Bryan “Baby” Williams, AKA the #1 Stunna, AKA Birdman, exploits the big-living MOB lifestyle to the fullest, and as the owner of Cash Money Records, he knows a thing or two about how to do it. Birdman is responsible for bring Lil Wayne into the hip-hop game, and as a diehard Lil Wayne fan I’ve heard my fair share of music from Birdman.

Not as lyrically talented as his protégé, I can’t say I was expecting dazzling lyrics from Birdman. What I was looking for was killer beats, the bling-bling lifestyle, and the features (namely Lil Wayne). Birdman has been huge on the mob image lately and this CD follows the same theme of skits as his collaboration album with Lil Wayne titled Like Father, Like Son: Birdman is some sort of mob boss figure, along with the rest of Cash Money being his family.

To some, this whole family idea has been taken too far; however, one has to realize that Lil’ Wayne was signed at 11 years old to Cash Money along with the rest of the slightly older, but still young Hot Boys. Birdman led these hip-hop amateurs to being 1x platinum and 1x gold, launching the careers of four rappers who together would get their fair share of platinum and gold albums. Time, however, brings change, and all the Hot Boys are gone except for Lil Wayne. Birdman is Lil Wayne’s surrogate father, so to them, this is a family.

Anyway, Birdman is now rich, and that is what this album celebrates. It is a shallow subject, to be sure, but for someone who grew up dirt poor, Birdman feels he deserves to spend money. Looking over the tracklist, I’m not surprised to see Lil Wayne featured on over half a dozen tracks, but what strikes me is the small number of out-of-house featured artists. Fat Joe makes an appearance which to me seemed obvious considering the recent success Terror Squad and Cash Money have been having together. Young Jeezy and Rick Ross are there, but only once and it is on the song “100 Million,” the second single which has actually been out for months.

Brisco and Allstar are in house, and Yo Gotti was at one time rumoured to be signing with Cash Money so it isn’t quite a surprise to see him here either. It is obvious that this album is a Cash Money family-oriented album, revolving around money. Ah, Cash Money Records is still the same as it was over a dozen years ago.

Instead of going track by track, I’ll just highlight some of the better songs on the album:

• Pop Bottles (feat. Lil Wayne) - This is the first single off the album and was released way back in September. By now it is an old song, but I still love listening to it. The beat is hypnotic and is probably one of my favourite beats in the past few months. So what is this song about? Well, to be honest, it’s an anthem to living the grand life of poppin’ expensive bottles of booze, hooking up with models, and wearing expensive jewelry. However, Birdman explains that his life wasn’t all good:
  

  Got my own shoe, brand new on the set /
  Went from sittin’ in a cell, to sittin’ on a jet /
  From sh*ttin’ in a cell, to sh*ttin’ on a jet /
  I lost too many friends, but I won too many bets /
  I made too much money, I ain’t made enough yet /
  So I scratch, and yes, Junior is the best

  Lil Wayne is fire as usual and he playfully twists his lyrics around the beat; he is definitely having fun doing this song, and in the video you can see how much he loves what he is doing. Birdman shows up lyrically in this song, and overall this was an obvious choice for the first single.

• 100 Million (feat. Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, & Rick Ross) - This is the second single off the album and is the ultimate testament to spending and making money, as Birdman says in this interview with DJ Booth:
  

  DJ Booth: Let’s move on. Star-studded single, “100 Million,” blowing up across the country – have you realistically spent 100 million dollars in your lifetime?
  Birdman: I’ve probably spent more than that.
  DJ Booth: More than that. So, how come it wasn’t 150 million? Just sounded better as 100 million?
  Birdman: Yeah. And we tryin’ to grab a hold of another hundred. We’re just lookin’ at what we can do and what we can accomplish, and a hundred is just a number, that’s was our goal and our mission.

  The beat is heavy and overwhelming, making it impressive in its own right, but when mixed with the theme of the lyrics, it really makes for a grand sound; it really sounds like 100 million dollars. DJ Khaled provides the hype at the beginning and ending, and when all is said and done, this is just a big song. It isn’t quite mainstream, but it could be. To fully understand, take a listen.

• Believe Dat (feat. Lil Wayne) - This song is interesting, to say the least. As they said over at NappyAfro, “this one has that radio feel to it, but the song is STREET at the same time.” The chorus isn’t much, but Lil Wayne still makes it addictive. To be honest, I always felt that Cash Money was most lacking in the quality of their choruses, and to see such a simple chorus be so impressionable is impressive. Birdman flows well throughout the song, but I must say I would have liked to have seen a Lil Wayne verse on this beat, especially with the way he flowed on the chorus.
• Fully Loaded - I’m not a huge fan of songs with just Birdman, but this one was one I enjoyed quite a bit. It could be because of the powerful, heavy driving bass, or Birdman’s tendency to flow over a beat respecting the limits of his skill; he really deserves props for not trying to over-extend his lyrics.

In the end, this album is exactly what you should expect from Birdman, and on top of that, it is actually quite good. Lil Wayne makes some key appearances, even though most times it is just to do the chorus. Birdman is a decent rapper, but I find he gets repetitive, and featuring artists helps solve this problem. I don’t expect that Birdman thinks he will sell tons of copies, but it could do fairly well considering the huge success and publicity Cash Money is getting just off Lil Wayne. Personally I got this album primarily to listen to the songs with Lil Wayne, and in the end I thoroughly enjoyed what I heard.

The album isn’t for everyone, but for those who want great beats and MOB-styled lyrics, this is a hot CD.

—-

Tracklist

1. “Intro” (prod. by Kelstar) (1:06)

2. “Fully Loaded” (prod. by Kane Beatz) (3:41)

3. “I Run This” (feat. Lil Wayne) (prod. by Tmix) (3:31)

4. “So Fresh”" (prod. by Young Yonny) (4:35)

5. “The Old #1 (Interlude)” (prod. by Kelstar) (1:01)

6. “100 Million ” (feat. DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross & Dre) (prod. by Cool & Dre) (3:29)

7. “Believe Dat” (feat. Lil Wayne) (prod. by Tmix) (4:01)

8. “Wet Paint” (prod. by Tmix) (3:46)

9. “Grind” (feat. Lil Wayne & Brisco) (prod. by StreetRuners) (3:48)

10. “All The Time” (prod. by Johnson) (4:09)

11. “The Old #2 (Interlude)” (prod. by Kehlstar) (0:48)

12. “Busta” (prod. by Young Yonny) (4:28)

13. “Pop Bottles” (feat. Lil Wayne and Jadakiss) (prod. by Raymond “Sarom” Diaz & Steve Morales) (3:25)

14. “Love My Hood” (prod. by Tmix) (4:32)

15. “I’m A Stunna” (prod. by Tmix) (4:37)

16. “The Old #3 (Interlude)” (prod. by Kelstar) (1:02)

17. “Make Way” (feat. Fat Joe & Lil Wayne) (prod. by Fliptones) (4:33)

18. “So Tired” (feat. Lil Wayne) (prod. by Fliptones) (4:06)

19. “Outro” (prod. by Kehlstar) (0:50)

• Share This:
  
  • Subscribe
  • Blinklist
  • Bloglines
  • Blogmarks
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Ma.gnolia
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati