Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The Joint Venture is the weekly sports, music, and entertainment podcast hosted by Grammy Award-winning rap icon Lil Wayne and Sports Talk Radio Hall of Famer Craig Carton.
What started as a genuine friendship has become one of the most entertaining conversations in sports and pop culture. Every week, Lil Wayne and Craig Carton bring their unique perspectives together for unfiltered discussions that blend sports, hip-hop, music, entertainment, and the stories making headlines. With their natural chemistry, quick wit, and honest opinions, no topic is off limits.
Whether they’re breaking down the biggest moments in the NFL, NBA, college sports, boxing, or the music industry, reacting to viral moments, debating hot takes, or sharing behind-the-scenes stories from their careers, Wayne and Craig deliver the kind of conversation that feels like you’re hanging out with two friends who have seen it all—and aren’t afraid to say what they really think.
Each episode features celebrity guests, professional athletes, musicians, coaches, entertainers, and industry insiders who bring fresh perspectives and unforgettable stories. From championship moments and locker-room conversations to life on tour, career-defining decisions, entrepreneurship, fatherhood, creativity, and the business behind sports and entertainment, every guest adds something new to the conversation.
Fans can expect honest sports commentary, candid interviews, funny stories, unexpected debates, and the kind of authentic conversations that happen when two people from completely different worlds genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Whether they’re discussing the latest games, the biggest names in music, trending topics, current events, or moments that simply make them laugh, The Joint Venture never takes itself too seriously.
If you love sports podcasts, hip-hop podcasts, celebrity interviews, music conversations, pop culture, comedy, or simply listening to great personalities having real conversations, The Joint Venture belongs in your weekly rotation.
New episodes drop every week with fresh guests, new stories, bold opinions, and plenty of surprises. Follow The Joint Venture on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts, and never miss an episode.
[01:00:00] Craig Carton: Your son's been out there doing this thing with Kanye's daughter, it's the most recent thing. What's it like for you seeing your son get following your footsteps? Rumors are that you and Drake have unreleased material that you've done together. Is there any truth to that rumor? It was 17 years ago where you discovered, arguably the greatest female rapper of all time, Nicki Minaj. So when you call her, do you remember the phone call? Yeah.
[01:00:33] Matt Friend: You're one of the best musicians in history. You have the song Lollipop. Robin loves lollipop, right? So who's licked your lollopop the best out of all the celebrities you've met? Who's it gonna be? Who gives the best blowjob at Hollywood?
[01:00:47] Lil Wayne: I actually spoke about it on the song before, and then I thought I hadn't met the person that was the best lollipopper.
[01:00:56] Matt Friend: Right, and who was that?
[01:00:57] Lil Wayne: And but actually I've met someone else and I said that on the song that this person is better than the person who I thought was the best lollipop.
[01:01:06] Matt Friend: Talking about.
[01:01:07] Craig Carton: He had to go into his discography now. I like that. Yeah, that was good. That's what I was talking about.
[01:01:12] Matt Friend: Do you even know who Lil Wayne is, if I'm being honest? This seems like more of a DJ Khaled crowd, okay? Khaled grew up with me. Did he really?
[01:01:20] Craig Carton: By the way, tell them the story about the records.
[01:01:21] Lil Wayne: He was a DJ in a record store, so he actually worked the register as well. But on Thursdays, the owner would let him spend. So he would DJ, that would cause a big crowd there and almost be like a small concert. And so he was there when I met Birdman for the first time when I got my deal. He was there.
[01:01:42] Matt Friend: It's unbelievable.
[01:01:43] Craig Carton: Can you imagine DJ Khaled spinning in a record store as Wayne becomes a star?
[01:01:48] Matt Friend: Wish jokes worked like his music like I wish I could do a new impression or a joke that another one and then move on To the next piece. That's great I'd like to announce my name too before like mad friend Mitch McConnell another one like that would be Exactly, you know, I can't do that. I don't rap though. That I wish that's why he does what he does Comedians want to be rappers and musicians. I think I think there's a synergy that I think a lot of musicians Tiffany Addish She's amazing. Yeah
[01:02:14] Lil Wayne: She told me this exact same thing. She said, well, I ain't not listening to you a lot. She's like, you're like one of the funniest comedians I know. I thought I wasn't sure if it was a compliment. No, thank you. You are. And she was like, no, for real, we're not a lot, she's like I listen to your shit. She's you're just a comedian, you make it rhyme. That's how I started rapping. Really? Yeah, so I started raping because I wanted to entertain the people that was in my grandmother's living room. They weren't, obviously, they weren't not only were they not of. Obviously not of my age range, but they also weren't the generation above me, they were a generation above that.
