The Timeline of Lil Wayne's Issues With Cash Money Records and Birdman

New Orleans rapper and president of the Cash Money imprint Young Money, Mack Maine sits down with Miami's 99 Jamz to discuss the label drama, saying Tha Carter V will be coming out in the first quarter of 2015. He also gives his thoughts on the fight: "I wouldn't pinpoint anyone personally. That's my uncle and my brother that you're talking about. I got an optimistic, positive vibe about everything. It's just some business that's gon' need to be handled. Once that's handled we're going to keep moving. And it's getting handled as we speak. Everybody has their breaking point. I support Wayne 1,000 percent. I feel like this matter will get resolved. Period. If I'm still around it'll be resolved."

With tensions coming to a head, Cortez Bryant posts a lengthy message to Instagram slamming Cash Money and arguing that Wayne had put the label on his back for too long. "Wayne carried Cash Money on his back for over 10 years when he could have left and did this on his own," Bryant writes. "The most loyal person I know on earth! He don’t deserve the shit he’s going through at this point in the game. Lil Wayne built Young Money from his dreams to reality. Launched the careers of Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga not from their talent but from the belief in what he saw."

Wayne files a $51 million lawsuit against Cash Money. He claims that Birdman is violating the terms of his contract by withholding Tha Carter V. The lawsuit, which Wayne is still pursuing to this day, seeks to end his contract with Cash Money and take all of his Young Money signees with him, most notably Drake and Nicki Minaj.

Although he's reluctant to discuss his legal issues, Wayne tells Rolling Stone that he's not on speaking terms with Birdman. He also gives an update on Tha Carter V, saying "It's super-done. Cake baked, icing on top, name on top, candles lit. I would have released it yesterday if I could. But it's a dead subject right now. It's a jewel in the safe. It's that stash-house money."

Some outlets report that Wayne is dropping his lawsuit against Cash Money, but as it turns out, he's just moved it to New Orleans from its original filing in New York City. "The claims previously asserted by Lil Wayne and Young Money LLC against Cash Money for substantial monies owed and breach of fiduciary duty have not been settled and will be prosecuted in Louisiana as expeditiously as possible," says his representative.

Lil Wayne's tour bus is shot at as it pulls away from a performance at the Compound nightclub in Atlanta. Wayne and Young Money artists Lil Twist and Hood are on board but no one is injured. Police do not immediately identify a suspect.

Although he makes no public announcement, Lil Wayne signs on with Kolbalt Neighboring Rights. The company helps artists pursue their royalty payments around the globe. "Kobalt’s powerful tracking system compares collection against detailed in-house expectations to ensure all income is correctly accounted," says its website. "Kobalt develops these detailed expectations from 3rd party performance data, Territory expectations from Kobalt’s pre-distribution health check, as well as from the client’s income data. Combining these three data sources allows us to monitor collection and ensures all income is received."

Lil Wayne announces onstage that he had signed a deal with his "motherfucking idol" Jay Z. Although rumors gather that he's entered into a label or distribution deal with Jay's Roc Nation, it turns out to be a streaming deal with Tidal for the upcoming Free Weezy album. Wayne also becomes the latest artist-owner of the streaming service, joining the likes of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Usher, Alicia Keys, and more.

New legal documents surface that indicate Lil Wayne is trying to oust Birdman from any involvement in Young Money. Wayne claims Birdman has constantly stiffed his artists on their royalties, so much so that he is fearful that his biggest stars—Drake and Nicki Minaj—will walk away from the label altogether, when their contracts allow them. Birdman's Cash Money owns 51% of Young Money. The rest is held by Lil Wayne.

Lil Wayne is pelted with drinks and water bottles from the VIP section during his performance at Club LIV in Miami. Reports claim that the drinks came from Birdman and his entourage. 

Just one day after the explosive indictment connecting him to the attempted murder of Lil Wayne, Birdman brings a $50 million lawsuit against Jay Z and Tidal for streaming Wayne's Free Weezy album exclusively. He claims Cash Money still holds exclusive rights to all of Lil Wayne's music and that the Tidal stream is illegal. The lawsuit points to a portion of Wayne's disputed Cash Money contract which stipulates that he has no right to license his music.

Court documents reveal that Peewee Roscoe claims the shooting of Lil Wayne's tour bus was the result of Wayne and Birdman's financial dispute. Roscoe insists that Birdman should be held partially responsible for the incident and was directly a party to the crime.

Despite trying to shift the blame onto Birdman and Young Thug, an Atlanta judge hits Peewee Roscoe with a 10-year prison sentence, followed by 10 years of probation. Roscoe pled guilty to 6 of the 27 counts against him, all of which were gang related. The previous indictment implication Birdman and Lil Wayne in the crime claimed that all the rappers were known members of the Bloods. Neither Birdman nor Young Thug are formally charged with a crime in the case.

Just a few months after his entourage threw drinks on Wayne at Miami's Club LIV, Birdman gives a speech onstage at the very same venue and says that he and Lil Wayne have squashed their beef. "Family never die," he says. "This my motherfucking son, and I'ma die for him, I'ma live for him, and I'll motherfucking kill for him. That ain't never changed. YMCMB for life."

It seems too good to be true, but it's starting to look like the beef is finally over. Birdman posts an Instagram of he and Wayne in the studio alongside Yo Gotti. Although Wayne still hasn't dropped the lawsuit, it seems like the two might reconcile their legal drama any day now. 

