Birdman, who is known in private life as Bryan Christopher Williams, is a veteran American rapper, businessman, philanthropist, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is one of the richest rappers in the world at the moment and also one of the most popular worldwide. Birdman has dominated the airwaves through most of his rap songs in collaboration with rappers such as Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and many more. Birdman is the co-founder of Cash Money Records with his brother, Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams. Birdman has also released several albums during his rap career including joint albums with fellow rapper, Lil Wayne, who he took as his son when the latter joined his label at just 9 years old.
Birdman was born on 15th February 1969, in the state of New Orleans. His mother’s name was Ms. Gladys. If you pay close attention to Birdman’s lyrics in his songs, you will hear him mentioning his mother’s name most of the time, especially during outros. Birdman grew up in a gang-infested area and immediately turned to drug dealing and robbery since he was mostly homeless. He was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in prison when he was 18. He was however released after serving 2 years.
Birdman’s rap career began when he teamed up with DJ Mannie Fresh to form a rap group known as Big Tymers in 1998. The group released several albums with hits such as ‘1 Stunna’ and ‘Still fly’. These hits propelled Birdman to the limelight. His stage name was initially Baby. However, he changed the name to his current name of Birdman in 2003 after the name got popular more than Baby. Birdman collaborated with his ‘son’, Lil Wayne, and the pair released an album known as ‘Like father like son. This album became very popular and had several hits such as ‘Stuntin like my daddy, ‘I run this, ‘Money to blow’, Leather so soft’, and ‘You ain’t know’. The album was released in 2005. This was around the time that Birdman and Lil Wayne began their ‘father and son’ gimmick. This led to Birdman and Lil Wayne becoming very popular worldwide.
Birdman has also released several other albums such as the Rich Gang albums which feature artists like Young Thug, Future, and Kendrick Lamar. Although Birdman has released some hits over the years, he does not have a bigger trophy cabinet to attest to that because he was more concerned with the business side of music than the music itself.
Birdman has also released several solo hits such as:
- Born stunna, featuring Rick Ross
- Respek
- Fire flame
- Fire flame remix, featuring Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj
- 100 favors, featuring Kendrick Lamar
- Still hot
Birdman is not active in recording music anymore. Instead, the rapper likes to guide and manage the careers of upcoming rappers.
Bryan Christopher ‘Birdman’ Williams was born in 1969 in New Orleans. The rapper famous veteran is now 53 years old.
Net worth
Through his music business and several other investments he has made, Birdman has become one of the richest rappers in the world of hip hop. He makes the list of the top 10 richest rappers in the world. Birdman has an estimated net worth of $130 million. His investments and music have paid off over the years. He is one of the people that can be classified as coming from rags to riches.
- Investments and businesses
Birdman co-founded Cash Money Records along with his brother, Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams. The record label has become successful over the years and was starting point for some of the biggest names in hip hop such as Lil Wayne and BG. Other rappers who were also signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment were in one way or the other involved with Cash Money Records. The labels together were known as Young Money Cash Money Billionaires (YMCMB).
Birdman is also the owner of Cash Money Films which deals with the production of movies. The company recently released a film titled ‘She Ball’ with Nick Cannon in the lead role.
Birdman also owns a clothing line known as Respek. The clothing line was the result of Birdman demanding that his name should be respected after he felt that he had been disrespected on a radio station. Birdman famously went to the radio station and demanded that they ‘put some respek’ when they mention his name.
Apart from these known businesses he owns, Birdman has several investments in beverage companies. He was also rumored to have started an oil drilling business with his brother. However, no evidence of this oil company has been provided and no operation by the said company has ever commenced.
- Luxuries
Birdman is one of the people that you can tell is very rich by taking just one look at him. The veteran rapper likes to indulge himself in the fruits of his decades-long hard work. Birdman is well known for his expensive hooped diamond earrings. He sometimes swaps these for large black jeweled earrings. He can normally be seen wearing expensive diamond rings on his fingers. Birdman however does not like to wear several chains on his neck at the time as most rappers do. He is normally seen wearing just one or none at all.
Birdman also flies private every time he has to travel by air. He was rumored to be the owner of a private jet but that has not been proven as of now.
Birdman has several cars and the most popular of them is his all red Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport valued at $2.5 million. Birdman owns another base Bugatti Veyron 16.4 that was featured in his ‘Fire flame’ music video. The car was said to be a custom-made one with all red paint and cost the rapper $2 million, which was about $500k more than the base price. Birdman also once gifted Lil Wayne a Bentley Mulsanne and a Rolls Royce Ghost to Mack Maine. He also has cars such as:
- Lamborghini Aventador
- Maybach 62s Laudalet valued at $1.3 million
- Mercedes benz sprinter
- Bentley Mulsanne
- Cadillac Escalade
- Ferrari 488 GTB
- Dodge Challenger
Birdman purchased his Miami mansion back after selling it for $10.8 million in 2020. The property had a gold toilet in it
Birdman is also one of the most tattooed rappers in hip hop and he has tattoos that cost thousands of dollars. The rapper is most famous for the stars tattoo on his bald head that garnered much attention around the world when he first showed it off.
- philanthropy
Birdman is also known for giving back to the people of New Orleans. He organizes a turkey giveaway each year and even paid the rent of some people in New Orleans when the coronavirus pandemic made it hard for people to pay their rent.
- Family
Birdman has never married. However, the veteran rapper has two grown children known as Bryan Williams Jr and Bria Williams. His daughter, Bria Williams, is featured in his ‘Still Hot’ music video. He also has several siblings. Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams, who is his long-time business partner, is one of his siblings. Birdman was also once in a relationship with Toni Braxton.
