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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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Rihanna is staying loyal to Kendrick Lamar and hyping him up before he headlines the Super Bowl halftime show next year. Entertainment Tonight‘s Kevin Frazier asked the Fenty mogul in an interview published Thursday (Oct. 24) her thoughts about the “Not Like Us” hitmaker taking over the stage during the big game. “It’s a diamond […]
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.
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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.
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It looks like the culture will continue to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The NFL have announced they have extended their deal with Roc Nation to curate the festivities.
As spotted on Yahoo! Entertainment, the National Football League will continue their partnership with Jay-Z to curate their biggest event of the year. As exclusively reported by Bloomberg News, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell disclosed the deal saying the partnership is “mutually positive” while attending the annual owners meeting in Atlanta. “I’m not sure either one of us really spend much time talking about contracts. Jay is happy” he said. “Desiree Perez is happy. I’m happy, so we’re all good.”
Back in 2019, the NFL signed the original deal with Roc Nation to curate the Halftime Show festivities. According to ESPN, the original contract was for about $25 million over a five-year term. In addition to choosing the talent, Roc Nation also assisted in the league’s commitment to social justice via their Inspire Change program. Since then, the Super Bowl has featured some of the culture’s biggest and brightest stars. In 2022, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Eminem took the stage. Rihanna headlined the show in 2023, and Usher took the baton earlier this year.
Kendrick Lamar has been chosen as the headliner for Super Bowl LIX. It is set to take place on Feb. 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La.
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The Drake and Kendrick Lamar storyline refuses to die down. Champagne Papi’s camp has denied trying to block K Dot from performing “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl.
Last week, music executive Wack 100 made a wild claim that Drake was attempting to limit what songs the Compton, California, rapper could perform during his halftime set. “He’s trying to get the NFL to restrict Kendrick,” Wack explained. When pressed further on whether he thinks the request would be honored by the league he replied, “No, if Jay-Z got something to do with it, it ain’t.” As with most of his claims Wack’s statement soon went viral. Page Six has now exclusively reported that Drake’s camp has refuted the rumor with one of his representatives simply saying it’s “not true.” Another unnamed source tells the celebrity gossip site “There was never any intention or plan to send a cease and desist to anyone.”
Last month, the National Football League revealed Kendrick Lamar as the Super Bowl LIX halftime show performer. Given the game is taking place in New Orleans the announcement was met with a lot criticism, with many crying foul that Lil Wayne should have been given that slot. Since then, show producer Jesse Collins confirmed that Jay-Z chooses the headliner, which further added to the speculation that there was a conspiracy against Weezy. Days later, Lil Wayne revealed that he was hurt by the snub but was humbled by all the support he received from his fans and peers.
Super Bowl LIX takes place on Feb., 9 2025 at Caesars Superdome. You hear Wack 100 discuss Drake and the Super Bowl below.
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When it was announced that Kendrick Lamar would be headlining the next Super Bowl Halftime show in New Orleans, much of the Hip-Hop community was up in arms over the snub of Lil Wayne as many felt that the rap icon deserved to provide the entertainment segment of the big game in his hometown.
Interestingly enough, many of those screaming bloody murder turned out to be Drake fans who were still salty that the 6 Gawd took the massive L in his classic rap battle with Kung Fu Kenny and felt that Jay-Z was hating on Young Money artists in general with his choice. As it turns out it seems like Drake was actually given the opportunity to perform at a couple of Super Bowls over the years but turned the offer down each time.
In a recent interview on The Pivot Podcast, Steve Stoute touched on the topic of the artists chosen to perform at the Super Bowl during Jay-Z’s tenure with the NFL and revealed that though Hova and Drizzy have a small rivalry going on, Jay did offer the King of the North the opportunity to headline the big game not once, but twice, but Drake didn’t have any interest in taking on the task.
“I will confirm Drake was offered the Super Bowl twice. Drake did turn down the Super Bowl twice. And I’m sure if Drake would have said yes, he would have brought Lil Wayne out at some point,” Stoute said. “He probably would have brought out Nicki. Which is probably why she’s upset ’cause she’s not onstage. But Drake turned it down twice… He turned it down twice, which is fine. He didn’t want to do it. But nobody’s going to say, ‘Damn, why’d you turn it down? You could’ve got Lil Wayne on.’ Nobody’s going to connect that dot.”
Well, so much for that.
Drake headlining the Super Bowl would’ve been huge especially before the entire Kendrick Lamar rap battle that left him licking his wounds North of the border. Still, we’re sure he had his reasons as to why he didn’t want to accept the gig, and that’s his business.
As for people trying to slander Jay-Z for the acts he’s chosen over the years such as Rihanna and Usher, Steve Stoute isn’t here for the criticism Jay has to put up with as he feels that the rap legend is doing what someone in his position is supposed to do when having that much say-so in a board room.
“As far as I’m concerned, these artists are getting their flowers, and are getting their chance to perform on this stage — these Black artists, Hip-Hop and R&B artists — if it wasn’t for [Jay-Z], this wouldn’t be happening. So how could you come down and criticize this man like that?”
In the age of social media, nothing is ever good enough for everyone anymore. Just sayin’.
Check out Steve Stoute talk about the Super Bowl situation below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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After much speculation, we now know who chose Kendrick Lamar for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The show’s producer confirmed it was Jay-Z’s decision.
As spotted on Rap-Up, the culture now has better clarity on how the Compton, California, talent became the Super Bowl LIX headliner. This week, Variety spoke to event producer Jesse Collins, and the entertainment executive provided more context regarding the decision and why was Lil Wayne not chosen to perform in his hometown. “We love Wayne,” he said. “There’s always Vegas odds on who’s going to get to perform it. But I think we’re going to do an amazing show with Kendrick, and I think everybody’s going to love the halftime show. I know Kendrick is going to work exceptionally hard to deliver an amazing show.”
Collins went on to say that HOV ultimately gave the greenlight to book K. Dot. “It’s a decision that Jay makes. Since we’ve been on board with that show, he’s made it every year, and it’s been amazing. He’s always picked right,” he added. Soon after the announcement confirming that the “Not Like Us” MC would take the slot there was an outcry questioning why Lil Wayne was not chosen to perform. Days later, Weezy released a video revealing that he was hurt by the snub, but the outcry of support was humbling.
“It broke me, and I’m just trying to put me back together,” he explained. “But my God, have you all helped me. Thanks to all of my peers, my friends, my family, my homies on the sports television and everybody repping me. I really appreciate that, I really do. 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.”
Super Bowl LIX will be taking place Sunday, Feb. 9, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Much has been made about Kendrick Lamar’s selection as the headlining performer at the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, but 50 Cent thinks it’s K. Dot’s time to shine. 50 stopped by The Talk on Friday (Sept. 13), where he defended K. Dot being the right pick to take the Super Bowl LIX stage in […]
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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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It’s still Young Angel and Young Lion. The Young Money ties are running deep, as Drake has shown support for Lil Wayne after some in the hip-hop community were outraged Weezy was overlooked for Kendrick Lamar to headline the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show next year. The 6 God posted a series of photos of […]