Lil Wayne’s new album ‘Funeral‘ is out now and for the promo run, he did a 2-hour interview with REVOLT TV’s The Champs. In the interview, Lil Wayne talks about his new album, early days of Cash Money Records, recording his classic mixtapes, how he evolved as an artist, sports, skateboarding, and more.
Weezy has been joined by well-known musicians since the debut of “Young Money Radio.” Drake recently called into the programme and expressed his desire to return to the studio with his mentor. The rhymer for “Mrs. Officer” also revealed some details about their recording procedure.
“Now, something about me and Drizzy’s songs that we do together, we are both perfectionists,” Wayne reasoned . “So, it’s not like you send me a joint, I’m going to throw a verse on there. We got a standard we got to live up to, we got a track record and a legacy we gotta always protect. And then on top of that, it’s like we have this thing where it’s like, well, if I’ma send you a joint and I’m going to go first, first of all – I already know, it’s like, all right, I know this man’s about to go crazy on me.”
They’ve had their fair share of duets – “No Love,” “Drop The World,” and “Forever” with Drake and Kanye West, to name a few – so Lil Wayne has an opinion on how it feels to work with Em.
After the release of his album Recovery, “No Love” debuted at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 10, 2010 and stayed there for 20 weeks. After being released as a single, it re-entered the chart at number 89, and has since climbed to number 29. “No Love” topped the ARIA Charts for eight weeks, peaking at number 21. However, it reached number 7 on the ARIA Urban Singles Chart, which was one of its biggest peak places on the charts.
N.O.R.E. began the talk by claiming that while Em embodied many of his predecessors, Weezy was not one of them. Wayne, of course, did not disagree. Weezy got candid on Tidal’s Drink Champ podcast while promoting his new album, Funeral. He talked about everything from mistaking 21 Savage for a big rap group to how he wouldn’t hesitate to “decapitate” Drake on a record if he needed to. He also praised JAY-legacy Z’s in the rap game and reminisced about past collaborations.
In the conversation, he was also asked to choose between Eminem or MGK for which he said, “MGK? I gotta say Eminem cause I don’t know too much about MGK. That’s the only reason though.”
He was also asked to choose between Eminem or G-Eazy for which he replied, “Again, don’t know too much about G-Eazy. Also, I did a bunch of joints with Em, that’s ma man. When you get on that joint with Em it’s like a championship game, and you win it, and they ask you how does it feel. I came in with my game plan and I expected my game plan to work. When you send a song to Em you attack it like that, like Nah, yo not going to do me like this. Either we going be right here (level) with it, and we’re going to make a beautiful, wonderful great song, but you ain’t going do me that (above me). And that’s what we did. Can nobody say anybody got bodied. I just made sure that he didn’t body me, cause that boy is a monster.”
They’ve worked together before – “No Love,” “Drop The World,” and “Forever” with Drake and Kanye West, to name a few – so Lil Wayne knows how it feels to work with Em.
Wayne also attributes his competitive spirit to his mentor and adoptive father, Birdman. Before getting into Em, Weezy mentioned that Cash Money Records’ co-founder always put the best verses upfront on Hot Boys’ songs.
“Being in Hot Boys was perfect, but I looked at it like school. That’s a test: ‘I’ma go pass the test when I get to that studio; my verse gon’ be the hardest.’ And with Baby, it was always about who he wanted to go first…That always let us know he liked your verse the most. Now go back and listen to how I start off on all them songs.”
In addition, N.O.R.E. reads a text from Tidal’s JAY-Z. “I had to take a long walk and look in the mirror when [Lil Wayne] rapped [a mixtape version of] ‘Show Me What You Had,’ and I asked, ‘Are you sure you still got this?’” Wayne recalls Shawn Carter’s uncommon appreciation for Da Drought 3’s “Dough Is What I Got” after hearing Jay’s comments. “[JAY-Z] let me know ‘you comin’ for me, boy!’ It’s just a privilege. I can’t get on that [song] and play with it, man.” Wayne likens the thrill to his favorite NFL team: Green Bay. “You don’t understand, I’ma about to walk out of here like the Packers won!”
Lil Wayne and Eminem were open and honest about their experiences in the rap game on the most recent episode of “Young Money Radio.” Weezy and Eminem both confessed during their talk that they look up their own lyrics online to avoid repeating verses. “I try to listen to the new music and I can get a little buzz – and go [in the studio] and kill something, but I still try to go off my regular procedure, and that’s just my natural inspiration,” the New Orleans native explained. “When you’ve made so many songs about everything it gets a little tricky,” Eminem added.
Watch the full thing below or skip to 34:46 for Eminem’s part.
In an 2023 interview, Wayne revealed he was scared when he first called Eminem for a collaboration, which was the 2010 hit “Drop the World”.
“I was scared, actually, when I called Eminem for a song,” he revealed. “That is a monster. He must have the same thing I have with words. Like, we can’t get them out of our heads. Every meaning, every aspect of them. Things that rhyme, we hear it. I already know the gift and the curse that he has. And I love to hear the way he puts it together.”
He continued, “When I was on The Tonight Show, I was playing Pictionary. And my thing was Harry Potter. So I drew a pot, and they got that. I drew a man with a face, and I put a bunch of hair around him. They were like, ‘Wait, he’s hairy.’ I’m, like, Harry Potter. We plan our words. At all times.”
