Lil Wayne fans have the opportunity to get their hands on an authentic, one-of-a-kind piece of hip-hop history: his 1999 notebook filled with handwritten lyrics placed for auction. Moments in Time posted the auction in early August, seeking $5 million for the notepad containing lyrics from Hot Boys tracks like "We On Fire" and "I Feel." These songs featured on the Hot Boys sophomore album Guerrilla Warfare, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in July 1999. "We On Fire," the album's lead single, reached No. 5 on the Hot Rap Songs chart.
Following a many-years-long legal fight, the notebook will return to the auction block. Lil Wayne attempted to retake possession of the property in 2019, but a Louisiana court sided with Moments in Time when Wayne apparently failed to respond to the suit.
Listed for $250,000 in 2019, it now seems that the price has been increased. Justifying the hike, Moments in Time explained, "Lil Wayne is one of the greatest rappers ever, so his handwritten song notes are incredibly valuable."
A man said that he discovered the notebook in a car previously owned by Cash Money Records, at the dealership where he was working, and thus began the battle for legal ownership. The finder stored the notebook in his garage, and some pages of the notebook got damaged by water during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Back in February, civilian court Judge Kern Reese ruled that the anonymous finder is the rightful owner of the notebook, according to legal documents obtained on Moments in Time's website.
This was all 17-year-old Lil Wayne's property back in the '90s, with the lyrics to tracks like "Grown Man" from Tha Carter II and Hot Boys' "We On Fire," among other doodles.
Investing In Lil Wayne Songs
If you're a huge fan of Lil Wayne or just want to get started with music royalty investing, now you can do so on Royalty Exchange. On Royalty Exchange you can sign up as an investor and search through thousands of music catalog listings that include producer and songwriter royalties to some of the biggest songs of the past few decades.
Take this Lil Wayne asset listing for instance. The buyer paid $27k back in April, 2023 to acquire 30 years of future earnings from the songwriter's cut of royalties from huge songs such as the Wayne featured Dej Loaf hit "Me U & Hennessy". While they've held the catalog for just over a year, they've already collected $21.8k in earnings. That's a total yield of 80.8% already in just over 1 year! This is definitely on the higher end of the spectrum for returns with music catalog listings, with earnings growing drastically for this catalog last year since the song went viral on TikTok. The amazing thing about this moment though is that as the song found new audiences, even if it decays some it will still be earning way more than it previously was before. Streaming offers the opportunity for super consistent earnings from listener consumption.
The great thing about investing in music catalogs is that their performance is independent of financial markets as people are always consuming music. One great thing about this catalog in particular is that it's still growing as the song's popularity continues to skyrocket. The earnings for the investor who purchased the catalog reached $18.8k in the past twelve months, an increase of 110% more than the catalog's 3 year average earnings! This catalog also earns money not just from streaming, but also from live performances and when its played in public. So every time Wayne or Dej Loaf plays a concert and performs this song or you here it while you're shopping in Target, the investor is making money!
We’ve prepared this guide on Royalty Investing Made Easy to help you out if you want to get started investing in music royalty catalogs.
At Royalty Exchange, you can choose from thousands of the most popular songs to invest in. We offer hundreds of catalogs that are up for auction today, so sign up as an investor to get started.
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