But maybe not. Lil Wayne files a $40 million lawsuit against Universal Music Group. Although the lawsuit is separate from his suit against Cash Money, UMG is Cash Money's parent company, and the lawsuit is seeking to reclaim some of the profits from the success of Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga. Universal reportedly used most of Wayne's portion of the funds to pay down the debt Birdman had accrued giving out huge advances at Cash Money. Although Young Money is a subsidiary of Cash Money, Lil Wayne owns 49% of it directly, and this lawsuit is an attempt to reclaim that portion of the profits.

Chance the Rapper releases his third mixtape Coloring Book as an Apple Music exclusive on a Thursday evening in May. Lil Wayne delivers the last verse on the second song "No Problem," one of many on the tape that addresses label drama broadly and the importance of an artist's independence. Wayne raps, "Lord, free the Carter, niggas need the Carter." He doesn't mention Birdman or Cash Money explicitly, but finishes his verse with the following: "I just popped five Percocets and only caught a buzz/And if that label try to stop me/There gon' be some crazy Weezy fans waitin' in the lobby/Mula, baby."  

A full year-and-a-half after the beginning of their beef, Wayne is back to cursing out Cash Money during a performance. "Fuck the bullshit and fuck Cash Money," Wayne yells at Denver's 420 Rally. Reports surface afterwards claiming he and Birdman are still fighting over Tha Carter V, and that their attempt at reconciling the lawsuit has hit an impasse. All previous settlement talks have apparently been taken off the table, and as such, the entire thing is basically back where it started. At this point, it's anyone's guess whether or not the two parties will ever be able to overcome their differences and reach an agreeable settlement.

During a Real 92.3 interview, Birdman talks about the root of the issues with Wayne and said although they're just not seeing eye-to-eye at the moment it's not like they're enemies. Birdman also mentions that he hasn't talked to Wayne in a month, but when stuff first popped off between them, they didn't speak for a whole year.

The rapper takes to Twitter with a series of tweets indicating that he’s feeling defeated and hinting that he was going to retire. Soon after, Rick Ross quotes a tweet about trying to get Weezy onto MMG. "Get Birdman on the phone," Ross wrote.

A TMZ report claims the judge in Wayne and Birdman's lawsuit ordered Birdman to detail how exactly the $100 million advance was spent.

Reports circulate that lawyers for each party were close to reaching an agreement, but Birdman allegedly called off the negotiations to settle their $51 million lawsuit after hearing about Weezy shouting out Roc-A-Fella instead of Cash Money during a Camp Flog Gnaw performance of "I'm Me.”

Birdman takes to Twitter to share a photo featuring old tapes and containers purportedly filled with old Cash Money music. The tweets reads: "Wen I'm my VAULT today found thousand s of OLD CASHMONEY MUSIC I'm release 500 songs a year for next 5yrs Cashmoney collection legendary (sic).”

Despite his legal battle with Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne insists he has the power to release Tha Carter V whenever he feels like it. During a phone interview with Wild Wayne on New Orleans’s Q93 radio station, Wayne says about the project: “Of course you’re going to see Tha Carter V. I just don’t want to put it out the wrong way. Honestly, I can do what I want at any time. The fans deserve it to be right and that’s how it’s gonna be. I’m gonna make sure it’s right. I can drop whatever I want to drop. That’s why I keep dropping whatever I want to drop. But I’m not gonna give them Tha Carter V the wrong way.”

Birdman shares a photo of him hanging out with his former mentee. “Me and my SON,” the caption reads. Birdman doesn’t mention a Carter V release date.

The reconciliatory period doesn’t last too long. The Blast reports that talks between the Cash Money mates again get heated as the court orders the label to hand over documents regarding the $51 million lawsuit. Sources say that after the suit is over, "There will be no connection, no ties, and no business relationship." The end of YMCMB is here.

Although the main legal battle is over, Lil Wayne’s manager Cortez Bryant finds himself in a fight with his former label. Bryant and Aspire Music Group sued Cash Money and University Music Group for one-third of Drake’s royalties in 2017, arguing that they discovered Drake and were entitled to royalties from his six albums. Cash Money countersues about a year later in August, calling AMG a shell company used to grab more of Drake’s profits. Though the suit says Lil Wayne himself is involved in the scheme, he isn’t officially listed in the suit.

The hype train has a false start thanks, in part, to a Floyd Mayweather tweet. Rap-Up reports that the boxer Instagrammed a photo with the signature red “V” and the caption “#21,” which made some folks believe that he was hinting at a Sept. 21 release date for C5. There’s no confirmation from Lil Wayne himself, but there also isn’t an outright denial, so fans run with it.

Tha Carter V finally arrives with a couple of years-old tracks, and an Ashanti feature. It’s Lil Wayne’s first album not to be released under the Cash Money label.

It’s also a hit. Tha Carter V pushes 480,000 equivalent album units its first week and earns the second-largest streaming week for an album. Twenty-two tracks debut on the Hot 100 and four—”Uproar,” “Mona Lisa” featuring Kendrick Lamar, "Don't Cry" with XXXTentacion, and “Let It Fly” starring Travis Scott—simultaneously hit the top 10, the most for an artist since Drake. Weezy season has arrived.