In the United States, the fourth of July weekend is usually dedicated to celebrating independence in all of it shapes and forms—whether that means independence from England, independence from your vegan diet, or independence from laws that dictate what you are and are not allowed to blow up in your backyard. Rapper Lil Wayne, on the other hand, used the weekend to protest his continued lack of independence from his label, Cash Money Records. In January, we reported that Lil Wayne was suing Cash Money for $51 million for refusing to release his latest album, Tha Carter V. He also hasn’t been paid various advances that he was promised, so he’s arguing that if the album won’t pay him or release his album, then he should be let out of his contract.
While all of this is going on, Wayne can’t legally put new music up for sale, but—as reported by the LA Times—that doesn’t mean he can’t stick it to Cash Money anyway. Over the weekend, Wayne released Free Weezy Album, a “fully realized album in the form of a mixtape,” exclusively on Tidal—the music streaming service of the people, assuming those people are Jay Z. Lil Wayne is a co-owner of Tidal, so this move isn’t totally unexpected, but even a co-owner of Tidal can’t afford to constantly release music for free, so there’s a good chance this will be the last we hear of Lil Wayne until his legal battle is over.