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.