How much is Birdman worth?
| Net Worth: | $100 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Rapper |
| Date of Birth: | February 15, 1969 (age 53) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.8 m) |
About Birdman
Birdman is the stage name of Bryan Christopher Williams, a famous rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. Apart from being a rapper, he’s also a well-established investor, entrepreneur, songwriter, and record executive. Alongside his brother Ronald Williams (known as Slim), he is the founder of the record label Cash Money Records, one of the most well-known record labels in the world.
Birdman began his career in 1990 and since then has released five studio albums, two mixtapes, and a few collaboration albums. In just a short amount of time, he became one of the most influential rappers from the 1990s. Besides his solo music career, Birdman is also known for his many collaborations with other artists such as Lil Wayne with whom he has multiple tracks and a collaboration album.
Birdman is famous because of his intriguing style of rapping. Since he’s from New Orleans, most of the rapper’s work is in southern hip hop. Birdman was born on February 15, 1969. After his mother died, when he was at the age of 5, he and his siblings moved to Prince George, British Columbia to their uncle where they spent approximately three years. The siblings then spent some time in a foster care after they returned to New Orleans, before moving to Magnolia Projects.
It’s been said that in his teen years Bryan Williams was committing robberies and selling heroin, we don’t know how much is true. Some even say that when later on as the newly invented “Baby With the 32”, Williams founded Cash Money Records with alleged drug money. Allegedly turning an $100,000 investment into a multimillion dollar brand within two decades.
At the age of 16, the aspiring rapper was arrested for the first time. Two years later, he received his first sentence – 18 months for drug possession. He was later acquitted of all charges. During that time, both him and his brother, Ronald, simply known as “Slim” became more and more interested in rapping and joining the hip-hop culture in their hometown. The two paid more attention to the bounce sub-genre, which in the early 90s was a hit in New Orleans. In 1992, the two brothers came up with the idea to create their own record label and call it Cash Money Records.
Birdman became rich after the formation of his record label. Immediately after the label was established, both owners began searching for artists that they could sign. Their first signee was a local rapper named Kilo G, followed by DJ Mannie Fresh, who would become their first in-house producer. Around the mid-1990s, the label became more and more popular and helped Birdman’s wealth increased phenomenally as they signing more upcoming artists.
Around the same time, long before he started using the name Birdman, the producer used various names to introduce himself such as “Baby With the 32”, “B-32”, and “Golds”. In the mid-1990s, he was introduced to Dwayne Carter (now known as Lil Wayne) with whom he would develop a strong friendship. By the late 1990s, Cash Money Records signed B.G, Lil Wayne, Juvenile, and Turk, all of whom brought success to the label and formed a group called Hot Boys.
Birdman became even richer in 1998 after his label landed a deal with the giant Universal Records for an estimated $30 million. The deal helped the label gain international success and soon Birdman, still using the name “Baby with the 32”, formed his own group with DJ Mannie Fresh – Big Tymers. Their debut was in 1998, during which they released their debut album How You Luv That?. Despite the album receiving generally positive reviews but not being able to land in charts like Billboard 200, it was soon certified RIAA for selling more than 1 million copies in the US.
What makes Birdman so successful is his entrepreneurial spirit and his people skills. It’s really his collaborations and deals with other artists that built his companies. He also has skills in investing, outside of the hip hop scene. Birdman is known for having a gas and oil exploitation company as well as a clothing line. The clothing line came to fruition after a controversial interview live on The Breakfast Club in 2016, featuring Charlamagne Tha God. Birdman launched a merchandise line, Respek, featuring catchphrases from the interview.
Birdman’s rise to prominence was swift, this guy knows how to work; just a few years after he began working as a rapper and producer he became successful in the space. In 2000, the group Big Tymers continued to succeed and released many hit singles, including “Still Fly” from 2003, which was his first song to be nominated for one of the classy Grammy Awards.
In 2002, after the departure of B.G. and Juvenile from his label, the rapper decided to pursue his solo music career. That year, he released his self-titled debut album, which included 22 songs, mostly created with the help of Lil Wayne. For the album, the rapper also worked with many other established artists such as P. Diddy, Toni Braxton, Jazzer’s Pha, Jermaine Dupri, and T.I. among many others. In less than three months, the RIAA certified the album gold after it shipped over 500,000 copies.
Birdman’s worldwide success came after he began working with Lil Wayne in 2004. The two released their collaboration album called Tha Carter that year which was critically acclaimed and a commercial success. From then, the rapper continued to release both solo albums and other music projects with both Wayne and other artists. At the peak of his career, the rapper and producer released three more albums – Fast Money, Five Star Stunna, and Priceless, with the most successful being the second – Fast Money.
In 2014, unfortunately, due to a lot of issues, Birdman and Lil Wayne’s partnership and friendship ended abruptly after 10 years. Ever since the mid-2010s, the two rap icons have been feuding over various reasons, especially the label Cash Money Records. Besides the controversy with Lil Wayne, other projects that helped Birdman find success and wealth were the establishment of his own oil business and clothing line. The two were established in 2010 and 2017, respectively.
Summing-Up
Despite the controversy surrounding him, Birdman became one of the most influential and wealthy rappers of all time. The creation of Cash Money Records and the signing of important stars such as Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Jay Sean among others, further boosted his popularity and his revenues. As of 2023, Birdman’s net worth is estimated to be $100 million dollars.
Even though he doesn’t release new music as much as he did in the past, Birdman continues to build his legacy and helps talented artists get more recognition. He is a key figure in the space.
