lil wayne
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Lil Wayne, Marshmello, and other entertainers were revealed to have abused pandemic grants numbering into the millions, instead using the funds to splurge on hotels, trips, and other offenses. Among those named in the new report, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant funds were reportedly misused by Rae Sremmurd, Chris Brown, and more.
In a new report from Business Insider, it was revealed that Lil Wayne, Marshello, Chris Brown, and members of the Alice In Chains band all received funds from the pandemic-era Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) meant to supplant the careers of working musicians and the venues they perform in while much of the nation and world contended with the rise of the COVID-19 virus.
Lil Wayne received $8.9 million in SVOG funds, spending $1.3 million on private chartered flights and over $450,000 on clothing and other miscellaneous items. The report also showed that the New Orleans star spent over $175,000 on expenses for a music festival related to his GKUA cannabis brand, and clothes for artists on his Young Money record label. Further, $15,000 in grant funds were used on flights and hotels for women with loose connections to the rapper’s touring operation, one of which was also reported to be an adult actress.
The SVOG was touted by members of Congress as a means to keep venues afloat and help keep musicians and their staff financially whole as touring was all but shut down for many during the height of the pandemic.
The outlet came to uncover that beyond Wayne, Chris Brown used his $10 million in SVOG grant funds to pay for a birthday party that approached $80,000 in costs. He also pocketed $5.1 million of the SVOG funds personally by way of his company, CBE Touring. Brown also used $24,000 of the grant to pay for a tour bus from the United States to Tulum, Mexico in 2020 for a monthlong stay for him and his team but did not perform in the resort town.
Other names mentioned in the Business Insider report include Marshmello, who received $9.9 million in SVOG funds and reportedly pocketed it all. Rae Sremmurd’s Sreem Touring was given $7.7 million, which was paid to Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi.
Representatives for the artists in question declined to comment on the findings of the report. As for any ramifications, the government has gotten back some of the misused funds from Chris Brown. It wasn’t stated if officials would go after the other individuals named.
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Lil Wayne went public to voice his frustration and disappointment in not getting named as the halftime show performer for the upcoming Super Bowl in his hometown of New Orleans. Sitting with longtime friend Skip Bayless, Lil Wayne discusses the Super Bowl snub, Kendrick Lamar, and more.
Lil Wayne joined Bayless on the host’s eponymously named YouTube program to discuss the upcoming Super Bowl LVIII featuring Kendrick Lamar and expressed his thoughts once more at being passed over for the opportunity. Bayless, who shared his disappointment in the Young Money honcho not getting the look, opened the lane by asking Wayne his thoughts on the matter.
“So generally, I just believe that, for whatever reason, it’s over my head,” Lil Wayne begins, sharing why the NFL passed him over for the show. “Meaning, I don’t know why. Obviously, I believe it’s perfect but I do not know why.
Wayne continues, “Personally, the person I am, I straight look at it like ‘you ain’t there yet, you gotta get there.’”
Bayless doubled down on his disappointment, mentioning that Wayne should get the look to rock in front of the New Orleans crowd as a native son and mentioned there could be other politics and happenings at play.
Later in the conversation, Bayless shared K-Dot’s bars about Wayne in the track “wacced out murals” from the Compton rapper’s GNX album and asked Tunechi to react after he said this was his first time hearing the lyrics.
“I think he meant, I think he saw what everybody else saw, how much it meant to me,” Wayne answers. “He can’t control that. I’ve spoken to him and I wished him all the best.”
Check out the clip of Lil Wayne chatting with Skip Bayless below.
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Once again, Kendrick Lamar has the Rap world talking. Lil Wayne has seemingly responded to him after being mentioned on GNX.
As spotted on Vulture, the Compton, Calif., rapper made waves last week with the release of his newest project. In it, he makes several references to many of his peers post “Not Like Us.” On “wacced out murals” he raps, “Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud / Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down / Whatever, though, call me crazy, everybody questionable / Turn me to an eskimo, I drew the line and decimals.” These lines are a direct reference to him securing the halftime performance for Super Bowl LIX. The 2025 edition is set to be hosted in New Orleans, and Lil Wayne publicly expressed his disappointment on not being able to perform in his hometown after the announcement.
