The Shady Truth About Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne is one of the most influential rappers in history. He’s helped shape the way the new generation of rappers look and sound. Before becoming one of the biggest commercial giants in the industry, Wayne revolutionized the art of the mixtape. He’s been open about his battles with mental health and helped countless fans better enjoy their lives. Now in his fourth decade in hip hop, Wayne is easily one of the greatest to ever do it. If he isn’t one of your favorite rappers, he’s one of your favorite rapper’s favorite rappers.

But Wayne’s career hasn’t been all flowers and celebration. The music star has been involved with controversies, scandals, and drama. He’s been accused of misrepresenting groups and called out for glorifying inappropriate lifestyles. To figure out what stories have real substance to them and which are just good headlines, we decided to scour the details and separate the rumors from reality. Weezy’s lived an extraordinary life that cannot necessarily be judged under ordinary circumstances, but we’re going to try. 

Here is the shady truth about Lil Wayne.

Lil Wayne and his Bloods affiliation

A generation of rap fans sees Lil Wayne as one of the most recognizable members of the Bloods. He’s rapped about the gang in “5 Star,” “Blood Walk,” “I’m Blooded,” and “Soo Woo,” spoke about it in interviews, and brandished its colors. “I’m connected to this motherf**king flag right here,” Wayne told Nightline in 2016, while pointing to his red bandana. “I’m connected. I’m a gangbanger, man.” 

But some in the rap game have doubted his authenticity. In an interview with VladTV, battle rapper Daylyt explained Weezy’s gang origin as he knew it. “Wayne’s not out here doing anything, he’s just ‘a Blood,'” he said, before adding of Wayne’s record label, “Cash Money, everybody’s cool, nobody’s Bloodin’ and Crippin’ … Randomly, Cash Money signs Mack 10. Mack 10’s a Blood, and now everybody from Cash Money’s Bloods.” Rapper and Crip member 40 Glocc once confronted Wayne about his claims. “These n***as be wolfin’ all that Blood s**t and dissin’ Crips,” he told Hip Hop Weekly (via HipHopDX). “Lil Wayne started gang bangin’ at twenty-somethin’?” According to the late Nipsey Hustle, Wayne’s gang affiliations never quite added up: “I feel like it’s fraudulent. You wasn’t put on to this s**t. You wasn’t courted on … You not from a gang.” 

In the 2009 documentary, Crips and Bloods: Made In America, Wayne himself cast doubt, saying, “I’m not from L.A. I don’t know too much about the Bloods and Crips. All I know is that it’s not a good thing.”

Lil Wayne's presidential endorsement was not so picture perfect

In the days leading up to the 2020 election, Lil Wayne shocked fans when he tweeted out what appeared to be an endorsement of President Donald Trump. “Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump,” he captioned a snapshot of the two. “Besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership. He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done.”

Throughout his career, Trump has had a rollercoaster relationship with the hip hop world. Despite being dubbed “the true hip-hop president” due to his name appearing in over 300 songs, The Telegraph reports that many of the industry’s biggest artists were at odds with Trump, including Jay-Z, Nipsey Hustle, and Eminem. Many felt that Weezy’s endorsement was an unneeded distraction, ignorant of the former president’s history of hurtful and racist rhetoric and controversies. 50 Cent, who had only recently walked back on his own public support of Trump, was among the numerous voices who rose up against Wayne’s endorsement. “Oh no,” he tweeted. “WAYNE, I WOULD HAVE NEVER TOOK THIS PICTURE.” 

Yet, some believed the Louisiana rapper had a bigger purpose for meeting with Trump. “We thought he was getting jumped like checkers, but he was playing chess the whole time,” Boosie Badazz tolf VladTV. “… Wayne, that little motherf**ka’s smart.” (More on why below.)

Lil Wayne ain't got time

Lil Wayne has a long and complicated legal history that dates as far back as 2007. According to MTV News, in July of that year, Wayne took the stage in New York as a headliner for the first time in his career. “I just went through the worst f**kin’ feelin’ ever with y’all police,” he told the crowd after getting frisked by cops upon entering the venue. “This may be one of the only times you see me because of how they treated me.” 

