It seems pointless to get my hopes up or even report on Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V. Especially after reports surfaced last year that Birdman had canned negotiations with Wayne in the ongoing $51million lawsuit Wayne has against his estranged label Cash Money.
But here I go again taking Birdman’s word as law. In an interview with Billboard during the NBA All-Star Weekend, the Cash Money CEO and Mannie Fresh offered up the six glorious words all Wayne fans have been waiting for – “You will get [Tha Carter V] this year.”
This year! There is still 314 days left in the year which gives Birdman plenty of time to pay Wayne or settle the lawsuit in one way or another.
“Me and Wayne will be aight,” Birdman said. “I’ma make that work. That’s my son and I love him, and we’ll make it happen.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as simple as the album just being released once their differences are settled. Fresh went on to say that he’d like to redo his contributions to the album. “I think my songs should be revamped,” Fresh said. “I don’t know what the other songs are but I don’t like the songs that I did because it took too long to come out.”
As exciting as Birdman’s promise is, we can’t forget that earlier this year Wayne reportedly told TMZ that Birdman is “full of shit” for saying Tha Carter V “is definitely coming out,” and that Birdman has made no moves to give him the payment he’s demanding for its release.
Wayne took a more subtle approach this time round, continuing his #FREEC5 campaign by previewing his new line of Young Money merch on Instagram and tagging each with #FREEC5. You can check out some the new merch below. There are no official release dates on the clothing but I think we can assume it will be available before Tha Carter V.
You can also check out a vignette produced by The FADER and Beats By Dre, featuring Lil Wayne talk about Louisiana’s deep sense of culture, feeling at home on stage in his city and being part of New Orleans’ musical fabric.
#newmerchalert #comingsoon #YoungMoney #FreeC5
A post shared by Lil Wayne (@liltunechi) on Feb 21, 2017 at 1:06pm PST
#newmerchalert #comingsoon #YoungMoney #FreeC5
A post shared by Lil Wayne (@liltunechi) on Feb 21, 2017 at 1:07pm PST
Image: Instagram