Cash Money Records is a record label founded by brothers Bryan "Birdman" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed by Universal Republic Records as of 2011. Current CEOs are Bryan "Birdman" Williams, Ronald "Slim" Williams.
For its first few years (1992–1997), Cash Money played host to a number of local releases by artists, selling hundreds of thousands of albums without ever releasing a music video or having a Billboard hit. Some of the label's releases garnered some regional success in New Orleans, Louisiana, but the label was little known to the national rap scene. Artists on the label during this period included the group U.N.L.V. (Uptown Niggas Living Violently), Kilo G, Lil Slim, and PxMxWx. In 1995, the label signed young rappers B.G. and Lil Wayne. The signees marked what would be the second wave of Cash Money artists. In 1997 B.G. and Lil Wayne formed the group the Hot Boys together with Juvenile (who had already been regionally successful before Cash Money), and Turk. Although initially they didn't make much impact outside of the region, they would become the label's most well known artists.
In 2007, Lil Wayne (former of a Cash Money's band member) was named president of Cash Money Records and CEO of Young Money Entertainment, giving the rapper full creative control over all releases under the two labels. Later that year, however, Lil Wayne stepped down as president to focus on his career, especially Tha Carter III. In 2008, Lil Wayne re-signed with Cash Money, ensuring that his next few albums will be produced by the label