As Wayne’s tour bus pulled away from the venue after the show, those same police alleged that they smelled marijuana smoke coming from the vehicle and pulled it over. On the bus, authorities found a bag with a gun stashed inside. Despite initially denying the gun was his, Weezy eventually pleaded guilty to gun possession and was sentenced to one year in prison in 2009, serving eight months. The rapper was also arrested in Arizona in 2008 for drug possession, for which he would receive three years’ probation while he was serving his sentence. Between his 2010 release from Rikers Island and 2019, Wayne was free of any charges.

But in December 2019, he was again arrested for possession of a firearm, and due to his priors, he faced up to 10 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to the federal charge a year later, but luckily, he had friends in high places. On Jan. 20, 2021, during his last day in office, former President Trump granted Wayne a full pardon.

Lil Wayne faced backlash over his comments on racism

As one of the most successful artists in the country, Lil Wayne is often asked to respond to the issues facing Black Americans. Time and again, the rapper has admitted to being disconnected from the realities faced by so many of his fans — and many have a hard time with this fact. This troublesome truth came to light during an appearance on Undisputed in 2016, when Wayne was asked about Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem.

“I have no opinion on it, because I’m not into it enough to even give an opinion,” he said. “When he did it … somebody had to tell me why he was doing it. That’s how much I didn’t know what was going on.” Weezy was then pressed about his personal experiences with racism in America. “I have never, and never is a strong word, [but I have] never dealt with racism,” the rapper claimed, before saying that his loyal white fans, in some way, seemed to suggest that “there was no such thing as racism.”

While later speaking with Nightline, Wayne was asked to address the backlash he received for these comments, as well as his thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement. “It just sounds weird,” he said. “… I don’t feel connected to a damn thing that ain’t got nothin’ to do with me. If you do, you’re crazy.” Wayne abruptly ended the interview by saying, “I ain’t no f**king politician.”

Lil Wayne's family influence

For much of his life growing up in New Orleans, Lil Wayne never had a truly stable father figure. He told Katie Couric in 2009 that he “dropped the ‘D'” from his birth name, because it was also his father’s name. “He’s not in my life, and he’s never been in my life, so I don’t want to be Dwayne,” he explained. “I’d rather be Wayne.” When asked if his father knew that, Weezy smiled, “He knows now.” 

The rapper previously told Vibe (via Exclaim) that his stepfather, Reginald “Rabbit” McDonald, was the first person he considered to be a father. “Rabbit was the first dude who came in and really try to be cool with me. It was natural for Rabbit to come, chill and kick it with me,” Wayne said. However, seeing his stepfather, a street hustler, working was what helped usher him into that lifestyle. “I was on the edge of doing it,” he revealed in another interview (via Exclaim). “But when he came in as a father figure, and he was doing it, that was my excuse.” 

Tragically, not long after being released from prison for gun possession charges in 1996, Rabbit was shot and killed. “He got kidnapped at a club,” his cousin, Tiffany Jones, told The Wall Street Journal. “They shot him and threw his body right out of the car.” At the time, Wayne was just 14.

The truth about Lil Wayne and his drank

The origins of the drug beverage, lean (a mixture of cough syrup and a soft drink), dates back to the Houston blues scene — long before Lil Wayne was even born. According to The Guardian, lean, also known as drank or syrup, was popularized by DJ Screw. But it was Wayne who helped move it into the mainstream language. When speaking about Weezy’s cultural impact, rapper Bernard Jabs told Complex in 2018, “Wayne the most influential rapper of all time. He was the first rapper and person I ever saw with a face tat, now everybody got one. He was the first rapper I heard using Auto-tune, now everybody use it. He was one of the main pioneers for lean and pills, now everybody on it.”

Wayne’s popularity, his attractive style, and his unabashed love of lean introduced it to a new generation. “I don’t want to be known as the innovator of syrup,” he said in his 2011 Public Service Announcement, while holding his iconic doubled-up cups. “… It didn’t come from me. It came from beyond me.” Yet, even Weezy seems to acknowledge that he may have had something to do with its growth in popularity. “This ain’t something to do because it’s cool,” he added. “… When I picked it up, y’all ain’t know what it was. Y’all just thought he was walking around with two white cups.”

