Lil Wayne’s absence, per Cam, “is egregious.”
Cam’ron and Mase kicked off the week with their thoughts on Kendrick Lamar recently being announced as the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show performer.
Indeed, as seen in the final minutes of the latest episode of their It Is What It Is podcast with Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson, Kendrick’s post-beef confirmation of the highly coveted spurred both praise for Kendrick and some questions about the absence of Lil Wayne. Michael Irvin, a guest on this episode, first shared his take on Kendrick being selected as the 2025 headliner, telling the hosts this is an example of “the NFL trying to tell you these other leagues are not like them.” From there, Mase called this a “great opportunity” for Kendrick and company to recreate the experience of this June’s The Pop Out show in Inglewood, California.
“I think that would really be crazy,” Mase said. “If you really wanna make a statement, Kendrick, bring The Pop Out out on stage. Bring every California artist that was at that show. I thought that was phenomenal.”
It was Cam’s turn next, at which point Weezy’s undeniable legacy, not to mention his deep connection to his hometown of New Orleans, was brought up. Throughout his remarks, as well as in Mase’s follow-up comments, great care was taken to not call out anyone by name, though it’s arguably quite obvious who they seem to be referencing. Speculation, of course, points to Jay-Z, whose Roc Nation has a partnership with the NFL.
“Listen, I love Kendrick Lamar,” Cam said. “I love The Pop Out. I think he’s one of the top artists of this generation. Period. Hate the selection. It’s in New Orleans. You don’t get Lil Wayne? That’s what we doing?”
Cam noted the volume of not only Weezy’s solo catalog, but also his long history of collaborations that could also be represented in a halftime show setting, including his collaboration with Skiba era blink-182, i.e. their 2019 tour-commemorating “What’s My Age Again?” and “A Milli” mashup.
“We don’t get Lil Wayne in New Orleans for the Super Bowl?” Cam asked. “Not just Hot Boys, Cash Money. All the songs Lil Wayne’s done, whether it’s blink-182 [or others]. There’s no reason why Lil Wayne should not be performing at the Super Bowl. There’s one person who’s stopping this. It’s not really a secret. Lil Wayne had a problem with somebody before who’s kind of part of the organization running it. This is payback. Who’s Lil Wayne’s artist? Drake.”
Weezy and HOV’s complicated history is well-documented, though more recent developments have made it seem as though all is quite well between the two. Still, Cam and Mase both appear to be convinced that, at least on one side of things, certain issues may still be actively informing decisions.
“Lil Wayne not to be performing in New Orleans for the Super Bowl is egregious,” Cam said a bit deeper toward the end of the new podcast episode, adding that Kendrick is an artist who does “deserve” such a stage, though he suspects there’s “some backstory shit going on” that prevented Weezy from being part of the announcement.
“Hating at this age is crazy,” Mase said several times during the discussion, which eventually saw Cam bringing up what he and his co-host both strongly hinted as being another HOV-related move. Namely, this year’s edition of Fanatics Fest in New York City was mentioned. As fans know, Jay was reported back in 2021 to be among the investors behind the Michael Rubin-founded company.