Lil Wayne didn’t know Jay-Z and Kanye West made an album: “What’s that?”
It’s no secret that Lil Wayne doesn’t pay attention to new music. However, it is a surprise that he didn’t know Jay-Z and Kanye West dropped an album together.
Jay and Kanye collaborated in 2011 to release Watch the Throne, an album that topped the Billboard 200 chart and produced hit singles such as ‘N*ggas in Paris’ and ‘Otis’. But Wayne claims he didn’t know the album existed.
The New Orleans rapper recently sat down with Rolling Stone, during which Watch the Throne was mentioned. “What’s that?” Wayne asked. When told it was Jay and Kanye’s joint project, he replied, “They did an album?”
This isn’t the first time Wayne has been oblivious to hip-hop music. In 2016, he was asked whether 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Yachty motivated him, but he didn’t know who they were. “I swear to God I didn’t know you were saying people’s names just now, so that should probably answer that question,” he told The New York Times. “I just do my own thing.”
Then, on an episode of The Bumbu Room in 2019, he revealed the only rap music he listens to is himself and Tech N9ne.
“I listen to music that’s not hip-hop all the time because I don’t listen to no other hip-hop than my damn self,” he said. “Anita Baker, you got Keith Sweat, you got Marvin Gaye, you got Bob Marley. You got Tech N9ne, if you wanna call that hip-hop then. You got Judas Priest. You got Lamb of God. Nirvana, Blink-182. Name it, you got it from me.”
“The new hip-hop that crosses my ears is lovely, awesome. All the names of music I just told you I listen to — like it’s impossible for me not to love every type of music. The new hip-hop, I love it. I love that it’s actually changed. Back in the G, you had to spit your heart out. Now, it’s changed.”
He added, “It’s just make something that it’s cool to hear. We don’t have to listen to it. Listening is different than hearing. When we hear, we like it. It’s all good. It makes it easier for me.”