Lil Twist Talks Weezy's Shocking Birthday Present, Debut Album

When you are the youngest member of today’s most dominant rap crew Young Money, which includes superstar ringleader Lil Wayne and platinum MC’s Drake and Nicki Minaj, and you recently turned 18-years-old—life is pretty damn good.

Being a part of such a luminous clique also means enjoying the spoils of success. But when it came time for Lil Twist to receive presents for his Jan. 11 birthday, even the Dallas native was surprised at the level of opulence.

“My birthday was fun,” Twist tells VIBE. “I was doing stuff for the whole month. I went to St. Lucia with my homie Justin for a few days. And then on my birthday I was in Miami chilling with my brother. I got a car on my birthday from my manager Cortez. And Wayne bought me a condo in Miami…it’s been great! I feel very blessed.”

While it’s not known whether Twist will join his mentor Weezy on this spring’s ‘I Am Music II’ tour (“As far as me performing, that would be a surprise as of now,” the bright-eyed rapper says), he is set to drop his debut album, a project that has long been in the making since he dropped his summer 2010 Bow Wow-assisted single “Little Secrets.”

“I want the album to still be called Don’t Get It Twisted,” Twist says of the upcoming release. “It’s coming in 2011 for sure. I have a few collaborations with Wayne. I have a record with Drake that we are working on. I have Nicki [Minaj] and my friend Khalil from Def Jam. And I have Justin Bieber on the album as well. I’ve been using a lot of in-house producers like Infamous and new producers that are coming up in the game. I’m just glad that it’s finally happening.” —Keith Murphy