Exclusive: One Cash Money Records legend of yesteryear and a hopeful from the mid-2000s reconvened for over a dozen records in 2013 outside of current ties to Birdman’s label.
One of Cash Money Records’ first East Coast signings was courtesy of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee Gillie Da Kid. Known as leader within Top 200-selling group Major Figgas, Gillie signed with Bryan “Birdman” Williams & Ronald “Slim” Williams’ label in the early 2000s. Although Gillie never released an album on the Universal Records-distributed imprint, he wrote and recorded extensively during his years there. While there, Gillie stayed close to one of CMR’s sonic masters, Mannie Fresh, who was also a member of the Big Tymers and a solo artist.
“You know, me and Mannie Fresh made a lot, a lot of great records,” explains Gillie of the unreleased material. “When you meet somebody like Mannie Fresh, with his type of spirit, and just knowing what he knows about music, he’s just an all-around good dude. Mannie Fresh was one of the people, when I was on Cash Money [Records], that I grew to love and grew to respect [because of] his talent. We used to be together so much.” Sadly, Gillie’s tenure at Cash Money never yielded retail placements.
Nearly a decade later, Gillie’s latest label home is with Kansas City Chiefs star Tamba Hali’s Religion Records. Gillie Da Kid is the label’s flagship artist. “When I went and got the label situation, it was like, ‘Let me go see what Mannie got,'” explains G.D.K. of the reunion. “Even though I haven’t heard from Mannie in a minute, it was, ‘Let me go see what he got.’ Then when I got down there it was like, ‘God damn!’ And we right back at it. And I showed him what I had, and he was like, ‘Okay, you’ll need a record like this. You’ll need a record like this. I can give you a record like this.’ We just got in and banged out 10 or 15 records and got it poppin’.”
According to Gillie Da Kid, his solo studio debut, Welcome To Giladelphia will include four or five Mannie Fresh-produced tracks. First heard will be video single “Tattoos,” which features Def Jam Records singer Jeremih.
Via HipHipHopDx.com