Man wtf I do?!
I just be chillin & dey still kome 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction,not even me but I shall destroy if disturbed. On me. Love
— Lil Wayne WEEZY F (@LilTunechi) November 23, 2024
On Saturday (Nov. 23), Tunechi took to X, formerly Twitter, and apparently made reference to the song. “Man wtf I do?! I just be chillin & [they] still [come] 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction, not even me but I shall destroy if disturbed. On me. Love,” he wrote. This is not the first time Kendrick Lamar referenced Lil Wayne in his music. Back in 2010, he rapped over Kanye West’s “Monster” instrumental and said “I’m the best rapper alive, tell Wayne to swallow his pride.”
During the height of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, Lil Wayne remained neutral and unbothered. Weeks later, he was was spotted rapping the hook to “Not Like Us” prior to performing his verse to “The Motto.”
Lil Wayne rapping “Not Like Us” while performing “The Motto” in Vegas last night.
pic.twitter.com/4f5pjVvMNZ
— Rap Alert (@rapalert6) July 14, 2024
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Lil Wayne has expressed his frustrations over not performing during the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2025 and doubled down on the assertion that he was snubbed. During his annual Lil Weezyana Fest, Lil Wayne addressed the Super Bowl snub and said it was taken away from him.
Over the weekend, Lil Wayne was back in his native New Orleans for this year’s Lil Weezyana Fest and was alongside the entire Hot Boys collective for a reunion performance. Wayne was also honored by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell with a proclamation declaring February 6 and 7 Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter Day. Tunechi was also honored with a key to the city.
During the festival, Wayne spoke on the elephant inside the room regarding Kendrick Lamar getting the halftime performance nod in New Orleans ahead of one of its biggest musical acts. He began his story by mentioning how he attended the Super Bowl in 2009 in Miami with his family and how the moment inspired him.
“That moment I said to myself, I wanna be on stage for the Super Bowl one day in front of my mom and I worked my a** off to get that position,” Wayne said. “It was ripped away from me but this motherf*ckin’ moment right here, they can’t take that from me.”
Lil Wayne addressed the snub back in September by way of a video he posted on social media, stating that being passed over for the slot “hurt” him.
Lil Wayne talks about not getting picked to perform the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans. He says it felt like it was “ripped away” from him but no one can take away this night.
I’m so glad he got to feel the love from his city. pic.twitter.com/c0fkgkD8f2
— Farrah Yvette (@farrah_yvette) November 3, 2024
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The festival organized by Lil Wayne is getting a new platform for creators with Live Nation Urban in time for this year’s edition, entitled “LilWeezyCon”.
In a press release, Live Nation Urban announced that they’ve agreed to a partnership to provide a new space for creators and innovators working with the community at the annual Lil’ WeezyAna Fest organized by Lil Wayen, known as LilWeezyCon. The partnership is with the Cultural Creators Foundation, and the event will take place during the concert event weekend in Lil Wayne’s hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana.
LilWeezyCon will be an all-day event this coming Saturday (November 2) at the Fillmore New Orleans from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. The schedule includes an array of panel discussions, networking sessions, and workshops crafted to spark inspiration in attendees. Attendance at LilWeezyCon is free, with college students getting VIP access. Volunteers from LSU, Xavier University, and other local schools such as Dillard University will assist in putting on the events. Guest speakers include Head of Music Industry Cultural Collaborations at Amazon Music Phylicia Fant, Head of HipHop/R&B Rotation at Amazon Music Sierra Lever, Terriona “Tank” Bell of Tank & Tha Bangas, and other notable industry figures and artists.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Live Nation Urban to create Lil’ WeezyCon, where we can bring together the brightest minds and most influential voices from across the industry to inspire and uplift future generations,” said Joi Brown, Founder and CEO of Culture Creators Foundation in the press release. “This is an incredible opportunity for our community to connect, share knowledge, and build meaningful relationships while celebrating the culture that drives us all.”
