Birdman and Lil Wayne have had their disputes over the years, and one of them included the former being frustrated with Weezy for always trying to mimic JAY-Z.
In a sprawling interview with Rolling Stone, Lil Wayne reflected back on the 15th anniversary of Tha Carter III and his career as a whole, and when asked what rappers are in his playlist he simply said “no one.” His reasoning was he learned early on that having a favorite rapper means you will inevitably try to mimic them without realizing it.
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“When it comes to rap, I don’t listen to no one,” Wayne said. “I just don’t have time to, because I’m trying to get better every day. I tell my own artist that, too. When you find a favorite artist, you’re going to start sounding like them.”
He went on: “It took Birdman and them to pull my ass aside and be like, ‘Bro, I’m tired of every song you doing sounding like damn JAY-Z. You’re not JAY-Z.'”
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Despite this sound advice, Birdman and Lil Wayne’s relationship has been very contentious over the years. Weezy filed suit against his Cash Money label head back in 2015 over the continuous delay of Tha Carter V. The lawsuit dragged on for many years, and by 2018, Birdman told Apple Music their legal battle had become so bad it was starting to affect their families.
“It’s just so many parts to it, but I’m not gon’ let it just lay like that,” Birdman said at the time. “Not even … I ain’t worrying about it benefiting me. He deserve that from me, and I’m gonna give him that. We gotta get this shit together ’cause it’s affecting our kids. And that’s not cool at all.”
The pair finally settled their dispute later that year.
Elsewhere in his interview with Rolling Stone, Wayne said despite Tha Carter III being 15 years old, he hardly remembers the project.
“I’m going to be so honest with you: I don’t know Tha Carter III, Tha Carter II, Tha Carter I from Tha Carter IV. And that’s just my God’s honest truth,” he admitted. “You could lie, you could ask me [about] such and such song, I wouldn’t even know what we talking about. So it holds no significance to me at all.”
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Currently, Weezy is hard at work on ColleGrove 2 with 2 Chainz, Tha Carter VI and I Am Not a Human Being III. He also recently wrapped up his Welcome to Tha Carter Tour, where he performed at smaller venues to offer fans a more personal concert experience.
