The Super Bowl is coming to New Orleans this year, but don't expect to see hometown hero Lil Wayne on stage. After it was revealed that Compton MC Kendrick Lamar would headline the halftime show, some fans and fellow rappers expressed outrage that Wayne was left out of the concert. Now the rapper himself is speaking.
In a video posted on social media, Wayne first thanked fans for their support before expressing his disappointment with the result.
“That hurt. It hurt a lot,” he said. “I blame myself because I wasn't mentally prepared for a letdown and I automatically mentally put myself in that situation, as if someone told me that this was my situation. I thought there was nothing better than that place, that stage, that platform. It's my my city, so it really hurt.”
He went on to say that fans lifted him out of a dark place.
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“I felt sad that I didn't get that opportunity,” he said. “And when I felt like s…
Still, Wayne said the situation is “broken. And I'm just trying to put it back together.” He also expressed that “I let you all down by not getting this opportunity. But I'm working on me and I'm working.”
The decision to cast Kendrick Lamar over Wayne comes months after Lamar had a high-profile beef with Wayne protege Drake, and the pair traded barbs back in the spring. Other rappers under the Young Money/Cash Money umbrella, including Nicki Minaj and Birdman, have sided with Wayne and feuded with JAY-Z, whose Roc Nation company manages the Super Bowl halftime show. Still, others pointed to Wayne's recent lackluster performance and Lamar's high-profile commercial success this year in defense of the pick.
See his full message below:
A message from him @LilTunechi pic.twitter.com/fBOEPbQrda
— Young Money (@youngmoneymerch) September 13, 2024