[01:02:47] Matt Friend: So you got an appreciation for the old.
[01:02:49] Lil Wayne: Yeah, exactly. So I had to start to like what I want to him personally So you have to like, you know, you have like it learn to like it or love if you end up loving it Then you know exactly what you're doing
[01:02:59] Craig Carton: Was there one particular rap group or rapper that you liked?
[01:03:03] Lil Wayne: When I first, first, started, it was a rapper in New Orleans, it was local rapper, his name was Pimp Daddy. So I was a sharp kid, of course, so I called myself Shrimp Daddy. And he had a song called Gotta Be Real. So I named mine, You Gotta Be Lil. Pimp daddy. So it was funny, you get it? But I was serious, every lyric I wrote with, but every person that heard it would be like, it's so cute.
[01:03:27] Craig Carton: How old were you?
[01:03:28] Lil Wayne: I was a good whopping ten.
[01:03:31] Matt Friend: That is crazy. That's how it starts. Like you want to entertain your family and those around you. That's exactly. It's insane.
[01:03:38] Lil Wayne: YOU PERFORM-
[01:03:39] Craig Carton: I'm not SNL, but...
[01:03:40] Lil Wayne: I did, but I actually did that for the anniversary, I performed for the anniversa-
[01:03:43] Craig Carton: there for the 50th anniversary. What's it like as a performer doing SNL?
[01:03:49] Lil Wayne: First of all, it's a privilege, and it's an honor. So, and also the main thing, you just don't want to mess up. You want to make sure it's one of your best performances ever. So I was more focused on, the first time I ever did, I was focused on the performance. Then got a chance to be involved in one of the skits and all that, then once you get a chance to do that, obviously you're not even worrying about your performance no more. You focused on that, you want to get that right. But as soon as I got there... So, I mean, every person that laid their eyes on me, you could tell that they were just trying to make me feel super comfortable. Everybody joked with me. And so by the time I got on, I was joking, having fun. You were? Yeah. And also, when I did it, Pete Davis was on it. OK. He was there and he had just like broke up with Ariana Grande. She just broke up in him. Right. And so I had to write a rap for him about that. And so, it was really good.
[01:04:42] Craig Carton: That's funny. So it's funny for someone who's lived his whole life on the stage when you now get into a skit Your belly starts going a little bit right because you don't mess it up
[01:04:50] Lil Wayne: And I can say the reason for that is not because it's a skit, and not because I'm used to performing or doing music, it's because it Saturday night, that's why.
[01:05:01] Craig Carton: Because if you do mess up, you can't get.
[01:05:03] Lil Wayne: Because you don't want to mess up because it's Saturday Night Live.
[01:05:07] Craig Carton: Yeah, what did you ever ask them? Hey, put me in a skit or that
[01:05:10] Lil Wayne: not at all actually when I was told that I'd be a part of a skit I was like I had to make sure like you sure you know like you shouldn't want me to be a part of that and once I found out it was true I was beyond happy how was the cue card guy
[01:05:24] Lil Wayne: Yeah
[01:05:26] Lil Wayne: It was cool because he actually was he would come and ask me because I wrote the rap right so he had came and asked me Did I get that right that part right here?
[01:05:33] Craig Carton: You gotta write down your words.
[01:05:34] Lil Wayne: He is, he is.
[01:05:35] Craig Carton: Which, by the way, is a good way to remember the words. Where's the weirdest place you wrote a song? Like, it's not always in the studio, I imagine, right?
[01:05:43] Lil Wayne: No, I don't You don't write more right? Yeah, but I'm a scenery the scenery matters to me. So Snowy mountains the mountains with destiny because I'm from New Orleans. I've never seen it I thought it didn't exist in reality. Really? I didn't think those buildings were that big in New York till I got there so my scenery is the snowy mountain snowy Mountain peak
[01:06:06] Craig Carton: That motivates you?
[01:06:07] Lil Wayne: Like creatively. It makes my mind go to places where it's not just the norm.
[01:06:11] Craig Carton: Really? That's fascinating. So you go to Lake Tahoe?
[01:06:14] Lil Wayne: I make it up a place, but I go to Colorado a lot. I just go by, I go by Unc. You see Dion? Yeah.
[01:06:22] Craig Carton: And you'll hang out there and for whatever reason the snowy mountains
[01:06:25] Lil Wayne: I spent about two weeks in a nice hotel with a great view. Wow.
