Birdman

Bryan Christopher Williams (né Brooks; February 15, 1969), better known by his stage names Birdman and Baby, is an American rapper and record executive. He is the public face of Cash Money Records, a record label he co-founded with his older brother, Ronald "Slim" Williams, in 1991. His self-titled debut studio album (2002) was released by the label in a joint venture with Republic Records; it received mixed critical and moderate commercial reception, along with his three subsequent albums: Fast Money (2005), 5 * Stunna (2007), and Priceless (2009). Along with his solo career, he is one half of the hip hop duo Big Tymers with producer Mannie Fresh, as well as the supergroup Cash Money Millionaires.

Apart from his solo work and five releases as part of Big Tymers, Birdman is best known for his discovery and mentorship of fellow New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne, with whom he released the collaborative album, Like Father, Like Son (2006). As label-head of Cash Money Records, he has been central to the career and commercial success of Wayne, as well as future signees including Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga. Many acts were signed in a joint venture with Wayne's Young Money Entertainment (branded as "YMCMB"), a label that operated as an imprint of Cash Money from its formation in 2005 until 2018. Birdman also founded the spin-off project Rich Gang in 2014, a loose-knit collective assembled from core signees of both labels; it was joined and soon led by then-upcoming Southern rappers Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan, as well as other artists not directly signed to the labels.

One of the wealthiest hip-hop artists, he placed fifth on the Forbes list of wealthiest music industry figures in 2015, and fourth in 2017, with a net worth of $155 million and $110 million, respectively. Outside of music, Birdman has ventured into various industries, including fashion, spirits, and oil exploration.

Birdman was born Bryan Christopher Brooks on February 15, 1969, at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Johnnie Williams and Gladys Brooks. Williams did not sign the birth certificate, which led to Bryan initially taking his mother's surname. For almost a month after his birth, he did not have a given first name and was referred to as "Baby", a nickname he retains to this day. As a small child, Brooks and his family lived on top of a bar owned by his father. His mother, Gladys, died when he was five years old. After their mother's death, Birdman and his siblings Kim, Ronald and Ray were taken in by their uncle and spent two years living in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, followed by two years in foster care upon their return to New Orleans. After Johnnie learned that they were in the foster home, a long legal battle took place in the mid-'70s which eventually ended with Johnnie and his wife Patricia gaining full custody of the children and Bryan's name changing to Bryan Williams. He and his siblings moved in with Johnnie and Patricia and lived in the Magnolia Projects in Central City in the 3rd ward of Uptown New Orleans, where Bryan developed a close friendship with his step-brother, Eldrick Wise. While living in the Magnolia, Williams and Wise soon began committing robberies and sold heroin together before both getting arrested at the age of 16. At 18, both were again arrested for drug possession and sentenced to three years in Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. Williams served 18 months before he was acquitted of all charges.

After Bryan was released from prison, he and Slim both began paying attention to the emerging bounce sub-genre of hip-hop, a sound that was quickly becoming popular in nightclubs all over New Orleans. In 1992, Bryan came up with the idea to form their own record label, and wanted to name it "Cash Money Records". Bryan and Slim would then travel to nightclubs all over Louisiana to see who was playing and try to recruit artists to the fledgling label. Their first signed artist was a local rapper named Kilo G, who released the label's first ever project, a horrorcore album titled "The Sleepwalker" in 1992. Bryan and Slim continued to recruit more and more artists, and Bryan was able to convince his friend and local DJ Mannie Fresh to become Cash Money's in-house producer. By the mid-1990s, Cash Money had grown to a popular independent label in the south, with most of their fanbase located in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. In 1995, Cash Money artist Lil' Slim was introduced to 12-year-old Dwayne Carter at a local block party, and after hearing him rap, brought him to Baby's attention, and soon after Carter was signed to Cash Money as the youngest artist on the label. Carter was placed into a group with another young rapper, 14-year-old Christopher Dorsey, and the two would be known as "Baby D" and "Lil Doogie" respectively; The B.G.'z. During this time, Baby himself also began to rap as a member of the group 32 Golds, going by the name B-32. Despite their regional popularity, the label suffered many setbacks in the mid-1990s, with a number of the "first generation" of Cash Money artists leaving the label citing financial issues as the main reason. In addition to this, Kilo G, Pimp Daddy and Yella Boy were all murdered in the mid-90s. The only two artists to remain were Baby D and Lil Doogie, who renamed themselves B.G. and Lil Wayne respectively in 1997. The same year, Baby and Slim recruited two new artists, Juvenile and Turk, and the four were placed together in a new group, known as the Hot Boys. The Hot Boys soon took Cash Money to new heights, and the label was able to sign a $30 million deal with Universal Records in 1998.

