Louisiana emcee Lil Wayne is often cited as one of the best rappers ever. He arguably shaped the current generation of artists with his music in the mid-2000s and continues to remain relevant. Always performing guest verses and appearing on projects, the rhymer (real name Dwayne Carter) is still a sought-after talent.
Having been in the music business since the late-1990s, Lil Wayne has seen the culture grow and has done some exceptional things. From the founding of Young Money to his Apple Music Radio station and skatewear clothing line, Carter has done it all. However, there are many artists and hip-hop moguls he admires both lyrically and musically.
Akin to all fans of rap music, Wayne’s list jumps around from time to time due to the abundance of talent in the culture. Last year, During an interview with Fox Sports on the What’s Wright? With Nick Wright podcast, the New Orleans entertainer was asked to name his top five rappers.
On that occasion, the top spot went to none other than the legendary Missy Elliot. When asked why, he declared, “For me, it’s always going to be first, Missy Elliott. She’s a huge influence on everything I’ve ever done.”
However, over the years, Wayne has cited a plethora of different names as sources of influence. From Southern artists such as Pimp C and Bun B to the Goodie Mob, but when in conversation with the former NFL All-Pro player Marcellus Wiley on his More To It podcast Wayne named a familiar name.”
When asked by Wiley which emcee he believes is the greatest ever, Wayne confidently asserted, “The greatest rapper of all time is Shawn ‘JAY-Z’ Carter.” The Louisiana act then proceeded to make an analogy so the NFL player could understand.
Explaining why Jay-Z is the greatest ever, Wayne stated, “When you do this rapping thing, obviously like football, every sport is different. You play hockey, I’m sure they got something that they only know about. Something that they probably can’t explain, but only they know. That thing in rap, that we only know in rap, he has that. He’s the Tom Brady of that.”
Listen to Lil Wayne speaking about Jay-Z’s superiority below.