lil wayne
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This current generation of Hip-Hoppers may not remember the reign of Lil Wayne in the mid 2000s, but us older heads do, so when Weezy took the stage at the 2023 ESPYS to open up the night with a classic hit, y’all know we was all in our retro feelings.
Before the awards were handed out last night and numerous athletes got their well-deserved flowers, Lil Wayne opened up the festivities with a rendition of his classic 2008 hit, “A Milli.” Needless to say, the audience got hype and turnt up as they traveled back in time and bounced to the beat the same way they did when they wore baggy clothes and Bape sneakers to boot. Tiffany Haddish throwing her arms up with excitement pretty much summed up how everyone over 30 years old was feeling in that moment.
Aside from the dope performance, the night was filled with numerous moments that had social media buzzing including statements from your favorite athletes about their future plans and others just having some fun at the events.
Stereo Gum reports:
There were plenty of news stories coming out of last night’s ESPYs: LeBron James announcing that he’s not retiring, Patrick Mahomes showing up looking like Riff Raff. But the only thing that really makes sense for this website — another H.E.R. performance on another awards show doesn’t count — was Wayne bringing back his 2008 smash “A Milli,” giving it slight lyrical tweaks to reflect the occasion: “I want my NIL, so I’m going back to college/ Tattoos on my face, you could call me Dennis Rodman.” He also threw in a line about “Damar Hamlin doin’ fine.”
Check out Lil Wayne take everyone back to 2008 below, and let us know if you felt that retro vibe during his performance in the comments section below.
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Big Freedia is set to retake the stage as she announces her first album in nine years, accompanied by a brand new single from the project.
The “Queen of Bounce” announced the new album Central City, last Friday (May 26), also releasing the latest single from the album, “Bigfoot”. “Bounce has been through many iterations—from Triggerman to Sissy to Cash Money Bounce—but my new album is something I call Bigga Bounce,” she said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Welcome to Central City, y’all, where I pay homage to my city, my roots, hip-hop, and to the art of creating a new sound.” The album will be released on June 23rd.
“Bigfoot” comes in as the third single from what is now the New Orleans native’s first full-length album since Just Be Free which was released in 2014. She describes it as “a powerful anthem of empowerment and motivation,” with the opening lines booming forth. “Call me Bigfoot stepping on these b—–s necks,” Freedia declares in the first lines of the track in her signature cadence, “I got a big foot but I’m getting bigger checks/They don’t see what’s coming next.” The first two singles were “Central City Freestyle” and “$100 Bill”, featuring Ciara. Central City will have sixteen tracks in total, with Lil Wayne, Kelly Price, and Faith Evans in addition to other artists making guest appearances.
Big Freedia will also be hitting the road this summer on tour beginning in Stanford, California on June 2nd as part of the Re: Set Festival with LCD Soundsystem, Jamie XX, and other artists. The nationwide tour will have Big Freedia be a headline performer at Pride concert events in Denver, Colorado, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and conclude at the Wonderbus Music and Arts Festival on August 25th in Columbus, Ohio. Tickets for the festival are available here.
Check out the single “Bigfoot” below.
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After a wave of disparaging remarks, influencer Alabama Barker took to social media to defend herself against the critics.
The 17-year-old gained some notoriety in the past couple of weeks for sharing snippets of rap songs she’s put together with her TikTok followers. While some expressed approval, many took her to task for coming off as an appropriator of Hip-Hop culture and rap music. It prompted her to make a since-deleted video to share on TikTok. “I’m tired of people saying I don’t know anything about rap music, I wasn’t raised around rap music, I wasn’t anything,” she begins. “So, let’s take a little field day into my life because you guys know it so well.”
The daughter of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and model Shanna Moakler shared photos of herself standing next to some of rap’s biggest artists beginning with Nicki Minaj during her father’s tour with the Pinkprint rapper on Lil Wayne’s I Am Music II Tour in 2011. “So, the first thing that I’m going to point out is this tour. This tour was when I was about 5 years old,” she recalled. “[I was] 5 years old watching her set every day. I knew every lyric.”
She followed up with more pictures of her posing with Lil Wayne, followed by a photo of the “Gimme Brain” single cover featuring Travis, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross. “Another song I knew by heart when I was like 5 years old,” she said. (People Magazine did point out that the single dropped in 2019 when Alabama was 13.)
