Lil Wayne being overlooked for the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show for Kendrick Lamar became a lightning rod for conversation within hip-hop circles. Wayne himself admitted he was “hurt” by the NFL’s decision to not have him perform in his hometown and others such as Nicki Minaj, Master P, Cam’ron and more chimed in sticking up for the New Orleans rap deity.
LL Cool J sat down with Fat Joe for an episode of Fat Joe Talks on Friday (Oct. 18), and among the multitude of topics discussed was Weezy being snubbed for the Super Bowl’s headlining spot for K. Dot.
The “Loungin” rapper gave Wayne his flowers, but is cool with Kendrick having his moment right now, with the numbers he put on the board this year. LL believes Wayne will eventually get his shot as well.
“[Lil Wayne’s] one of our great artists, he’s an unbelievable writer. He’ll have his day — let Kendrick get that,” he said. “Here’s the thing: Your time will come [and] you’ll have your day … You’ll have your time. You can’t let break you. The only reason it makes me laugh is because I know how blessed he is, how successful he is. So he don’t need to worry about that moment. It’s just a moment, bro. It’s just one moment.”
LL Cool J brought up how he wasn’t voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for many years on the docket before breaking through in 2021. With all of the success he and other artists of his ilk have enjoyed, he referred to these kind of roadblocks as “champagne problems.”
“These are champagne problems. There’s guys who can’t get their demo listened to. I think we get a little bit kind of, unintentionally, spoiled,” he admitted. “Wayne is crème de la crème.”
Kendrick was announced by the NFL and Roc Nation as the headliner for Super Bowl LIX in September, and a devastated Wayne took a few days to gather himself before speaking out.
“That hurt. It hurt a lot. You know what I’m talking about. It hurt a whole lot,” he said in a video posted to Instagram. “I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown. … But I thought that was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt.”
Watch LL talk about Kendrick headlining the Super Bowl instead of Lil Wayne in the clip below.
