Birdman Calls Jay-Z and Kanye West ‘Old,’ ‘On Their Way Out’

By Austin Johansen Friday, August 12, 2011

Birdman dismisses Jay-Z and Kanye’s collaboration as having an “older sound,” then promotes a

collaboration that contains nothing new.

Birdman took some time off from applying moisturizing cream to his ridiculous head star tattoo to throw

a subtle shot at the duo on every hip-hop head’s mind this week, Jay-Z and Kanye West, as they rake in a

fortune of fans and critical praise for their collaborative album“Watch The Throne.”

Capitalizing on the hype behind a project guaranteed to produce innovative, adventurous and

progressive sound, as is expected of anything that Jay and West create together, Bryan “Baby/Birdman”

Williams of Cash Money Records notoriety hitched onto the bandwagon and dropped mention of a

collaboration between Young Money champions Lil’ Wayne and Drake to XXL Mag, while simultaneously

dismissing “Watch The Throne” as having an “older sound.”

“It’s older versus younger,” said Williams. “I listened to a few songs *off "Watch The Throne"+ and it feels

like an older feel to me. I think with Drake and Wayne, they young…Then you got Jay-Z and them, who

are older and really on their way out the game. Then you got Wayne and Drake and them, who are still

youthful to the game. So, it’s two different types of music all the way across the board.”

This is nothing new from Birdman, a man I respect for his knowledge of the rap industry’s business

facets and virtually nothing else, as he regularly finds ways to patronize any rapper not under the Young

Money umbrella, all while speaking in an incomprehensible slur of “CMYM baby”‘s and “you feel me”‘s.

He added, “But what they’re doing is great. I think it’s great for the game, great for the business, great

for retail as a whole. I just think when Wayne and Drake get together is going to be something real

special also because we more youthful.”

What Williams should’ve said was how great Jay and Ye’s collaboration is for other rap collaborations

announced in the midst of hip-hop power duo hype like we’ve seen this week. This opportunism

embodies what I both respect and loathe about Birdman. Recognizing a rapidly-inflating bubble around

“Watch The Throne”‘s release, he pounces like a true rap capitalist (rapitalist?) and throws the Young

Money brand in for good measure.

Birdman’s sentiments aside, you can’t blame him for trying to squeeze Young Money’s face into The

Throne’s spotlight; it’s a smart business move and Birdman has proved himself to be a smart

businessman. As for his supplementary comments, and as exhibited by his “lyrical” skills, Birdman isn’t

so wise in the ways of quality rap music, lacking any sort of real innovation since the glory days of “Bling

Bling.”

His most glaring example of this political one-upmanship is being the only person in hip-hop to date to

refer to Jay-Z and Kanye West as “on their way out of the game.” Birdman insists that a Wayne-Drake

collaboration would be more special due to its relative youth factor, rather than production credits and

lyrical gravitas–as most knowledgeable music critics tend to favor.

Perhaps Williams should take a look at the names behind “Watch The Throne” instead of the ages–with

the likes of RZA, Q-Tip, The Neptunes and Quincy Jones filling the production credits, the overall ability

to generate original and innovative music from this team greatly exceeds the tired antics of Young

Money favorite Lex Luther, and the rambling collections of non-sequiturs that riddle Lil’ Wayne’s verses.

Furthermore, the world knows what a Wayne-Drake collaboration will sound like because it’s been done

before. Maybe not in the form of a full album, but the Young Money sound is relatively rigid in

comparison to the range of West and Jay-Z who have evolved in echelons since their days on “The

Blueprint.”

In the past decade, Jay-Z and Kanye have done little to indicate a fading or exit from “the game,” as

Birdman would like to believe, and if anything gave hip-hop fans a vindication from the monotony of

Young Money with this most recent collaboration.

“Watch The Throne” is chock full of veterans, and much like the NFL, to which Birdman can attest,

veteran status usually indicates a wealth of talent and experience. He may bebuying up multi-million

cars like it’s no big deal, but let’s talk about “something special” when Birdman gets closer to Jay-Z’s

near-billionaire status.