The conversation around Lil Wayne not being picked to perform at the 2025 Super Bowl continues to grow, partially due to Weezy having had his fingers crossed for the opportunity for a while.
As the world now knows, Kendrick Lamar was tapped to perform at the upcoming 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, and many of Weezy’s fans and peers are expressing their disappointment at the NFL’s pick. Lil Wayne hasn’t yet responded to the pandemonium, but Nicki Minaj, Birdman, Juvenile, Master P, Cam’ron, Boosie BadAzz and Wayne’s longtime engineer are just a few of the people speaking out in protest.
The conversation also erupted online, with various clips from past interviews showing that Wayne had an emphatic interest in performing at the Super Bowl.
“I will not lie to you, I have not got a call,” Wayne said around the 23-minute mark during an interview with YG’s 4HUNNID podcast in February. The clip can be seen below. “But we all praying, we keeping our fingers crossed. I’m working hard. I’m going to make sure this next album and everything I do is killer, so I’m going make it very hard for them to…I want to just make it hard for them not to highlight the boy.”
He also spoke about it back in 2023 in an interview with Taylor Rooks. When asked how badly he wanted to hear his name chosen as the 2025 Super Bowl halftime performer, Weezy said he wanted the opportunity badly.
“Just as bad as I wanted to see my name at the top of that list when I was at whatever I was and I bust into the office and get that Billboard magazine,” Wayne said. He added that stepping onto the halftime show stage would equate the feeling of stepping onto the Grammy stage, and explained why it was important to pick someone from New Orleans to perform.
“That’s because there’s so many people that’s not from the city there,” Wayne said. “So, it’s a showcase, and it’s something that tourists take back with them. Everybody not coming from an American city. People are coming from another country. They’re gonna remember that…I believe that I’m a part of the New Orleans showcase.”
As these clips made the rounds online, artists and fans alike began to shift the blame on Jay-Z for not picking Tunechi to perform in his hometown as Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is the NFL’s live music stratagist. Some artists, including Nicki Minaj, appeared to accuse Hov of intentionally omitting Weezy from the opportunity.
However, the blame might not totally fall on Jay’s shoulders. In January, an article published on the website SportsCasting noted multiple factors come into play when the NFL considers who should perform at the halftime show. Those factors include, “popularity, music genre, and the artists’ overall performance value” since the show draws in more than 100 million viewers. The article also notes that the host cities have the final say when it comes to who steps on that stage. After that, the NFL speaks with corporate sponsors to see if the chosen act will be the right fit.
So, perhaps the disappointed Wayne fans should turn their attention on the Big Easy instead of on Hov and the NFL, and question why Weezy’s own city didn’t give the green light to let Tunechi take the 2025 Super Bowl stage. Either way, Lil Wayne is likely a little disheartened by the news.
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Watch Lil Wayne speak about wanting to perform at the Super Bowl below.