by Jason BirchmeierThe debut recording of B.G. and Lil Wayne (then billed collaboratively as the B.G.'z), and one of the few widely available artifacts of the Cash Money label's humble beginning, True Story was originally released independently in 1995, though the 1999 reissue in the wake of the label's distribution deal with Universal is by far the more common edition. At the time of True Story's recording, B.G. was 14 years old and Lil Wayne was just 12. Technically, True Story is a collaborative album; the front cover of the 1995 edition bills the album to "the B.G.'z," while the front cover of the 1999 edition bills the album to simply "B.G.," no doubt to accommodate the concurrent popularity of B.G., who had just scored a major hit with "Bling Bling" and was considerably better-known among consumers at the time than Lil Wayne. Regardless of the different billings, B.G. is heard on all eight songs, whereas Lil Wayne is only heard on three ("From 13th to tha 17th," "Thrill BG'z," "F**k Big Boy"). Even at this early date, Mannie Fresh was at the helm of the production. Curiously, a couple of the tracks ("True Story," "F**k Big Boy") dis Mystikal, who at the time was associated with Big Boy Records, a rival New Orleans independent rap label (he'd later switch to Master P's No Limit label, another local rival). True Story isn't an especially great album -- again, B.G. and Lil Wayne were only adolescents at the time, and Mannie Fresh was just starting to develop his craft -- but it's one that fans of Cash Money will find insightful.