“We knew we wanted to do something special with this year’s festival, and tapping the Culture Creators Foundation to help us create Lil’ WeezyCon felt like the perfect way to engage the community and bring college students into the mix,” said Brandon Pankey, Vice President of Live Nation Urban in the release. “This partnership allows us to expand beyond music and create an experience that leaves a lasting impact on young professionals and emerging creators.” For more information, visit www.lilweezyanafest.com.
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Lil Wayne saw his name crop up in the news this week after it was announced that Kendrick Lamar would be the featured performer for next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. With the likes of Jay Electronica, Birdman, Nicki Minaj, and more speaking on Lil Wayne’s behalf, Tunechi took to Instagram to express his emotions surrounding the news and the snub.
With Super Bowl LIX taking place in February 2025 in New Orleans, La., it was expected at least by some observers that Weezy F. Baby would be considered to rock in front of his hometown crowd for the big game. Kendrick Lamar announced his appearance in his unique way, which sparked a flurry of comments from supporters of Lil Wayne along with his detractors coming out of the woodwork to discredit his musical legacy.
Opening up in his video on Instagram, Wayne got straight to the point.
“First of all, I wanna say forgive me for the delay. I had to get strength enough to do this without breaking. I’m say thank you to every voice, every opinion, all the care, all the love and support out there. Your words turned to arms and held me up when I tried to fall back.”
Wayne said of the assumed snub that, “It hurt a lot. I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown. For just automatically mentally putting myself in that position like someone told me that was my position.”
In what would’ve been a dream come true for Lil Wayne, it appears that being passed over for the Halftime Show in favor of Kendrick Lamar left a sting.
Check out the clip below.
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In the 48 hours following the announcement that Kendrick Lamar would be headlining the Super Bowl Halftime show in New Orleans next February, Jay-Z’s Hip-Hop peers continue to pile on the criticism as many feel that Lil Wayne should’ve gotten the nod over Kung Fu Kenny.
After the likes of Lil Wayne’s studio engineer and Master P spoke on the subject, Nicki Minaj and Birdman have taken to social media to take shots at Jay-Z for overlooking Nawlins native, Weezy for the Super Bowl festivities. Taking to Twitter to express her outrage over the choice, Nicki blasted Hov with a pointed tweet saying the decision to have Kendrick Lamar over Lil Wayne was driven by Jay-Z’s “ego” and that he was simply punishing Lil Wayne over his hatred for Birdman, Drake and even herself.
We didn’t even know Jay hated them.
Still, Nicki continued to ride for Wayne while taking shots at Jay for being “spiteful” and apparently even some of Roc Nation’s employees.
Birdman meanwhile weighed in on the situation himself but refrained from going all out as Nicki Minaj did in her posts.
Keep in mind Jay-Z paid off Lil Wayne’s multi-million dollar tax lien more than a decade ago when Wayne and Birdman were on the outs. So there’s that.
While many assume the decision to have Kendrick Lamar perform at the Super Bowl was strictly on Jay-Z, apparently the host city gets to pick who they want to perform the Super Bowl Halftime show after they’re presented with a list of names. In other words, Jay-Z didn’t choose Kendrick Lamar, New Orleans did. allegedly. Whether Wayne was on that short list or not is anyone’s guess, but it seems like everyone is hating on Jay-Z for a decision where he probably didn’t have the final say.
That being said, we doubt that the city of New Orleans is going to interject and reveal that it was they, and not Jay-Z who chose Kendrick Lamar and not Lil Wayne. Not after they’ve seen the backlash that Jay-Z got anyway.
What do y’all think about the outrage over Lil Wayne’s snub for the Super Bowl Halftime show in New Orleans? Let us know in the comments section below.
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On Sunday (September 8), social media was buzzing when it was revealed that Kendrick Lamar had been tapped to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Orleans as many assumed the honor would go to Nawlin’s favorite son, Lil Wayne.
But with Jay-Z running the show and tapping Kung Fu Kenny to kick things off come February 9th, Lil Wayne’s mixing engineer Fabian Marasciullo took to social media to express his disappointment in the surprising choice. According to HipHopDX, Marasciullo took to his Instagram stories and bluntly stated that he felt “Confused. Disappointed. Angry. But most of all. Inspired.”
Continuing to build on his feelings, Weezy’s engineer added “Will never again be in the position or have the [GOAT] where we are at the mercy of someone else’s decision. We will make the decisions.”
