't engage in any Young Thug bashing. So we hope these stories aren't true, but we'll see when this case goes to trial.
Insanul Ahmed is Complex Music's Editorial Producer. He lives in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter.