After Cash Money's nationwide success, Baby and Mannie Fresh formed their own group, dubbing themselves the Big Tymers. Big Tymers debuted in 1998 with the album How Ya Luv That? and went on to release I Got That Work in 2000 and Hood Rich in 2002. I Got That Work contained the popular singles "Get Your Roll On" and "#1 Stunna". Although the singles failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, I Got That Work was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over one million copies in the United States. Hood Rich contained the hit single "Still Fly", which was nominated for a Grammy award and peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100. Hood Rich was also certified platinum in the US. Big Money Heavyweight followed in 2003, and was again successful, being certified Gold in the US. The group went on hiatus soon after and remained inactive following Mannie Fresh's departure from Cash Money Records, though they've since reunited for live performances, most recently in 2017.

After the departure of Juvenile and B.G. from Cash Money, Baby was forced to focus on his solo career and began marketing himself as the new public face of Cash Money Records. He released his major label debut, Birdman on November 26, 2002, and by January 15, 2003, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for the shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. The album peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard 200, and featured guest appearances from Jazze Pha, Mannie Fresh, Lil' Wayne, Toni Braxton, Clipse, Jermaine Dupri, Cam'ron, T.I., Keith Murray and Puff Daddy among others. Due to the album's success, Baby became more widely known to the public as "Birdman", and soon after changed his stage name to reflect this.

After Lil Wayne achieved worldwide success with his critically acclaimed and commercially successful album Tha Carter in 2004, on which Birdman was featured numerous times, Wayne became the flagship artist of Cash Money, with Birdman and Lil Wayne being viewed as the two public faces of the label. Birdman's second album, Fast Money, was released in 2005 and was once again a success, debuting at number 9 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 65,000 copies in the United States.

Lil Wayne and Birdman released their first collaborative album, Like Father, Like Son, on October 31, 2006. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200, was certified gold and spawned two singles, "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" and "Leather So Soft". The former peaked at number twenty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, won the 2007 BET Viewer's Choice Award, and was named the 94th best song of 2006 by Rolling Stone magazine. Birdman's third solo studio album, 5 * Stunna, was released on December 11, 2007, and debuted at number 18 on the US Billboard 200, selling 80,000 copies in the first week. It spawned the hit single "Pop Bottles" which features Lil Wayne and peaked at number 38 on the Hot 100. To date, the album has sold 372,000 copies in the United States.

Birdman's mother, Gladys Brooks (August 29, 1935 – January 21, 1975), whom he exclusively refers to as Ms. Gladys, died when he was five years old. Birdman has made numerous references to her in his music, including releasing a song named after her. His father, Johnnie Williams (September 20, 1920 – July 13, 1996), owned a number of small businesses in the New Orleans area, including multiple bars and a laundrette. Johnnie was killed in a car accident in 1996.

Birdman has ten brothers and twelve sisters, including Ronald "Slim" Williams. Ronald is the co-founder of Cash Money Records, alongside Birdman. One of Birdman's younger sisters, Tamara, was killed in a car accident in 2006. Due to their mother dying at a young age, Birdman primarily raised his younger sister and referred to her as his daughter. Birdman also had a close relationship with his step-brother Eldrick Wise, who was killed in an unsolved murder in 1991.

In early 2010, Birdman formed an oil and gas exploration company, Bronald Oil and Gas, LLC. The company was a joint venture founded by Birdman and his brother Slim, and the name was a combination of the brothers' first names, Bryan and Ronald. Evidence of the company's actual business operations was scant, limited mostly to a website and the appearance of a "pumpjack" tattoo on the side of Birdman's bald head. The website indicated that the company's strategy would be to first develop existing land holdings and seek out new oil and gas leases. In February 2010, Birdman told Ozone magazine that he had been in the oil business for "4 or 5 years" and was "making very good money off that".

However, by March 2010, Birdman had almost completely covered the pumpjack tattoo, which sparked speculation that the Bronald Oil project had stalled. An investigative report from Bloomberg revealed that official regulators in charge of oil and gas permits had never even heard of Bronald.

In 2006, Birdman and Lil Wayne launched the fashion brand/Cash Money off-brand YMCMB (Young Money Cash Money Billionaires), which became a popular streetwear label.

On April 22, 2016, Birdman disparaged the hosts of hip-hop radio show The Breakfast Club during a live interview, telling them to "stop playing with my fucking name". He later issued an apology for his outburst after being awarded the "Donkey of the Day" appellation from one of the hosts, Charlamagne Tha God. The video went viral, and on April 27, 2016, Birdman launched a merchandise line, "Respek", featuring catchphrases from the interview.

He has invested in a spirit company called "GTV Vodka".