After Kendrick Lamar was revealed to be the headliner for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, many fans felt he’d undoubtedly bring Wayne along with him to perform on stage, but with the way Marasciullo is describing the mood on that side, would Wayne even accept an invitation to the show if he’s not headlining it?
Per HipHopDX:
During an interview with Taylor Rooks for Bleacher Report last December, Weezy talked about his desire to perform at Super Bowl LIX, which is being held at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on February 9, 2025.
“Just as bad as I wanted to see my name at the top of that list when I was whatever age it was and I would bust into the office and get that Billboard magazine,” he said about wanting to perform.
“Just as an artist, you know, ’cause this has nothing to do with the sport. As an artist, this is an achievement. This has nothing to do with the sport — that’s so crazy. I don’t care what teams are playing, what city it’s in. ‘You performed for the what?!’ Like, what? Oh man, so that right there is an achievement.”
We’re not gonna lie, we lowkey feel bad that Jay passed on Wayne in favor of Kendrick Lamar. Yes, we know K. Dot had a monster year thanks to his back-and-forth with Drake, but Weezy is a Hip-Hop legend from New Orleans with an illustrious catalog. Seemed like a no brainer to us.
Even New Orleans triple OG, Master P took to social media to say Wayne should be added to the Halftime show writing “He’s one of the greatest Hop Hop artists alive, still relevant and he’s a New Orleans native. Let’s not miss this cultural moment in the South.”
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What do y’all think? Should Lil Wayne have been the first choice to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show? Should he accept an invite to perform alongside Kendrick Lamar? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Lil’ Weezyana Fest is back, and the 2024 edition is going to be extra special. On Tuesday (Sept. 3), Lil Wayne and Live Nation Urban announced the return of the New Orleans music festival and that special guests will include a Hot Boys reunion.
Lil’ Weezyana Fest will go down on November 2 in the Big Easy at the Smoothie King Center, and the Hot Boys on the bill feature Weezy, Juvenile, B.G. and Turk. Also already on the schedule are Rob49 and Mannie Fresh with additional artists to be revealed in the coming weeks.
Earlier this summer there was a Hot Boys reunion at Essence Fest, but Wayne was conspicuously absent. With the entire four man crew on board for November, this should be a moment.
“Lil Wayne embodies the spirit of New Orleans, and Lil’ WeezyAna Fest is a stellar showcase of the city’s dynamic and flourishing music scene,” said Brandon Pankey, VP of Business Development & Operations Live Nation Urban in a statement. “Live Nation Urban celebrates this amazing event and is proud to continue to partner and cultivate the growth of this festival for years to come.”
Produced by Young Money, DMANI and Live Nation Urban, Lil’ Weezyana Fest first launched in 2105, and has since brought top-tier Hip-Hop talent to Weezy’s hometown to celebrate its rich music history and give to back to the community.
Tickets are available via artist presale are already available while tickets will go on sale everywhere starting September 6 at 8AM PT/10AM CT. You can find more right HERE.
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Lil Wayne’s penmanship is worth more than he probably ever imagined. His old rhyme book is going to be auctioned for $5 million dollars after a long legal battle.
As reported on Digital Music News, the New Orleans, Louisiana, native will see some of his earliest work go to the highest bidder. This week, memorabilia site Moments In Time announced that they will be moving forward with the selling of a notebook he used during the 1990s as a member of the Hot Boys. In it are lyrics he penned for several of the group’s classic songs including, “Grown Man” and “We On Fire.” Additionally, the company states that it also includes drawings of what appears to be Mannie Fresh, but this has yet to confirmed.
According to TMZ, the notebook was in a car owned by someone associated with Cash Money Records. Legend has it when the dealership took back the car an employee emptied the vehicle out and held onto the book. The man stored the collectible in his garage, but then Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005 causing severe water damage to the item. This is not the first time the memorabilia site has tried to sell off the notebook. Back in 2019, the personal item went on the block for $250,000, but Lil Wayne filed a cease and desist stopping Moments In Time from selling it. Almost five years later, a judge has granted the company the right to proceed with the sale.
You can read more about the Lil Wayne book of rhymes auction here.