Lil Wayne Says He’s 'Hurt' After Not Getting Super Bowl Halftime Show Opportunity in New Orleans: 'It Broke Me'
"I thought there was nothing better than that stage and that platform for my city," Weezy told fans.
Lil Wayne has spoken out after not being given the honor of headlining next February’s Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in his hometown of New Orleans.
In an Instagram address overnight, Weezy, who had publicly expressed his desire to land the coveted gig in the months leading up to Roc Nation’s announcement that Kendrick Lamar would instead be headlining the Caesars Superdome performance, expressed effusive gratitude for everyone who has been vocal with their support in recent days. As we’ve reported at length, numerous artists, many of them also from New Orleans, have been understandably frustrated over the news, especially considering the unique opportunity this particular Super Bowl represented to showcase someone who is no doubt perfectly representative of the Louisiana city’s impact on music at large.
"First of all, I wanna say forgive me for the delay," Weezy said on IG early Friday. "I wanna say, first of all, I had to get strength. I had to get strength enough to do this without breaking. I wanna say thank you. I wanna say thank you to every voice, every opinion, all the care, all the love and the support out there. Your words turned into arms and held me up when I tried to fall back. That hurt. Hurt a lot. You know what I’m talking about. It hurt a whole lot."
Weezy continued, "I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown and for just automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position. So I blame myself for that."
According to Wayne, he previously "thought there was nothing better than that stage and that platform my city," though he’s now working to move forward. Doing so is possible, he added, in large part due to the public support he’s received from so many of his peers and longtime fans alike.
"It hurt a lot," he said. "But y’all are fucking amazing. It made me feel like shit not getting this opportunity and when I felt like shit you guys reminded me that I ain’t shit without y’all. That’s an amazing reality. So like I said, it broke me and I’m just trying to put me back together. But my God have you all helped. Thanks to all my peers, my friends, my family, my homies on sports television, everybody repping me. I really appreciate that. I really do. I feel like I let all of y’all down by not getting that opportunity but I’m working on me and I’m working. Thank you."
As Wayne himself pointed out in his IG address, he’s got plenty on his plate for the foreseeable future. His Lil’ WeezyAna Fest returns to New Orleans in November, complete with a hotly anticipated Hot Boys reunion. We also have the next entry in Tha Carter franchise on the horizon.