[01:06:31] Craig Carton: I never knew that about you.
[01:06:33] Lil Wayne: That's, and I put you in the right mindset. I just love where my mind goes when I'm there because I don't, you don't think about the, my mind don't go to the cliche. Right. Because I'm not seeing what I'm used to seeing.
[01:06:44] Craig Carton: Right, totally out of your experience in life growing up, you never saw snow or mountains like that. I never knew that. That's awesome. What's the biggest hit you did based on the snowy mountains?
[01:06:57] Lil Wayne: I've written whole albums there. In two weeks? That's amazing.
[01:07:04] Craig Carton: If you had to take a wild guess, how many songs do you have that you have not released?
[01:07:10] Lil Wayne: Oh man, that would be in the millions, Greg. I'm sorry? It would be into millions.
[01:07:14] Craig Carton: In the millions? Yes. It's like Prince.
[01:07:18] Lil Wayne: I have a lot of unreleased Prince music too. Really? Yeah.
[01:07:23] Craig Carton: Wow.
[01:07:24] Lil Wayne: It was a gift from Faye. Yeah, it was a give, like his catalog.
[01:07:28] Craig Carton: Of unreleased print songs.
[01:07:31] Lil Wayne: I was the first person off of the second season of Masked Singer. I was first contestant off of that.
[01:07:40] Craig Carton: Yeah, what song did you sing? I'm a singer
[01:07:43] Lil Wayne: They only play the song that they show for television, but you sing like three songs.
[01:07:47] Craig Carton: Oh is that right?
[01:07:47] Lil Wayne: Yes, I sung like a skater boy from, I think it was like an Avril Lavigne song. I sung a Cyndi Lauper song. Okay. I killed that one. Yeah, you did. Girls just want to have fun. That's the one, that's exactly what I sung. You killed it? Yeah, I killed it. They just loved the whole choice and everything. Lenny Kravitz though, I didn't kill that one, I don't think it, it was something like, you know, like to Lenny.
[01:08:11] Craig Carton: Do you get to pick the songs on that or they tell you what you say?
[01:08:14] Lil Wayne: They give you, you know, you give them an array of songs, but they also give you an idea of songs as well.
[01:08:20] Craig Carton: Is it frequent that you walk around the house singing Cyndi opera songs?
[01:08:23] Lil Wayne: No, that was one of their ideas and I thought it was dope, so I just chose that one.
[01:08:28] Craig Carton: I've been trying to get Wayne to rap to it's rainy men, but he refuses to do
[01:08:33] Lil Wayne: Damn, and difficult. It's difficult.
[01:08:38] Craig Carton: I think we settled on my way, right?
[01:08:40] Lil Wayne: Yeah
[01:08:40] Craig Carton: Is that the song you're eventually going to try to do?
[01:08:42] Lil Wayne: Yeah, but I thought I had I got an idea for the one that you want. I mean if I could pull it off, then I'm a bad muf-
[01:08:48] Craig Carton: You're gonna do Rainy Man?
[01:08:49] Lil Wayne: I ain't say I'm going to do it, Craig. I say I got an idea and if I could pull it off.
[01:08:53] Craig Carton: Yeah, but I also know how you work once you get an idea
[01:08:56] Lil Wayne: You're gonna do it! I appreciate that, yeah.
[01:08:58] Craig Carton: I know how it works, you're nonstop work 24-7. Well, the fact that you got fired from Masked Singer, maybe you can relate, because you essentially got fired on TV, right? Because you don't advance in the show.
[01:09:11] Lil Wayne: And my mom was so pissed. Was she? She was so mad.
[01:09:15] Craig Carton: Did she know it was you, like when you dressed up and that thing, she knew which character you were and all that?
[01:09:19] Lil Wayne: Uh, she didn't know. She didn't, and also I didn't tell her that I was going to be on the show, but it was the very first show that came on after the Super Bowl.
[01:09:26] Craig Carton: It was a big episode.
[01:09:27] Lil Wayne: Yeah, so it was the first episode of season two, so I kind of told the whole family some weird stuff like, man, I really like that. Y'all never saw that show, that Madden's single show? It come on right after Super Bowl, but I really, really like, that show is so, like check that show out. I figured it out and had everybody watching and it was super obvious, like you have to be some kind of involved with this, you're asking us to watch. And they figured it all out, like within two seconds, my son called me like, Dad, that's you!
