Lil Wayne is speaking out about his past efforts to secure a Super Bowl halftime show performance—and why he’s done trying.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the rap legend revealed that he had been in serious talks to perform at this year’s halftime show, which ultimately went to Kendrick Lamar. During negotiations, Wayne said the NFL wanted him to adopt a more public-facing image.
“To perform, there’s a bunch of things they tell you to do and not do—asses to kiss and not kiss,” Wayne explained. “If you noticed, I was suddenly a part of things I’ve never done before. Like [Michael] Rubin’s all-white parties. I’m doing stuff with Tom Brady. That was all for that. You’ve never seen me in those types of venues. I ain’t Drake. I’m not out there smiling everywhere. I’m in the stu’, smoking and recording.”
When Kendrick landed the gig, Wayne said the NFL reached out with an apology, claiming the league wasn’t actually in charge of the final decision.
“All of a sudden, according to them, they got curved. So now I just have to settle with whatever they say,” he said, clearly frustrated with how it played out.
Wayne also addressed recent headlines about him performing Kendrick’s diss track “Not Like Us” at a show.
He downplayed any suggestion of tension, insisting there was no intended slight toward Kendrick—or any awareness of the ongoing feud with Drake.
“I went onstage and I was singing the song, and they thought I was dissing,” Wayne said. “I ain’t want my dude to be mad at me. I didn’t even know it was Kendrick! If it don’t happen on this channel or FS1, I wouldn’t even know it happened.”
As for Kendrick’s halftime performance? Wayne admitted he didn’t watch it.
“Every time I looked, there was nothing that made me want to go inside and see what was going on,” he said.
He wrapped the topic by making it clear he has no intention of trying again: “They stole that feeling. I don’t want to do it. It was perfect.”
Source: Rolling Stone
