VIDEO! Birdman: The Cash Money King Demands Respek

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Chillin’ In Hot Miami

Alexander McQueen printed scarf, Hublot “BigBang” watch, Versace “Medusa” tee, belt and jeans

From the red stars on his head down to the one on his neck and the many other images that adorn the New Orleans-bred musician’s 5’11” frame, everything came from a dual effort by the “Respek” rapper and his trusted tattoo artist. “I like to collaborate with my artist. I might have an idea, but I let him do it his way, or I might see something I want—like with the stars. I really liked the way he did the red stars with the shading,” Birdman explained. “He had a lot of ideas, so I just told him what I wanted, and let him do it how he would do it.”
Birdman isn’t one to tattoo something on his body for no reason, though. Each tat design etched on his skin represents either family bonds or his penchant for the finer things in life. “Some peoples’ tattoos don’t have meanings, but all of my tattoos have some significance. I like my tattoos to have a meaning. Family and money—all of my tats are about family and money,” he said.

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“Baller life we livin’”

Much like his story-telling ink, Birdman is in the process of revealing the story behind his rise from the NOLA projects to superstardom. He and his brother and business partner, Ronald “Slim” Williams, are developing a biopic. During an appearance earlier this year, he told students and guests at the Brooklyn School of Law that he was inspired by 2015’s N.W.A. hit film, Straight Outta Compton. According to the Williams brothers, the film will reveal the unknown true story about the rise of the two Cash Money bosses and their hip-hop powerhouse.
“The documentary is about our lives growing up before the music business. It’s about a lot of the young shit we went through growing up,” he explained about the upcoming film, which he hopes to have out very soon.
In addition to the movie, Birdman has recently returned to his roots with two new musical offerings for his fans. One, a solo album titled Ms. Gladys, which is dedicated to his mother, and will be his first solo project since 2009 is soon to drop. Since the project touches on such a personal topic, he opted to keeping the feature list to a minimum for the record.
“There may not be as many collabos, just about one or two features,” Birdman said. “It’ll just be me doing me.” His other release, Rich Gang 2, much like the first Rich Gang project, features a whole slew of artists. This time around he decided to go with artists who are mostly new to the Cash Money team.
“This project is going to be about a lot of different artists—a lot of different collaborations with varied styles. It’s a lot of my new artists: Jacquees, Neno, Ralo, Derez, J-Soul, Caskey and London. Just a bunch of new talent that I’m working with now,” he explained.