Baby sat down with Complex and talks about everything from how he’s gonna retire when Wayne does, Jay-Z’s “baby money” line, how Cash Money is gonna be a billion-dollar brand that drops 100 albums a year, how Nicki is gonna be the biggest female artist ever, how he might sign Rick Ross to Cash Money, and he even talks about the Birdman Hand Rub and takes a small shot at GOOD Music.
Check out some excerpts:
How many records has Cash Money sold so far?
We sold 150 million so far. Our track record runs deep. We’ve been the most dominant force of 2011, we gonna be the most dominant force of 2012. We have 16 releases in the first six months of this year. Our goal, as a brand, is to put out 100 albums a year. So I’m trying to figure out how we gonna reach that…
One interesting thing about you is that you’re 42 and you’re still hanging around with the young kids…?
They’re my motivation. I wanna see them be all they can be. My son is like the world to me. We got a strong little team. They’re very talented and I dedicate my life to their future and what they wanna be in this music game. My motivation in this game is trying to make the most superstars as possible for our team.
We’ve got Nicki Minaj on our current cover. Do you think Nicki Minajis the biggest female rapper of all time?
I say she is, but if she’s not today, within time she will be. No female ever will be able to sell more records than her, have more singles than her, have more number one singles than her, have more awards—no more nothing. She had the most singles by a female last year. Her accomplishments are gonna speak for themselves.
I can say that now because that’s just her first album but she’s only growing and getting bigger and bigger. She’s a global artist. She’s a student to the game. She’s hard-body with her workload.
I watched her grow. We got Nicki off a street DVD. Wayne brought the DVD to me, me and him was on the bus watching it and it was her just rapping. At the time, Wayne didn’t have a female [in the crew] and we were rebuilding what we was doing.
We wanted to have a female that could really rap. Soon as we seen her, we were like “Wow.” Two days later, we flew her out and had a meeting with her. We ain’t never looked back.
What other teams in the music business today impress you?
Khaled’s We the Best. Rozay’s team.
What about G.O.O.D Music?
They’re doing what they’re doing too. But I think Khaled and Rozay are doing a little more. They’re a little more active with their acts. I ain’t talking about them as a brand, but their acts. You got Kanye doing him, but what acts do they have that are active and doing a lot? I’m looking at how much your team is doing.
Jay-Z said that line about “Baby money” and you were on the radio like “Man, we’re going to keep spending this baby money.” Instead of side-stepping it, you addressed it?
I thought that was funny for a n**** to holler out “Baby money.” I was like, “Wow, f***, what do you mean ‘Baby money’? N****, that ain’t no little money. We around here getting it.”
It wasn’t nothing, we ain’t trip. I was like, “Yeah, since it’s such a big deal, f*** yeah we got ‘Baby Money.’ That Bugatti and that Lauder jet comes from ‘Baby Money.’”
So when Wayne spit that line on “It’s Good” about “Kidnap your b****, get that how much you love your lady money” what do you have to say about that?
I don’t think that’s a diss record. It wasn’t more than what he said. Niggas was G’ing up about what was said. We did that, do
