Skip to content
Premieres

Drake, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross Pretend It’s 1996 for ‘No New Friends’ Video

Cash Money Records isn’t at its peak in 2013, but don’t tell that to Drake, Lil Wayne, Birdman, Rick Ross, and DJ Khaled. The new Colin Tilley-directed video (via In Flex We Trust) for “No New Friends” — featured on Khaled’s forthcoming album — is an explicit throwback to ’90s opulence and pre-HD aesthetics, a large portion of it shot through a camcorder timestamped May 15, 1996. There are other ’90s rap video hallmarks, too: Khaled’s bulky cell phone, Drake riding in a Jeep, Drake sitting in a bubble bath, and oh yeah, Drake’s amazing Dada two-piece in all its shiny glory.

But the repeated shots of the gang in a field behind a helicopter — Wayne wearing a white tee, a black beanie, and a single Cash Money chain — make explicit what “No New Friends” is trying to reference: the classic 1999 video for “Bling Bling.” Combined with Birdman’s plans to reform Big Tymers with Drake and Wayne — plus “Practice,” Drake’s hilarious “Back That Azz Up” re-fix — Cash Money is out to remind fans of its glory days. And what those glory days taught us is that when Cash Money is winning, they flaunt it.