For many upcoming MC’s it seems getting offered that highly sought after recording contract equates to hitting the Rap jackpot. While a feat such as signing on the dotted line is not something to sneeze at, it sure does not guarantee a fast track to stardom. Ask Curren$y; the New Orleans protégé has been down that road a couple of times. Originally on a local independent Curren$y would catch the attention of C-Murder. With C catching a murder case, his brother Master P would step in and scoop the young boy up for No Limit Records’ second generation run. With no movement there, Curre$y then hooked up with Lil Wayne for a stint on the milli selling rapper’s Young Money imprint. What seemed like an ideal situation didn’t materialize like all parties involved would have hoped. Now a free agent, Curren$y is manning up and taking things into his hands. Peep his past, present, and future. AllHipHop.com: Let’s start with your days with No Limit Records.Curren$y: I was originally on a label called Tough Guy Entertainment my brother started with another artist from the Calliope projects. They were cool with Master P and C Murder. When my homey got killed I ended up going to TRU records. C Murder reached out trying to get certain situations going for me but he ran through some hard times with his case and s**t. Then P reached out and I ended up over there. AllHipHop.com: How long were you with No Limit Records?Curren$y: Maybe two years. I was on that 504 Boyz album; the second one [Ballers]. I did whatever music was coming out in ‘01-‘02. I was there but too much didn’t come from it so I couldn’t date it properly. AllHipHop.com: Is it true you were doing a lot of ghostwriting during your time there?Curren$y: I mean I wrote on projects, I don’t [know] if the bulk of what I wrote ever came out. I was doing some writing when Romeo was doing his thing during the second album. AllHipHop.com: What was your impression of Master P’s while you sat on the label for two years. Curren$y: I had saw what it had grown to become. So I had a level of respect for the situation when I got there. People were telling me that they weren’t really popping over there, but I had so much respect for what they had become, I figured I could go over there and make it all good. AllHipHop.com: How did you get out of the deal?Curren$y: I had the paperwork that we had to release an album, but by nothing ever coming out of it, it was an amicable split. AllHipHop.com: So you move from that situation to the Cash Money/Young Money situation correct?Curren$y: Yeah I had bumped into [Lil] Wayne and we chopped it up for a second and I asked him about doing a record. We did like six records that night. He let me know he was still doing that label thing, and I was like alright let’s see what’s good. So I was like I’m going to do this.AllHipHop.com: What was your first impression of him?Curren$y: He worked hard, the same way I do. So it was just good because I went into a situation were music was being pumped out so surely it was productive. So it was a good enough impression for me to get down, you know?AllHipHop.com: Did you get at him to sign with the company or is that something Lil Wayne pursued?Curren$y: He put it together and everything went from there. He told me come kick it and see what’s good in the studio and it pretty much went without saying after that. I was down for like three years but I didn’t officially sign until January or February of last year. What I’m saying if I’m down, I’m down. I wasn’t really tripping off no paperwork you know? I wasn’t really signed that entire time but I had been rocking with them so long, people thought I was. If we eating, we eating.AllHipHop.com: So even when you weren’t signed, they were hitting you with some paper?Curren$y: Yeah it was all family; it was a good situation where I was eating, AllHipHop.com: Any comment from you on Lil Wayne doing a million units his first week?Curren$y: That’s great! Dude is getting money, and he is from my city so I would never hate on him. A million records first week is awesome. I’m not even tripping; I’m just trying to get my bread.AllHipHop.com: At the time did you ever get concerned of Wayne hitting that drank too hard?Curren$y: Nah I don’t too much about that or what it does. So I never even had time to grow a concern about it. I didn’t even know it was something to be concerned about. AllHipHop.com: Did you ever see any of them kiss or anything like that?Curren$y: Nah (laughs); that must have been before my time. When I got there it was all good. It just didn’t work out.AllHipHop.com: When did you notice things weren’t going to take off for you?Curren$y: After my buzz single (“Where Da Cash At?”) started to wear out at radio without having a video shot. That’s when I was like uh oh. We eventually shot one but it didn’t get put into rotation and programming and s**t like that. That’s when I knew this might not go how it’s supposed to go. There were no more moves being made on my project and I just fell back and waited to see what was going on. I seen it before; I know how the backburner look so I was like, Yeah it’s that again. AllHipHop.com: At that point did you voice your concerns to Wayne?Curren$y: Yeah we spoke about the album and everything that was going on. I felt like I didn’t need to talk. I’m there and I know how things are supposed to go and once it wasn’t going that way I realized I should just do it myself. It was no point in talking to anybody about it because I just went through it before. Rather than speak on it and fix another situation, I was like it’s time to create my own. So at any problems I’ll ever have it will be with me. Me walking away from Wayne wasn’t any explosions or anything like that, some people realized that they can work for people or they can’t. Like college isn’t for anybody. I just realized like some other situations I’ve been in, this situation isn’t the situation for me to do what I got to do. AllHipHop.com: So there wasn’t any beef when you left or missing money issues?Curren$y: It wasn’t nothing like that. It’s just I have some s**t that needs to be heard. It was no beef or nothing; I just had to do what I had to do. I can rap too! AllHipHop.com: Wayne was really pushing for you, did he try to hold on to you and ask you to stick around?Curren$y: They couldn’t, after a while what is understood doesn’t have to be said. He had to understand it. There wasn’t any confusion because it was the same thing with No Limit, nothing happened.AllHipHop.com: When’s the last time you talked to any of them?Curren$y: When it was all good; when I stopped, I stopped. AllHipHop.com: What are you working on now?Curren$y: Another tape, I’m working on Super Techmo Bowl right now. I’m putting that out next month. I’ve been putting out tapes every month since March. I’m just leaving the studio right now. There have been some people reaching out, I’m still doing my independent thing and building my buzz up so [can] I really get all the things I want. I don’t want to entertain things until my buzz is to a point where I need it. Every tape brings offers from another label. I figured out the formula, if I keep grinding I’m going to get exactly what I want.
