Birdman, Young Thug Tangled Up In Alleged Lil Wayne Murder Conspiracy

Birdman (the rapper and mogul, not the fictional Michael Keaton character) and Young Thug have become tangled up in a conspiracy to murder Lil Wayne.

Though the plot sounds like it was torn straight from the pulpy, melodramatic script pages of Empire, the New York Times has the full details to remind us that, actually, this is pretty serious stuff.

(Though, if Cookie were involved, she’d know how to smooth this all out.)

It began on April 26, when shots were fired at Lil Wayne’s two tour buses, north of Atlanta, on which 11 other people were travelling.

Jimmy Carlton Winfrey was charged with the shooting, and on June 25, indicted by a grand jury on 30 counts of aggravated assault and racketeering.

Explosively, the indictment links Winfrey with Birdman – aka Bryan Williams - co-founder of Cash Money Records, the label Lil Wayne has been infamously trying to extricate himself from for years.

The indictment alleges Winfrey called a cellphone “owned by Bryan Williams” shortly after the shooting.

Just prior to releasing fire, Winfrey also allegedly phoned Birdman associate Young Thug, aka Jeffrey Williams.

Neither Bryan Williams nor Jeffrey Williams – no relation – have been officially charged in relation to the shootings.

(However, Young Thug was arrested yesterday for allegedly threatening to kill a mall cop, so he has a few potential charges in his future.)

Following the indictment, it was revealed Cash Money filed a $50 million lawsuit against Tidal for releasing Lil Wayne’s The Free Weezy Album at the top of the month without their permission.

This thing’s only going to get uglier, isn’t it?