Lil Wayne Graces the Cover of Rolling Stone Magazine

New York, NY – It seems as though the impossible has happened, the latest in Lil Wayne conquering pop culture has gotten to the point where he has even graced the cover of the largest and longest reigning magazine in the history of the music industry, Rolling Stone Magazine. Not many Hip-Hop artists have had the chance to say they’ve graced the cover of the most prestigious magazine in the world, as matter of fact, as an artist you would have to conquered platinum sales or have a huge media following to ever get in the good graces and thoughts of the writers of Rolling Stone.

This latest issue of the Stone has become somewhat of a field day for media outlets across the industry, never has Lil Wayne ever graced the cover of a magazine of this caliber. The interesting part of this whole situation isn’t the issue that he made cover, but more or less what he discusses in the in-depth interview. As we are well aware by now, Lil Wayne has decided to step into the realm of Rock, a domain not many rappers normally step into, Wayne has. At this point in time, it has been reported that he putting the last finishing touches for it to be released sometime this June. In the cover story of the Stone, Wayne details the reason why he chose to crossover into Rock.

These were his comments to Rolling Stone Magazine exclusively in their cover story:

“Honestly? I don’t want to be the best rapper in the world. If I have a rap album I’m dropping, then I want it to be the best rap album. But I want to be the best. Period. Now. My favorite rapper hasn’t done what I’m doing.

He continues on explaining his decision of getting into the Rock scene, giving the world an in-depth idea of the personal reasoning behind it, narrating a story:

“The rock shit just comes from what my life is now. I’ve grown into this person, I woke up one morning and had three or four women in my bed where I not only didn’t know their last names, I didn’t know the beginning letter of their first names. All I know is, they’re the most beautiful women in the world, and I was in my own place, in whatever city I as in. And I could have thrown a dart at the map, and I’d probably have a place there too. I knew my driver was waiting downstairs for me. When my nose finally cleared from all the weed I had smoked, I smelled food in the kitchen and I knew it was my chef. Then I look on my phone and see a message and know it’s from a popular woman everyone knows. And when I went in the studio that night, I couldn’t just rap, ‘Yeah, nigga…'”

Wayne goes further in explaining what was in his thoughts when the creative process came about and at the time noticing his improved skills on the guitar which is quite heavy on the riffs on the last two records ‘Hot Revolver’ and ‘Prom Queen.’

I never said, ‘Lil Wayne is going to rock, everybody.’ I just got — I’m not going to say ‘so good’ at what I was doing, but it became such a regularity for me that I got tired of it,” Wayne said. “And then I said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to rap on this one.’ I always knew I couldn’t sing, but I also knew I had a voice that isn’t heard by many and that I could learn how to stretch it and make songs sound good. Therefore, I practiced that.

You look at yourself and say, ‘You ain’t the best, show me you’re the best. Show me you can play the fucking guitar without lessons. Show me you can make a hit song and make everybody tell you, “I love what you’re doing.” Show me you can do that.’ And then I come out that door and jump back in my body. I do that every night.”

At press time, that issue of Rolling Stone Magazine hits newsstand today (April 3). Lil Wayne’s debut Rock album, however seventh studio album, has been set to be released on June 16.

Cash Money Lawsuit Against DJ Drama & Companies Clarified

Atlanta, GA – Earlier today, an e-mail blast was sent out to various media outlets and industry execs stating that a lawsuit was filed in a New York District Court against Makin’ Moves Entertainment and DJ Drama. According to court documents, the lawsuit was filed by Lil Wayne and Cash Money to the company and the Atlanta DJ to answer to charges of distributing and selling Lil Wayne’s music without proper permission.

Apparently, Cash Money’s representing attorney, Candace Carponter, filed the lawsuit on February 18 claiming that BCD Music Group, based out of Texas as one Wayne’s recording studios, has been pushing his music collecting profit without the proper consent of Cash Money. During the official court hearings, Carponter explained that BCD released documents stating that the company signed contracts with ‘Makin’ Moves Entertainment and DJ Drama for the rights to sell Wayne’s material through mixtapes. Furthermore, Wayne did consent to record music with the defendants, however it was released under pretense that will be used as promotional mixtape material and not to be sold through retail outlets using Wayne’s image. They did not have the permission to organize individual private deals with his music, either.

Within the past two weeks, Carponter has sent summons to a list of participating parties involved in the lawsuit. The list includes:

BDC Music Group, Inc, Deep Distribution World Wide, Inc, Makin Moves Entertainment, Tyree C. Simmons (DJ Drama), Cinque Productions, Inc, Apphilliates Music Group, and Frank Nino.

These were Carponter’s remarks to the media about the lawsuit:

“BCD claimed the right to sell the music, so we named them in complaints and they have 30 days to answer the charges, based on when they receive the papers.”

DJ Drama defended his part in the lawsuit as he sent an e-mail statement to MTV News expressing his thoughts:

The accusations against me are misplaced. This is not a case of Lil Wayne vs. DJ Drama. Me and Wayne are good. I am confident that this matter will be resolved quickly without harming the relationships between myself, Wayne, and Cash Money Records. However, due to the ongoing nature of this litigation I do not wish to make any further comments.”

So in essence, Cash Money has filed a lawsuit against all the participating parties that have sold or signed contracts to sell Wayne music without consent from the label and have made profit from that material. However, we are all aware that Drama and Wayne have collaborated on both the Dedication 2 and 3 of Drama’s Gangsta Grillz mixtape series. At press time, Wayne or Cash Money has yet to further comment on the lawsuit in question.


Keep posted to 24hourhiphop.com for updated news on this pending lawsuit against DJ Drama and the participating parties.