Lil Wayne certified himself as the reigning king of hip-hop with the release of his latest opus, Tha Carter IV, which is nearing 1.4 million as of press time.
In celebration of his status as one of the biggest, if not the biggest in hip-hop, the rapper has been revealed as the cover artist for Vibe’s upcoming October/November issue.
“For VIBE’s October/November issue we wanted to explore the heart of an artist and the mind of the man who knows how to do nothing but defend and protect his craftsmanship,” said Vibe. “With 20 years in the game, 365 days spent in jail, and millions sold off the shelf, Weezy F. Baby is still winning.”
In the upcoming coverstory, Weezy talks about everything from how he views himself, his peers and even Young Money first lady, Nicki Minaj.
Below are excerpts, from Vibe.com. The full story will drop in the issue which hits newsstands this October.
WAYNE ON JAY-Z AND “THE OLD GUYS”
“There’s no competition [with any artists]. Music isn’t about competition no more. All the gangster rappers are happy, all the skateboard rappers are happy, all the white rappers are happy… Everybody just happy to do music these days. There are no problems. That shit died a long time ago with them old-ass rappers. We are just making music, making money and having fun feeding our families. Competition is for the old guys.”
VIBE: You say competition is for the “old guys,” but it sounds like you’re going at Jay-Z with that line, “I got your baby money/Kidnap your bitch, get that how-much-you-love-your-lady money.” Are we looking at it the wrong way?
LIL WAYNE: I know for a fact, music is about perception. You can’t do anything but perceive what you hear. If I know that for a fact, I can never be upset about someone’s reaction to it. I’m not gonna say I don’t know what will happen before I say it [on record]. I do know what will happen. I am aware of it. It is what it is.
VIBE: So you knew the repercussions of going after Jay before anything even happened?
LIL WAYNE: Well, I’m a man. I believe as a man you should know that. Every man should know the repercussions and consequences behind whatever they do before they do it. And of course, I know there won’t be any repercussions behind what I did.
WAYNE ON LOOKING AT DRAKE AS COMPETITION:
VIBE: You mentioned how humbled you were at the success of “She Will.” Drake, who wrote and performs the song’s chorus, has now become a platinum star in his own right. Do you look at the guy and say, “Wow, I helped create a monster, I have to stay on my toes”?
LIL WAYNE: I don’t look at it like that. Drake is my artist. If he wasn’t my artist, then yeah maybe. But that’s my artist. He’s not [just] a friend. We’re more than friends. It’s business. It would be impossible for it to be a competition. I mean, I’m the guy’s boss.