[01:09:57] Craig Carton: I noticed in the last couple of weeks, your sons went out there doing this thing with Kanye's daughter, it's the most recent thing. How did that thing come about?
[01:10:05] Lil Wayne: Man you'd have to ask him man for real for you actually for real really just hit me up one day Like that I gotta come to LA to shoot video and I was like cool we're never like but he shoots videos like every day so I was and so what's the Significance of coming you just want to get some LA content, right? He was like nah I have to do a single with What no less I like will and when he told me I was I man when'd you get that done and then that's when people start talking to me about it like
[01:10:31] Lil Wayne: Man, I heard the song with, I said, like, okay, yeah.
[01:10:34] Craig Carton: So it was all behind your back? No, it was what he had. But you did on.
[01:10:36] Lil Wayne: Yeah, he run his own thing.
[01:10:39] Craig Carton: I know he's also done some stuff with you on stage when you were touring last year. I always wonder what's it like for you seeing your son following your footsteps when you kind of take a back step and he's doing his thing. What's that like for ya?
[01:10:52] Lil Wayne: Man, I can explain it right now. What it exactly is for me is like seeing me. It is no more than that. Every time I back up, because he's my exit when I'm going to take a break and change clothes and stuff. So when he come on and I'm back and I see his silhouette and it just looks like I just put on my younger me. You go and I want to change clothes real quick.
[01:11:16] Craig Carton: By the way, you might be able to use that in the future.
[01:11:18] Lil Wayne: I know.
[01:11:20] Craig Carton: Where's it away now? He's right here.
[01:11:21] Lil Wayne: He's right here, right here. Man, he got young.
[01:11:25] Craig Carton: And his skills are pretty.
[01:11:26] Lil Wayne: Good too man right yeah man yeah I love everything DNA that's what that's why I don't meddle with it
[01:11:32] Craig Carton: You just let him do his thing. Does he run stuff by you like hate pops? What do you think about this?
[01:11:35] Lil Wayne: He definitely don't ask for no approval on how, what do I think about anything. Do you like that? Yeah, he's too confident. You think he might.
[01:11:41] Craig Carton: You think you might ask for a and i think you know that
[01:11:45] Lil Wayne: Not at all. He's way too confident for that.
[01:11:47] Craig Carton: Is it surreal for you watching it? Because the crowd's into it.
[01:11:52] Lil Wayne: That part, that part right there is very surreal. There's been times where, like I told you, that's my moment where I exit. There's times where I'm walking off and then I hear the roar and it doesn't stop me in my tracks. You're like, who's performing? No, I know who. It's just like, wow, he did that. Yeah, so other than that, it's never expected. But it's also not shocking.
[01:12:13] Craig Carton: It's funny, I always said, I don't want my kids, and I have one son who wanted to be a broadcaster, do radio, and I was like, ah, rather you, you're going to finance, make some real money. Did you want him to follow in your footsteps, or is that a thing you wanted him not to do?
[01:12:26] Lil Wayne: I didn't have a decision on if I want him to do it or not do it, but it was also because he started it himself. So because he's started it itself, instead of being exactly super forward, as soon as he started, I gave him. I was like, nah, let me see you do this then.
[01:12:39] Craig Carton: Without you.
[01:12:40] Lil Wayne: Yeah, exactly.
[01:12:40] Craig Carton: And then once he proved that he was committed...
[01:12:42] Lil Wayne: He's committed to it. Hey, whatever, all those things I had asked him and told him to do, he jumped over those so fast. I was like, all right, come on, man, you coming on tour. That's cool, though.
[01:12:51] Craig Carton: Second generation of a car to do it
[01:12:52] Lil Wayne: He might do the card of 15. He might, I hope so. I hope.
[01:12:57] Craig Carton: With musicians, like I remember talking once to Bon Jovi, like Bon Jovo put out a country album. Everybody wanted to hear it. They want to hear Slippery One Way. I'm sure at some level you've experienced it. You're like, I don't want to play Millie again. Like I got new stuff I want you to hear.
[01:13:10] Lil Wayne: I got a different type of album and they actually didn't want to hear it. Yeah, they want to get the songs They want to do what they want. Yeah
[01:13:17] Craig Carton: Like you know, like when you do a song, you know when you're done recording that's gonna be a hit. Yeah
[01:13:21] Lil Wayne: Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, you don't you want to feel that way about everything But it actually takes someone else, you go someone else's ear to say outside area hear it And that wasn't even a part of it and hear it and you see that reaction You want to believe that that's going to be the majority reaction, right?
