The one Lil Wayne lyric Eminem wishes he wrote: “Why didn’t I think of that?”
If Eminem publicly expresses jealousy over one of your lyrics, you know you’re on to a good one. It’s high praise that few have ever received, but Lil Wayne can count himself as one of the privileged few. Em highlighted one of Wayne’s lines on social media in 2023, before pondering, very publicly, why he hadn’t been able to think up something like that first.
The line that Eminem was talking about came from ‘Brand New,’ a song by YG and Tyga that Wayne featured on. It was a single from YG and Tyga’s collaborative album, Hit Me When U Leave the Klub: The Playlist, which also featured a contribution from an all-time great in the form of Busta Rhymes. But it was Wayne who most captured Eminem’s attention.
Wayne’s verse was typical of his usual style. But it was this line that Em loved best: “Yeah, brand new money, brand new hundreds / Got a bunch of zeros like a bag of new Funyuns.” That may not sound like the most eloquent turn of phrase to ever appear in a rap song, but Em seemed to absolutely love it. Perhaps there was something in its vivid simplicity that struck him as especially clever?
Taking to X after he heard it, Eminem posted, “Bro Wayne just said ‘got a bunch of zeros like a bag of new Funyuns!!’ FUCK why didn’t I think of that????” It seems remarkable that of all lines to impress Em, one of the greatest, wittiest lyricists of his generation, if not the very best, it was this Funyun one that drove him to so visibly express such admiration and friendly envy.
To be fair, the words are imbued with a lot more life when Wayne delivers them in his own inimitable manner. Scanning a line about an onion-flavoured ringed corn snack is hardly like reading Shakespeare, but hearing one of the great living rappers spit the reference is another thing entirely. Eminem, himself notably gifted at dropping the odd vividly creative metaphor, recognised this immediately.
Given their shared admiration for one another, it is perhaps a surprise that Eminem and Lil Wayne haven’t worked together a little more often. Em worked on Wayne’s track ‘Drop the World’ in 2010, while Wayne showed up Eminem’s ‘No Love’ a little later. They also both appeared on the 2009 single ‘Forever,’ along with Drake and Kanye West. Indeed, it was perhaps this experience that sheds some light on why Wayne and Em haven’t collaborated more over the years. Wayne was nervous about it.
Speaking with The New York Times in 2023, Wayne noted that he had been jittery that first time he worked with Em on ‘Forever.’ “I was scared, actually, when I called Eminem for a song,” he admitted. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t done it a little more?
Praising Emimen’s mastery of words and rapping, he went on, “That is a monster. He must have the same thing I have with words. Like, we can’t get them out of our heads. Every meaning, every aspect of them. Things that rhyme, we hear it. I already know the gift and the curse that he has. And I love to hear the way he puts it together.”
Wayne ultimately managed to perform on ‘Forever,’ and Eminem was sufficiently impressed to work with him again after that. Plus, as that tweet about Wayne’s Funyun line proves, Em is clearly a fan of what his contemporary does. Perhaps Wayne can feel more confident with Eminem’s attention now, and, maybe, another collaboration will eventually arise?