The stepdaughter of Kourtney Kardashian also addressed criticism of her hairstyle and her nail design, showcasing an older photo of her with similar choices. “For everybody telling me, ‘Oh, she wants to wear nails now,’ ‘She thinks she’s this, this and that,’ this was in 2012,” she said before continuing: “I know I am privileged, and I’m beyond grateful for that and blessed. It’s not OK for people to make fun of or disrespect any culture at all. So, if me being a rapper bugs you, then you can just keep moving and stop commenting.”
The young Barker had issued rebuttal videos to critics earlier this month, addressing those who were jabbing her over her use of heavy makeup. “When Kathryn with 3 kids only waterline liner, 4 different colored blonde & Tom shows, talk about my makeup or my age.”, the caption read. A fan tried to explain the concern in the comments by writing, “I think people are just concerned about the over-sexualization of youth in Hollywood/LA culture.”
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Lil Wayne is an artist and is sensitive about his you know what. Tunechi abruptly ended a show after the crowd showed no interest in his new artists.
As spotted on Dlisted the Young Money Records CEO has identified who he believes will be the newest faces of the label. Last week at the Welcome to Tha Carter tour stop at The Wiltern in Los Angeles he took the stage and performed for about 30 minutes before taking an intermission. After the break some of his YMR talent took the stage for a surprise set. While the guest performances were presumably intended as added value for the ticket holders, Allan Cubas, Lil Twist, and Yaj Kader where not well received at all.
Soon after the lukewarm reception Weezy got on the microphone and cut the show short. “We ain’t about to be bending over backwards for these folks,” Lil Wayne said in a clip shared online. “We worked too hard for this sh*t. We worked way too hard. This is my motherf***in’ artist Allan [Cubas], that was [Lil] Twist, that was Yaj [Kader]. We are Young Money. We appreciate y’all time.” After his diatribe they all walked off the stage leaving the crowd shocked, disappointed and very confused. On top of the sudden stopage, fans in attendance claimed the show started almost four hours late.
Naturally fans who saw this go down in person were not happy and quickly expressed their frustration online. “I will never go to another Lil Wayne concert again after he arrived 3.5 hours late then performed for 30 had intermission put his new artist to perform then came out and canceled the rest of the concert because the crowd wasn’t hype enough for his new artist.” one Twitter user reported.
Neither Lil Wayne nor Live Nation have formally commented on the matter.
Photo: Gary Miller
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It feels like with every passing generation of Hip-Hoppers, the OG’s always say “rap isn’t what it used to be” as new artists take the game to different levels. In tonight’s episode of Uncensored, Lil Wayne will be touching on the current state of the rap game and how it differs from when he reigned supreme.
In a brand new clip for TV One’s Uncensored series, as spotted on NewsOne, Lil Wayne sits down with another iconic Hip-Hop artist, Missy Elliott, and in it explains how different and more difficult it was for a music artist to break out during his heyday than it is today.
“Where it’s at today… it makes me appreciate who I am and the time I came in and how different it was and how harder it was when I came. Therefore, all those today, they respect and also understand it’s nowhere near as difficult as it was and hopefully they respect it… It shows that I come from a different time.”
He’s not lying. Spending more than two decades in the rap game, Weezy has seen the game go from artists begging record executives to release their material to artists simply putting a song online and watching it go viral overnight without the help of anyone in an office.
Check out some clips of Lil Wayne’s interview with Missy below, and let us know if you’ll be checking for the season finale of UNCENSORED in the comments section below.
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Source: Capcom / Street Fighter 6 x Lil Wayne
Now this makes all the sense in the world.
On 4/20, the official smokers’ holiday, Lil Wayne will host an upcoming Street Fighter 6 presentation that Capcom says will be the final look at the highly anticipated fighting game before its June 2 release.
The presentation will not only feature the rapper. The game’s developers will also join him, and they will share more details on Street Fighter 6’s World Tour, Battle Hub, and Fighting Ground modes.
Capcom also boasts there will be some “big news” at the end of the 30-minute presentation, and we wonder precisely what it could be.
Barring a huge leak, Capcom has steadily released news about Street Fighter 6’s lineup of characters, old and new, the new game modes, and its better graphics, a direct result of moving to Capcom’s RE Engine.
As for Lil Wayne, this is not the first time for him in the video game space. Weezy, who is a big fan of skateboarding was a playable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5.
