Updated at 4:22 pm
Lil’ Wayne has signed on to become an official member of Boyz N Da Hood (BNHD) and Young Jeezy has exited the ranks, according to sources.
Lil Wayne, President of Cash Money Records will join the Atlanta-based super-group along with existing members Big Duke, Big Gee, Jody Breeze, a representative for Universal Record confirmed. Initially, T.I. was included in the group as well, but his representatives at Atlantic Records denied. “That’s false. He’s not going to be in Boyz N Da Hood,” a rep in the Atlantic publicity department said.
Blok, founder of Boyz N Da Hood and Blok Entertainment, also confirmed the news of Lil’ Wayne’s inclusion, but countered stating that T.I. was in the group. Despite persistent rumors, Blok said there is no bad blood between Young Jeezy and the rest of the group.
“Jeezy only signed on for one album and that’s my whole campaign – it’s not a replacement it’s a continuance. We’re not beefing. All of us are brothers. That’s very important, it’s a continuance. This is the way it was set out to be when it first started,” Blok told AllHipHop.com. Blok also stated that the original roster of Boyz N Da Hood included T.I., Trick Daddy and Sean Paul of the YoungBloodz and the newer members replaced them.
Young Jeezy has experienced solo success with his platinum-selling Def Jam release Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation.
Representatives at Def Jam for Jeezy were unaware of the Boyz N Da Hood personnel change, but Jeezy commented on his status with the group in a previous interview.
“I was a solo artist first. I’m definitely a boss. I always had a label. I always had a movement. The whole thing with Puff [Bad Boy Records], we sat down and worked it out. I already had my solo situation at Def Jam,” he told AllHipHop.com. “My album was set up to come out first, before I did the little situation [with Bad Boy]. But just me being a gangster and real about what I’m doing agreed to push my album back so I could get the Boyz N Da Hood project rolling. I just want the fans to know it ain’t me acting funny or nothing like that. It’s just that I got a solo album out, so just like how I went on a Boyz N Da Hood promo run, I gotta do mine. Everything I do with them, I gotta do for myself.”
While Jeezy was a member of BNHD, he was also signed to Def Jam as a solo artist and had to promote both the group album and the Def Jam opus at the same time. Jeezy frequently missed promotion and marketing tours with Boyz N Da Hood, but continued to push both projects. The BNDH self-titled album hit stores on June 21, while Thug Motivation 101 was released on July 26.
Ironically, T.I., Young Jeezy and Lil’ Wayne will embark on a tour of the United States with in mid-November.