Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter is getting ready to host his Uproar Festival at the L.A. Coliseum today (August 13). As part of the promotion for the event, the New Orleans-bred rhymer took part in a rare interview.
The Los Angeles Times spoke to Lil Wayne about Uproar and a range of other subjects. Wayne’s highly-publicized endorsement of 2020 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was brought up during the conversation.
When asked if he felt like progress was actually possible with Trump, Lil Wayne simply replied, “Progress is always possible.” The 38-year-old Young Money founder also claimed he did not receive any pushback for his association with Trump, a divisive politician many critics called racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic.
Then-President Donald Trump pardoned Lil Wayne for a pending federal gun charge at the very end of his first term in office. There was speculation the endorsement presented in October 2020 was part of a deal for Trump’s pardon in January 2021.
However, Trump-connected lawyer Bradford Cohen claimed the clemency was the result of a supposed personal connection between Lil Wayne and the former POTUS. Cohen said, “[Trump’s] got a style that’s similar in terms of the way that he carries himself, and a lot of rappers and people in the industry relate to that.”
The Los Angeles Times article also covered Lil Wayne’s thoughts on DaBaby’s homophobic comments at the Rolling Loud Miami festival in July. At first, Wayne told the reporter he has not kept up with the weeks-long controversy that led to DaBaby losing multiple performance gigs and other business opportunities.
After being informed that DaBaby was facing online cancelation because of what he said about people living with HIV/AIDS and the LGBT community, Lil Wayne responded, “You know how it does. The spotlight on artists and celebrities is absolutely crazy. You don’t even have to be a celebrity. Even normal people can feel like they’re wrong because their 200 followers said something. But that’s the power of social media today.”