How The #1 Stunna Is Still Living Like A Big Tymer In case you haven’t noticed, Bryan “Birdman/Baby” Williams has been in this rap game since ’92…look at all the bullshit he’s been through. His biggest star at the time, Juvenile, left his Cash Money label at its height with his other star B.G. leaving soon after. His in-house producer and fellow Big Tymer MANNIE FRESH departed years later. He’s caught plenty of flack for his relationship with his megastar, whom he also calls his son, Lil Wayne. He’s seen the rap radar come and leave his New Orleans stomping grounds on more than one occasion. He’s seen his records fly off shelves as well as leak months in advance. He’s been called a joke. He’s been told he simply can’t rap. He’s been accused of being a thief. But guess what? 18 years later he’s still here and stunting as hard as ever. With his fourth solo album Priceless in stores now, Birdman could care less what people say about him. He’s living life and overseeing the careers of two of the biggest rap artists on the planet (Drake and Lil Wayne) and has crossed over into pop territory with the recent success of Jay Sean. While his rapper/CEO peers have been busy buying restaurants, nightclubs and clothing lines, Birdman’s been getting money in the oil industry. He’s outlasted some of Hip Hop’s biggest stars and has the scars (under his uncountable amount of tattoos) to prove it. Unfortunately for his detractors, it doesn’t look like he’s going to stop anytime soon. While in Atlanta promoting Priceless, OZONE’s Eric Perrin caught up with Birdman to talk about life, business and the things that matter most to him. What aspects of this music game still excite you? Is there anything left for you to do? Man, I think we’ve got a lot of room [to grow]. I still ain’t never put out an R&B act. I’ve only got one pop act, so we gotta double up on all this shit, homie, and we’re gonna do it now. We’re just going for something that ain’t never been done. I got a strong staff and I know we can do this. I was talking to Jay Sean earlier and he said your dedication to the music is the main thing that attracted him to Cash Money. Is it true that you really live, breath, eat, sleep, and shit music? Yeah, when he came down here I guess he saw how we worked, and I just want motherfuckers to know, to be a
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