[01:13:37] Kevin Connolly: And how often do you go, this is the song that everybody's gonna love, and then somebody else, everybody loves another song, and you're like, all right, it's still your song, right? But it's just a different song that.
[01:13:47] Lil Wayne: A lot, so because of it, I don't pick any of my songs or my singles and nothing like that. I leave it to other people. Right.
[01:13:55] Kevin Connolly: But in the back of your head, you're like, this is the one. And then you're, like, oh, shit, they're like.
[01:13:59] Lil Wayne: Yeah, I do be I'll be surprised at times that they end up enjoying. Yeah
[01:14:02] Craig Carton: But I surprises you sometimes.
[01:14:04] Lil Wayne: Yeah, but I it makes me also respect and it'd be a maturity of myself of the knowledge of a friend, right?
[01:14:12] Craig Carton: Because you have to see it that way. Because they're the most important people because they got to buy this stuff, right?
[01:14:18] Lil Wayne: And then you get a message from someone and it'd be exactly about what your little subliminal message was. They hit it on the nose. You're like, wow, you actually really did understand. Okay, I appreciate it.
[01:14:30] Craig Carton: Was the young money door one of the dumb expenses you had when you were 19?
[01:14:34] Lil Wayne: It was a gift. Oh, so you got it? Yeah. After you get off the elevators, it would be just like the elevator door with the YM. That's awesome. Yeah. Before the Yankees sued me.
[01:14:44] Craig Carton: By the Yankee Sioux.
[01:14:45] Lil Wayne: Because I had a YM and they thought it looked too much like the Yankees. They actually sued you over it? They just sent me a cease and tear and I had to stop using it. Oh, you didn't rip it up? No, I stopped using the logo. I just changed my logo.
[01:15:00] Craig Carton: They're so petty
[01:15:01] Lil Wayne: Right back to the legends
[01:15:04] Craig Carton: Yeah, but still, I...
[01:15:04] Lil Wayne: I felt I was you know, I felt more cool again a letter from the Yankees
[01:15:12] Craig Carton: It was 17 years ago, right around this time of year, where you discovered arguably the greatest female rapper of all time, Nicki Minaj. And I always wondered, I know I've heard you tell stories before that you were looking for a new artist assigned to Young Money, but what was it about her that caught your ear 17 years? Like, how did you know?
[01:15:31] Lil Wayne: I really believed that female hip hop came from New York. It had to come from homegrown New York, first of all. Specifically. Specifically, yeah. So I didn't know what I would find. I didn't know if I'd land somebody that already had a name.
[01:15:48] Craig Carton: And what do you do? You put out the word I'm looking for an artist or you just started going to clubs and stuff?
[01:15:52] Lil Wayne: At that time they was doing this thing, they used to do this, they kind of still do it, it's just not popular like that no more because we got so much other things. But they used do like these little rap battles, but they were very popular, you know what I mean? So it was like that, so I could, whenever I, when I wanted to just like look for some talent, that's, it was easier to just, let me check this out, oh man I really like that person, who is that, see who they with. And also those rappers in that battle. Are also approaching that battle, knowing that the eyes and ears will be watching them. So they kind of been, they know they're being scouted as well.
[01:16:28] Craig Carton: That's it's a big moment for the iced he told me story that when he was a west coast i don't get six am some warning right he comes east and no one who was really and at the time there was a big there's a cop shooting in new york and people thought six in the morning was actually
[01:16:42] Lil Wayne: About it, which was it wasn't and then you know the sir
[01:16:46] Craig Carton: And then he goes, I forget the name of the place, who's in like Times Square. And he goes in to prove himself in front of a New York audience. And he met MC Lyte in the back. And she killed it. And he was like, holy shit, she's better than I am.
[01:16:59] Lil Wayne: Mm-hmm.
[01:17:00] Craig Carton: But that's where he cut his stripes. That's where people respected him. He's not just like a West Coast kinda, and his stuff was kinda lollipop stuff early on before he became like hardcore.
[01:17:09] Lil Wayne: Exactly
[01:17:10] Craig Carton: But he tells a similar story about how MC Lyte got discovered. Yeah, so it's similar. So when you walk into a place like that, you have to go incognito, because Little Wayne shows up. It's like, holy shit, Wayne.
[01:17:21] Lil Wayne: That's why I'm saying they were popular, so popular, but they're being filmed and put and being sold on DVDs. Got it. Yeah, so I'm just watching them and then, you know, so just like sports, if you watch the first battle and you'll see who win that one and you see that person keep graduating throughout the event. They're battling this person, that person, this person. And so, you find out if you see or hear something you like, you do.