Inside Lil Wayne's complicated health history

In March 2013, the hip hop world was stunned by the news that Lil Wayne had been admitted to the ICU at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after experiencing several seizures. TMZ reported that the rapper had been stabilized and released, only to suffer another bout of seizures. Per the outlet, Weezy had reportedly gone on a “Sizzurp binge” after his initial release, which led to his stomach being pumped multiple times. According to the reports, “One of his bodyguards found him in his room, on the floor and unconscious. Wayne was rushed to the hospital again, but this time he did not stabilize. He was taken to ICU, where he was placed in restraints because he was shaking uncontrollably.” 

In a Power 106 interview after he recovered, Wayne claimed that the seizures were caused by epilepsy. “The bad news is I’m an epileptic. I’m prone to seizures,” he explained (via NME). “Like, this isn’t my first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh seizure. I’ve had a bunch of seizures, y’all just never hear about them.” Yet, during a later interview with Katie Couric that September, Wayne suggested that, aside from fainting once as a child — which may have actually been a seizure — he hadn’t had another before these incidents. It turns out that the seizures may have been caused by lean withdrawals, pain medication, or both. The rapper claimed to have followed his doctor’s (and mother’s) orders to officially quit, but has unfortunately continued to battle epilepsy.

Lil Wayne's disturbing experience with sexual assault

In the unauthorized documentary, The Carter, Lil Wayne discussed the disturbing circumstances of his first sexual encounter. While speaking to a 15-year-old boy in his entourage named Twist, who was still a virgin, the rapper appeared to brag about losing his virginity at 11. “I got raped when I was 11, Twist,” he said, but then added with a smile, “I loved it. And I ain’t never press charges.” Briefly explaining that he was pressured into the encounter by mentor Bryan “Birdman/Baby” Williams and his friends, Wayne told Twist, “I’mma do you like Baby and them did me,” and claimed why losing his virginity was important: “It ain’t cause you a male. It ain’t cause you 15 … You’re supposed to, because you’re Young Money.”

During a 2009 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, however, Wayne described the night a little differently. When the TV host asked about him losing his virginity, the rapper explained, “The girl was older than me, and she cut the lights off. I don’t know what happened.” As Weezy shared more details, the crowd shockingly hooted and hollered, and he added, “She was like 14.” But after Kimmel asked if it affected him negatively as he got older, Wayne admitted, “It did, yeah.”

If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit RAINN.org for additional resources.

Lil Wayne vs. Baby

Bryan “Birdman/Baby” Williams was the founder of Cash Money Records, and took Lil Wayne and other rappers under his wing when they were very young. “After his daddy got killed, Baby took on that role of a father figure,” rapper Turk said of Wayne and Baby in an interview with VladTV. For more than 20 years, Weezy and Baby were inseparable, but as Wayne’s highly-anticipated album, Tha Carter V, approached, a major rift became visible.

In December 2014, Weezer tweeted, “To all my fans, I want u to know that my album won’t and hasn’t been released bekuz Baby & Cash Money Rec. refuse to release it.” He later added, “I am a prisoner and so is my creativity.” The next month, TMZ reported that Wayne had filed a $51 million lawsuit to extricate himself from the contract, which was eventually settled out of court. In March 2015, Wayne took verbal shots at Baby in “Young Money Cypher: Next Up,” rapping, “I sang ‘Dear Mama’ to my dear mama / And sang ‘Hit Em Up’ to my daddy’s b**ch ass.”

That April, the ongoing feud took a violent turn, when Wayne’s tour bus was shot at in Atlanta. Jimmy Carlton Winfrey was later arrested for the shooting and was accused of having a connection to Baby. Though Baby reportedly denied the allegations, evidence of calls between the two men may exist. According to TMZ, Winfrey’s original 20-year sentence was reduced to seven years after a plea deal.

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