I'm doing bass trap; I'm doing EDM songs.
— Mannie Fresh
I've had some bad business lessons and learned some things. It's not always about going platinum. So long as I know who is buying my records and I generate revenue that's mine, then it's cool.
Money makes everybody evil when you think about it.
I love to have fun when I do a song.
If I was working on Michael Jackson if he came back to life, I would be ready. I would be ready. 'The Resurrection' Michael Jackson album, I would be ready.
There are so many talented people that are on G.O.O.D. Music that it's nuts.
With Dr. Dre, he's a perfectionist. A lot of people ask why 'Detox' is taking so long. It's because Dre is somebody that is trying to top what he's done. Will he do it? I don't know if he ever will, but I respect that he's trying to do so. You have to wait for a masterpiece.
To me, Def Jam put my career on hold. I was used to making 13-14 songs a year, and they trickled that down to nothing.
By the age of 17, Wayne was confident. He knew, 'This is what I am. I'm an MC.' You had Missy Elliott saying she loved Lil Wayne. Lyrically, he was getting better and better.
The thing about Big Tymers was if they said they had it, they had it.
Cash Money really had no intentions of being a rap label because when it started, it really was based on bounce. It was one bounce song after another. I started to doing bounce songs for them, and they jumped off.
I've always had good connections with cars and always knew how to fix them, so I didn't have trouble with breakdowns.
'Bling Bling' was originally a Big Tymers song.
What made '400 Degreez' great is that Juvenile already had those raps. He already knew them. It was something that he knew every one of those raps.
All throughout Cash Money, I never abandoned the SP 1200. At the end of the day, I still use my SP 1200 'cause I like the way the drums sound.
I've always found some way to kind of incorporate second-line music in what I did.
I get most of my reading done whenever I'm in the airport waiting on a flight, have some time to kill, and I have a book with me.
With Hurricane Katrina and all that kind of stuff happening, you needed somebody to rally for your city, to tell that story. Since Hurricane Katrina, we didn't really have nobody that said, 'I'm gonna tell New Orleans' story, and I'm gonna stick to New Orleans.'
I see how attorneys are, and nobody is really on your side. It's about money. The attorney is not chasing after your money; he's chasing after his fee.
Don't just sit around and wait for it to happen. 'Get Your Roll On.' If you're going to buy some rims, graduate from college, or whatever, get your roll on and make something shake.
'Hood Rich' was super important to Cash Money.
I always got ideas.
I knew Kanye way before he was signed.
Kanye inspires me through his work ethic and his approach.
The name Hot Boys was based on a time in New Orleans where if you were really doing something or if the police were looking for you, people would be like, 'He hot. That boy hot.'
A lot of artists are scared when they see trumpet players show up - they like, 'Nah, that ain't what I want.' I try to tell them, 'Dude, I'll give you trademark Mannie Fresh, but it's not about keyboards and a drum machine.'
B.G. was just like his lyrics.
I have some songs on 'Tha Carter V,' but if I hear a song five times, I don't like it no more.
I remember that my dad worked on cars from the '70s and '80s, and that's where my love came from: appreciating - even if it was a piece of crap - how much he loved American muscle.
To have Run-DMC acknowledge you, something like that, you're like, 'Oh, I'm that dude.' To have Jay-Z do a verse, you that dude. To have Jay-Z shout you out in an intro, you're that dude. Like, it doesn't get any greater than that. Nobody can take that from you.
With time, everything changes. I know I'm not the same person who I used to be. I totally get that.
When a lot of people are calling it a night at 2 A.M., New Orleans is coming alive.
New Orleans just embraces people who love music.
The reason that I like 'Game of Thrones' is because it's based on all these royal families. And it's cutthroat - just like hip-hop. It's all about positioning and figuring out who's going to last.
I'm really working hard at regaining Mannie Fresh as a household name. But for me, it's always been the long road. What the long road means is if I gotta go city to city, town to town or whatever it is, that's what I gotta do.
I don't trust nobody, and I mean that.
If you do street music, do it. So be it. That's not me.
If you stay around good people, then they'll look out for you.
I'm from the '80s, man. I got ideas; that's what we do.
Just look at the name of Kanye's label: G.O.O.D. Music. That's what it's all about, creating good music.
We still have money issues. We will always have them as long as Cash Money is selling anything that has Mannie Fresh on it.
The single 'Tha Block Is Hot' was a song that was true to life.
The Cash Money sound pretty much changed the era. It kind of put the business into rap. It was like, 'Get your money, dude. This is a billion dollar business.'
'Solja Rag' was designed for Juvenile. It wasn't one of them beats where I was gonna chop it and see who I was going give it to: it was Juvenile all over it.
With a lot of young entrepreneurs, it always start rotten, but then something good happens - but do you keep it good?
I think I have automobile skills and musical background.
The whole '400 Degreez' album was inspired by what Outkast was doing, Organized Noize. That was what I was listening to around that time.
I always say that I'm a hip-hop fan, and I'm definitely a Drake fan.
I always felt like the trumpet or trombone player was always the coolest dude in the room.
'Macbeth' is one of those books that demand all of your attention.
