Lil Wayne may have been in the game since his 1999 debut album Tha Block Is Hot, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t influenced by other rappers at the time. Wayne has apparently been a fan of Jay-Z’s for a long time and even credits the rapper for influencing his career. In a recent conversation with Lil Baby, Wayne reveals which Jay-Z album influenced his music the most.
Wayne sat down for a chat with Lil Baby as part of Rolling Stone‘s Musicians On Musicians interview series. Throughout the conversation, Wayne opens up about some of his musical influences and named Hov’s fourth studio album as his biggest inspiration:
“Jay-Z, Life And Times Of Shawn Carter, plain and simple. It was the first album where I actually [bought] the car that the rapper was talking about. That was my album. […] Also, Jay talked so crazy. He went bananas on that album. I got lyrics from the album tattooed on me and sh*t. I have songs that are remakes of spinoffs of songs from that album.”
In other Lil Wayne news, it looks like the rapper may be facing prison time. Federal prosecutors brought charges against the rapper last week would could result in the rapper facing up to ten years in federal prison. Apparently, Wayne’s private plane was searched in Miami back in 2019 and police uncovered a gun. While Wayne’s lawyer says he was cleared to leave at the time, but it now looks like prosecutors are following through with a charging him for possession of a firearm and ammunition. His lawyer added that the rapper never “fired it, brandished it, used it or threatened to use it” while on the plane.
Read a snippet of Lil Wayne’s conversation with Lil Baby above.