Last night, Miami’s Hobie Beach – located on Virginia Key, just over the Rickenbacker Causeway -- was filled with tour buses, Maybachs, an orange Lamborghini, a couple of Bentleys, and some limousines. Lil Wayne was in one of the tour buses, as this was to be the video shoot location for his hit song “Mrs. Officer,” a song about making love to a female police officer, with classic lyrics like, “All she wants me to do is fuck the police.”
The film crew set up as a group of real police officers gathered around a police car. The red and blue sirens flashed, and their faces glared at me as I took out my camera. “I do not want to see my picture on the internet,” said one of them, as I put the camera back into my pocket.
Lil Wayne would pop his head out of the tour bus every few minutes, look around, and go back inside. Brisco, a.k.a. Opa-Locka Goon, and his infamous manager E-Class sat by the water talking, as the sun went down over Biscayne Bay.
Cash Money Records CEO and co-founder Ronald “Slim” Williams stepped out of Lil Wayne’s bus and introduced himself to me. “Hard work pays off,” he said, as we sat down for an interview.
“I’m a visionary, I like to look ahead,” said Slim, as his diamond earrings and large diamond watch glistened. We talked about Lil Wayne’s massive success. “To be that successful, you need to stand on your own two feet,” said Slim. “If you’re an aspiring rapper, and all you care about is getting signed to Cash Money, than I ain’t gonna mess with ya. Wayne was taught to stand on his own. He is always writing, and he has worked hard to be where he is at. It took time, but he was always successful.”
“When he first started, his records did good… all the way up until now. It’s just bigger now. This didn’t just happen, it was hard work. I saw the work he put into it, and he continues to this day. Even though he sold over a million records in one week, he still works like he only sold one record. Wayne loves what he does, and he takes it very seriously.” He smiles and says, “Perfect practice makes perfect, you know? Out of the 24 hours in a day, if you can’t put at least one hour into your craft, you ain’t gonna make it.”
Cash Money Records relocated to Miami from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “We’ve been here a couple of years,” said Slim, “but it hasn’t affected our sound. We ain’t gonna change what made us. We add to it, but we’ll never change. When you change, you fall off. You just add to what you already have, to make what you already have better.”
Suddenly, a man carrying a large video camera announced, “We’re getting outta here, change of location.” Lil Wayne popped his head out of the tour bus again, and nodded at Slim. “We’re leaving,” said Slim as we shook hands. Within a few minutes, everyone just disappeared and I was standing alone on Hobie Beach.