He also teamed up with Ubisoft for Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s “Squad Up” commercial spot. Street Fighter 6 also reuintes Lil Wayne with Capcom, the Japanese video game company was the sponsor of the Lil Wayne vs. Drake concert tour which used a dedicated Street Fighter theme in the marketing for the concert, tour merchandise and stage choreography.
We have a strong feeling Lil Wayne will have something to do with Street Fighter 6 when it launches.
You can watch the announcement trailer below.
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Photo: Capcom / Street Fighter 6
Billboard / VIBE’s 50 Greatest Rappers of All-Time list continues to spark debate amongst fans and rappers on social media, and now Lil Wayne has chimed in.
The rapper, who came in at No. 7 on the list, told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 this week that he could’ve topped the list. “Man, who the hell is before me? Was the list including all hip-hop, like before and after as well?” he asked. “I can deal with that. I will tell you that I am a motherf—ing one. Everybody whose names you named, they also know I’m number one. Go ask ’em. They know what it is.”
He later discussed his own impact as a force in hip-hop. “Honestly, I would say… there is a point where you look around and you’re like I’m not even sure if anyone’s coming down this road with me,” Wayne revealed. “Any direction I go into, it’s always inspired. Therefore I never feel alone because I always have the inspiration. Inspiration grows and I work with people that love to see growth. I’m fortunate to have these people around me. The last tour I got off was with Blink-182. At the end of the day I find myself at the country music awards and doing tours with Blink 182. There’s not a lot of rappers in this position who can say they’ve done that. I stand alone on that mountain.”
See Billboard‘s full list of the 50 greatest rappers here.
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Drake and his team are coming with a new project just in time for Super Bowl Sunday. They have announced an OVO x NFL capsule collection.
As spotted on High Snobiety the Canada based brand has unveiled some new pieces as part of a football forward drop. On Thursday, February 2 released what seems to be their most extensive capsule yet with officially licensed product bearing the likeness of some of the National Football League’s most popular clubs including Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, and Las Vegas Raiders.
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Included in this team inspired collection are varsity jackets, t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, mock neck sweaters, long sleeve shirts, crewneck sweaters, sweat pants, and neck gaiters. Additionally, we also get a collectible in the form of a Riddell mini helmet that is housed in a plastic case. As expected we get co-branding throughout every product with OVO logo and the respective team’s marks.
For the launch of the capsule Drake and company tapped into some of his favorite collaborators including Lil Wayne and Benny The Butcher. Naturally, Weezy is outfitted in all Green Bay Packers pieces while Benny is sporting all Buffalo Bills merch. The OVO x NFL capsule collection is available now and can be shopped here.
Source: OVO / OVO
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Drake and the NFL are joining forces for a fashion collaboration just in time for game day. The sporty collab between the football league and the Canadian rapper’s October’s Very Own lifestyle brand was announced Tuesday (Jan. 31) and will debut later this week.
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Drake tapped his Young Money boss Lil Wayne and fellow rapper Benny the Butcher to star in the campaign, which features OVO x NFL co-branded hoodies, varsity jackets and tees. The limited collection launches this Friday, Feb. 3, at NFLshop.com, NFLShop.ca and in OVO stores and online at octobersveryown.com.
Weezy, a proud Green Bay Packers fan, represents his favorite team in a green varsity jacket in one photo and green hoodie in another. Ditto for Benny who sports Buffalo Bills gear in honor of his hometown team.
Lil Wayne
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Underscoring the partnership’s Canadian roots, Canadian NFL players Jevon Holland, a safety for the Miami Dolphins, and Neville Gallimore, a defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, will showcase the campaign across their respective social media platforms.
Other teams featured in the collection include the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams.
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News of the NFL x OVO capsule collection comes one week after the league unveiled its merch collab with Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty brand and sporting goods giant Mitchell & Ness.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will face off in this year’s Super Bowl scheduled for next Sunday, Feb. 12, at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
Chris Stapleton will sing the national anthem, Babyface is singing “America the Beautiful,” Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and Rihanna is taking over the halftime show. Super Bowl LVII airs on Fox at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. Want to catch the action in person? Click here to buy tickets to the Super Bowl.
Lil Wayne Rewards 150 Students With ‘Weezy Christmas’ Party Rapper Lil Wayne is spreading some holiday cheer with his latest initiative. The 40-year-old teamed up with fellow Young Money mate Mack Maine and threw a celebration for 150 high-achieving students at a Dave & Busters in New Orleans. Lil Wayne & Mack Maine Host 150 […]