[01:17:47] Craig Carton: So when you reach out to Nikki, who, I don't even, what's her name, Nicki Minaj at that time? Onika. Okay. She wasn't using a, it's using a real name.
[01:17:55] Lil Wayne: I think she just, no, she's been Nicki Minaj since day one. Got it, okay. Actually, here she is, yeah.
[01:18:01] Craig Carton: So when you call her, do you remember the phone call?
[01:18:03] Lil Wayne: Uh, yeah. It was through the, you know, it was, I think Mac, Mac introduced, like introduced, walked, I think I met all, it it was her, J Mills, that's a kid from, another kid from New York. He was from the band Puffy's Show that was on MTV. They had already put out an album and split and all that by then. So he was a solo artist, but he was known for battle rapping. So much so to where that was Diddy's reason for putting him in the group. Because he felt I need a battle rapper type. Like a legit. Yeah, exactly. And so he had Mills. So once I found out they weren't together and it wasn't a real thing anymore, I snatched him up as well. Got it. Yeah, and so I met him all at once. Just like, you know, this is Mills. This is me and let him know how I feel about him. And what surprised me the most was I didn't expect Nikki to know nothing about us. Cause she's New York. She's New york. You guys in New Orleans. I expected Jake Mills to know cause he's a rapper and he just into rap. I thought, you know, a female from New York ain't even checking for us. Yeah, she was. Also, I thought that, you know, I had New York female friends and they used to tell me that they couldn't listen to my shit because they kind of thought it was lollipop. So then y'all make shake your ass music. That's what they would tell me. Y'all made Dr. Luke music. Right. And I hated that. But they would always put us in that category.
[01:19:23] Craig Carton: They learn their lesson.
[01:19:24] Lil Wayne: And that was also a reason why I rap so much.
[01:19:28] Craig Carton: Because you want to change that narrative.
[01:19:29] Lil Wayne: I didn't want when we do come out I want somebody in the crowd to be like but the little one be really rapping though
[01:19:37] Craig Carton: You were havin' all right.
[01:19:37] Lil Wayne: Always wanted that so
[01:19:39] Craig Carton: The Green Bay Packers, did they ask you to do that theme song you did for them? Yeah. They came to you? And that's an easy yes, right?
[01:19:46] Lil Wayne: Where there wasn't even a car he's got a question
[01:19:49] Craig Carton: Be like, I already wrote it!
[01:19:50] Lil Wayne: Like, come over here, let me know. I actually had already, I was like, what's the subject? SD, I have a specific subject, because if not, I got like a bunch of them in the chamber already.
[01:19:57] Craig Carton: I hate Ben Johnson. What rhymes with Johnson? I need something real quick there. I'm Johnson
[01:20:02] Lil Wayne: They told me it was a Ravel song and all that, so I gave them a go.
[01:20:06] Craig Carton: And congratulations, the biggest game that's coming out of all time, Grand Theft Auto, which is supposed to come out November. I saw the trailer for it and you're the song that starts as we turn the game on.
[01:20:20] Lil Wayne: So thank you, I appreciate it. Someone texted me yesterday about that, and I didn't know what they was talking about.
[01:20:25] Craig Carton: How do you live?
[01:20:26] Lil Wayne: I don't know. Okay.
[01:20:28] Craig Carton: How do you live like you didn't know?
[01:20:31] Lil Wayne: Nah, I didn't know what they were talking about. Oh, you knew the song was in the game. Yeah, I just didn't what they was talking about, like, what the hell I did?
[01:20:40] Craig Carton: How did why do they go count figure? I like how Europeans learn English like I'm sure when you've performed overseas There's people that don't speak a lick of English
[01:20:49] Lil Wayne: but they learn it but they know through your music which has got to be kind of a I know personally one person personally that learned English that way through your music no through music just music in general all music yeah she would specifically listen to music she wouldn't listen to but because she know I'm just learning I'm learning I'm learning yeah so with that said she now has a very very amazing fine ear for music yeah
[01:21:15] Craig Carton: Way too much of you know this, Tyra is a bit of a rapper herself, talking about earlier the athletes who became rappers. Tyra went from movie star, TV star, model of course, and she rapped with some of you very close with the late Kobe Bryant.
[01:21:28] Tyra Banks: I did!
[01:21:29] Craig Carton: Why didn't you do that?
