Lil Wayne and B.G. respectively in 1997. The same year, Baby and Slim recruited two new artists, Turk and Juvenile, and the four were placed together in a new group, known as the Hot Boys. The Hot Boys soon took Cash Money to new heights, and the label was able to sign a $30 million deal with Universal Records in 1998. 1998–2003: Big Tymers After Cash Money's nationwide success, Baby and Mannie Fresh formed their own group, dubbing themselves the Big Tymers. Big Tymers debuted in 1998 with the album How Ya Luv That? and went on to release I Got That Work in 2000 and Hood Rich in 2002. I Got That Work contained the popular singles "Get Your Roll On" and "#1 Stunna". Although the singles failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, I Got That Work was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 1 million copies in the United States. Hood Rich contained the hit single "Still Fly", which was nominated for a Grammy award and peaked at #11 on the Hot 100. Hood Rich was also certified platinum in the US. Big Money Heavyweight followed in 2003, and was again successful, being certified Gold in the US. The group went on hiatus soon after and remained inactive following Mannie Fresh's departure from Cash Money Records, though they've since reunited for live performances, most recently in 2017. 2002–2005: Solo career After the departure of Juvenile and B.G. from Cash Money, Baby was forced to focus on his solo career and began marketing himself as the new public face of Cash Money Records. He released his major label debut, Birdman on November 26, 2002, and by January 15, 2003, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for the shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. The album peaked at #24 on the Billboard 200, and featured guest appearances from Jazze Pha, Mannie Fresh, Lil' Wayne, Toni Braxton, Clipse, Jermaine Dupri, Cam'ron, T.I., Keith Murray and Puff Daddy among others. Due to the album's success, Baby became more widely known to the public as "Birdman", and soon after changed his stage name to reflect this. After Lil Wayne achieved worldwide success with his critically acclaimed and commercially successful album Tha Carter in 2004, on which Birdman was featured numerous times, Wayne became the flagship