Rumor Control: Did Drake Fire His Management? Birdman Says ‘No’

Did Drake drop his management in the midst of a very successful career?

Plenty of internet reports say ‘Yes’, Birdman says ‘No’.

This morning the internet was on fire about Drizzy Drake cleaning house and firing his agents as well as his management team over at Hip Hop Since 1978 which includes Gee Roberson, Al Branch, Kyambo Joshua and Cortez Bryant (pictured). The reported move had some people scratching their heads since Hip Hop Since 1978 seemed to be doing a good job with managing Drake’s career thus far and have also assisted in catapulting the careers of Kanye West and Lil Wayne. The New York Post reported a source as saying:

Drake just felt like there were too many hands in his pockets. He was getting pulled in too many different directions.” Our source added there was conflict between the rapper’s original management team in Canada and the ones he picked up along the way. “His team from Canada is trying to wrestle back control,” a source said. “He may go back to them to streamline things.

Even though it had been reported by several news sources that he gave most of his team the boot, Cash Money CEO Birdman tweeted a link from Drake’s October’s Very Own (OVO) blog saying that the rumors are false.

“Some blog sites are starting to spread this rumor just for attention.

“The rumor states that Drizzy has fired managers Gee Roberson, Al Branch, Kyambo Joshua and Bryant Cortez of Hip Hop Since 1978. These four managers also manage Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj. Firing management after getting a number 1 album and 650,000 record sales in a week? THIS IS NOT TRUE”

The quote originally included the name of a blogger that is good friends of the Young Money team as ‘spreading lies’. Confusing.

It’s not rare for an artist to drop their management mid-career but it can either hurt or help depending on the circumstance. Nicki Minaj ditched her manager Deb Antney back in April 2010 and her career rose to new heights. A year later (after a successful #1 album, MAC endorsements and joining two tours), she axed Diddy’s manager Jamie Cruz, however her flourishing career was unaffected by the move. Trey Songz and Keyshia Cole also split with their managers who helped launch their careers after their third albums and now their careers are in the hands of Kevin Liles