[01:21:30] Tyra Banks: I did a song with kobe bryant i was in my twenties we were at the kids' choice award and he had one for like athlete of the year i'd went from model of the air uh... Season behind me and he's like so time when you do this summer i'm not just a little you know whatever but we're doing he's right i'm i'm cut now i'm gonna be on it
[01:21:53] Lil Wayne: Yeah. Wow. And he made sure you was in there.
[01:21:56] Tyra Banks: And a couple of days later, I was in the studio with him on like Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles going, K-O-B-E-I-L-O V-E U and I think you are very fine if you say so. Do you remember it? I remember it.
[01:22:11] Lil Wayne: I remember it. Do you remember every ass to be beautiful?
[01:22:15] Tyra Banks: I remember so much. I remember him telling me how he wanted me to sound, he wanted me to kind of do my voice like that, you know? I remember we did the music video.
[01:22:23] Craig Carton: I've seen the video.
[01:22:25] Tyra Banks: Oh, there's a video. It was kind of, it was there and then it kind of wasn't. Well, we did a video, but guess who he met? It's awesome. Guess who he meet on the video? His wife.
[01:22:34] Lil Wayne: Wait, what?
[01:22:37] Tyra Banks: She was one of the models.
[01:22:40] Lil Wayne: That is perfect.
[01:22:41] Tyra Banks: On the video.
[01:22:43] Lil Wayne: That's awesome.
[01:22:43] Tyra Banks: And I remember seeing this beautiful girl and kind of him, like, kind of going, mm-hmm, and I was like, mm-hm, you know? Yes, yes, she was on the video.
[01:22:52] Lil Wayne: That's awesome.
[01:22:53] Craig Carton: Did they write your part for you? Did you write it? How did the whole thing come about?
[01:22:56] Tyra Banks: I think it was already happening and maybe there was somebody else that was gonna do it. I'm not sure You know, I don't know we need to figure that out
[01:23:02] Craig Carton: Well, I think when you said to Kobe, I'll be in it, he ain't gonna say no.
[01:23:06] Lil Wayne: But, you know, Kobe was hands-on. He probably had something to do with the verse. He probably helped write the verse and not write it. Right.
[01:23:13] Craig Carton: Well, she's saying that he was very particular about what he wanted. Yes. So even in a game that he wasn't familiar with, the rap game, he was still Kobe Bryant.
[01:23:21] Lil Wayne: He was familiar with it. He did, he rapped a lot. He was super, yeah. He did. Yeah.
[01:23:25] Tyra Banks: And he was in there with like, you know, like coaching me and kind of like how he wanted me to do it. Wow, he really, he wrapped. And then we performed live at the All-Star Game in San Francisco. There was like a team up kids in a whole big arena thing and we performed it live together. It was...
[01:23:42] Tyra Banks: Terrifying!
[01:23:44] Tyra Banks: And I'm not scared of any, I'm scared of like being on camera and stuff, but like to sing live and all over the state. I had a little taste of your life. Did you do in-ears? Um, I did. I was about to say in those places. Yes, so you can hear yourself. So that was weird to me. I know it was. So when did you know that your voice had something special in it?
[01:24:07] Lil Wayne: When it lost the, when I started talking like a baby.
[01:24:12] Tyra Banks: You used to talk like a baby. You know, like-
[01:24:13] Lil Wayne: You know, like, yeah, like everything. Like, every-
[01:24:14] Tyra Banks: I said, bye-bye, Vito.
[01:24:15] Lil Wayne: You know, like every kid, every kid win it when you lose it.
[01:24:19] Tyra Banks: So like, what is that?
[01:24:19] Lil Wayne: I lost it before all of my friends.
[01:24:21] Tyra Banks: Oh, you lost baby before. It was, the gift was in there.
[01:24:26] Lil Wayne: Yeah, and that's because, you know, someone, I think it was my aunt Zelda, she called the house or something, she lived out of town, she live in New Orleans, so her calls, you couldn't miss her calls. So I answered the phone, and she was like, you know, she was, like, who is this? You know, like this is the way. And she was like, oh no, my baby gone.
[01:24:48] Tyra Banks: He gone.
[01:24:48] Lil Wayne: Yeah, she's like, oh my God, your innocence is gone. Why. What is it? What do you mean? She's like no and she explained to me when she saw me later on she's like No, your voice she's liked it. She's liked, you know, you grew up you've grown. She like are you you ain't taking nothing, huh? So when you went through puberty your voice changed, that's when you found but it was
[01:25:08] Tyra Banks: But it was before puberty.
