Topline
Lil Wayne said his Super Bowl LIX halftime snub “broke” him Friday, days after several music artists rallied behind the New Orleans native and condemned the decision to make Kendrick Lamar the headliner.
Honoree Lil Wayne accepts the Recording Academy Global Impact Award onstage during the Recording … [+] Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective during the 65th GRAMMY Awards on February 02, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Key Facts
In an Instagram video posted Friday, Lil Wayne responded to his halftime snub after it was announced Sunday Kendrick Lamar would be the Super Bowl LIX—which will be held in New Orleans in February—halftime performer.
The New Orleans native said he blames himself for “automatically mentally putting myself in that position” as the headliner, even though he thought “that was nothing better than that spot, and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt.”
Several artists like Nicki Minaj, Master P and Cam’ron condemned the decision to make Lamar the performer earlier this week, saying it should have been Lil Wayne since he’s from New Orleans; they also blamed Jay-Z—who’s a co-producer of the halftime show, for the snub.
Lil Wayne expressed interest in headlining the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show during a podcast in February, saying he hadn’t received a call yet, “but we all praying, we keeping our fingers crossed.”
Crucial Quote
“It broke me and I’m just trying to put me back together,” Lil Wayne said. “But my God, have you all helped me. Thanks to all my peers, my friends, my family, my homies on the sports television and everybody repping me… I feel like I let all of y’all down by not getting that opportunity, but I’m working on me and I’m working. So thank you.”
Key Background
Jay-Z’s connection to the Super Bowl has been a heated topic across social media following Lamar’s halftime announcement. Jay-Z and his agency Roc Nation have been the co-producers of the Super Bowl halftime show since partnering with the NFL in 2019. This means they’re a part of the vetting process for performers. Melvin Villamer, a professor of performing arts at Clemson University, told NPR the selection process for halftime performers involved the host city curating a list of artists that various boards within the NFL have to agree upon. Halftime headliners sometimes have a musical connection to the host city. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and other California natives performed at the Super Bowl in 2022, which was held in California. Several people like podcast and internet personality DJ Akademiks blamed Jay-Z and his rap beef with Lil Wayne and his affiliates for Lil Wayne not being chosen. “The Super Bowl in New Orleans and they let Lamar perform over Lil Wayne…. Jay Z a legendary hater for that,” DJ Akademiks said in a post on X. Nicki Minaj—who was signed to Lil Wayne’s label—seemingly called out Jay-Z on X, saying his “hatred for BIRDMAN, Drake & Nicki got you punishing” Lil Wayne. Jay-Z and Lil Wayne have exchanged jabs over the years, but the pair seemingly made up after Lil Wayne signed on as co-owner of the New York rapper’s music platform Tidal in 2015 before a majority stake was sold to Jack Dorsey’s Block in 2022. Lil Wayne called Jay-Z a “real friend” in 2018 after revealing the New York native helped with his taxes. Jay-Z and Birdman—who signed Lil Wayne to his record label in 1998—have had a public feud since 2009, when Birdman said Lil Wayne was a better rapper than Jay-Z.
Tangent
Lamar’s selection comes months after a heated rap feud with Drake, who was also signed to Lil Wayne’s record label. Drake and Lamar exchanged diss tracks between March and May, which parachuted several of the singles to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the end, Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was the most decorated track, peaking at No. 1 on the chart, and breaking Spotify’s streaming record to become the most-streamed American hip-hop song in a single day with 6.59 million streams. “Not Like Us” and Lamar’s joint song “Like That” with rapper Future and producer Metro Boomin are the only songs from the feud still on the Billboard Hot 100.
Further Reading
Nicki Minaj And Others Seemingly Call Out Jay-Z For Picking Kendrick Lamar For Super Bowl Over Lil Wayne: What To Know (Forbes)
Drake-Kendrick Lamar Feud Timeline: Lamar Performs Diss Tracks At Star-Studded ‘Pop Out’ Show (Forbes)
Kendrick Lamar Headlining Super Bowl Halftime Show—After Busy Year And Drake Feud (Forbes)