[01:25:08] Lil Wayne: It was before that. Really? Like way before. That's why she said she... That's what she was confused. She asked me first, am I taking something? Because she thought it was creatine. Okay. Yeah. She thought I was taking like, trying to get big or some football. Oh, okay. And that changes. She said that changes your voice. So I was, obviously I was... I don't even know what you were talking about. Yeah. I was like, what? Creatine.
[01:25:28] Tyra Banks: CREA WHAT?
[01:25:28] Lil Wayne: And that's when she was like, okay, from now on, I need you to know that you have a very unique voice. It's up to you to learn how to use it.
[01:25:34] Craig Carton: YOU ALREADY
[01:25:35] Lil Wayne: writing rhymes and poems and performing. Yeah, I started writing that six. You did? Wow.
[01:25:39] Tyra Banks: Wow so you're like a savant. Thanks. Your song How to Love, there's something in that song and in your voice and how you use your voice. Okay. That it's like a warm bath. It's like a massage. I appreciate that. And when I'm stressed and I've been very stressed lately, I put it on and it just takes me there. I feel like I'm in like the Caribbean. Like in warm water and there's no one there and it's just like, it's a bath and soothing.
[01:26:13] Lil Wayne: Ms. Anita Baker told me, yeah, she explained it to me. Really? Yeah, she did. She explained it the same way. Wow.
[01:26:18] Tyra Banks: How? No way!
[01:26:19] Lil Wayne: Yes, she was like, you do know, you know, your voice, you know you got that, and I was like say, you got a, you don't know what that means. And I said, yeah, so my grandmother would call that a battery, but she would point it out in women. Wow. When we're watching television, that was like an old actress, her name was like I think she played the character of Maude. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like 1976. The author? Yeah. Yes. She had a divorce for a woman. She was also being on Golden Girls. Golden Girls, yeah right. Yeah she was.
[01:26:47] Tyra Banks: She was, yeah, she was kind of the tall, she's kind of like the main lead. She had a very deep voice. Yes, yeah.
[01:26:52] Lil Wayne: My grandma pointed out and I was like, girl, I don't sound like that lady, you know, and she was like but you have to learn how to, and so that was my group member who I was in the group with when I was a kid, and I was in a group called the Bee Gees. He became, my mama took me out because I was too young, so he became just Bee Gee, but his voice was like mine, and he was like the hottest artist in the city, and so I learned that, okay, I do, I embrace my voice And I went from there
[01:27:21] Craig Carton: Did it take you a while to get comfortable embracing your voice or was that natural for you?
[01:27:25] Lil Wayne: It was pretty much natural because you have to use it a lot. They want me to rap at school and I was just rapping so much I'm finding different things about myself and about my voice. There was a man named Tim too from Masked Singer.
[01:27:39] Craig Carton: Okay.
[01:27:40] Lil Wayne: Yeah, that helped me out a lot with my voice.
[01:27:42] Craig Carton: Really? Yeah. Ty, you mentioned How to Love. That song resonates with you. Is it the lyrics of it? Is it just the overall vibe of the song?
[01:27:50] Tyra Banks: It's the overall vibe, and then there's certain lyrics every now and then looking over your shoulder, because I know it's about love, but I also find that it's just about trust in general, and so no matter where I am in my life, I hear it in different ways.
[01:28:05] Craig Carton: Right, relationship-wise or job-wise.
[01:28:09] Lil Wayne: Or different types of love, all that kind of stuff.
[01:28:10] Craig Carton: Yeah, I'm gonna read some lyrics for a second. You were here. Why are you over there? It's hard not to stare the way you moving your body like you never had a love never had to love That's more relationship stuff. I'm assuming that that's what resonated with you Yeah, but even to this day all these years later that song just makes you feel good
[01:28:27] Tyra Banks: Exactly, it makes me feel good or like when you're going through something difficult and when you talk about standing in the corner and stuff I think and it's like so I think about isolation and feeling alone and you're Going through something
[01:28:40] Lil Wayne: And when I meet fans that that's their favorite song they always have a different reason right never you know Like oh my god How to love is my favorite song and then they'll tell me why I was going through something I was I used to be I used be overweight and I need and that song got me through I was gone through something in school I was trying to pass the bar and I was about to give up. I mean how love came out
[01:29:04] Craig Carton: So just as an artist, I wonder for you, you've had people come up to you and say, you wrote that song for me. Obviously you didn't. I've heard it. But that's how people process your lyrics that it means so much to them, gets them through a hard spot, makes them feel good. As much as money is great and awards are great, that's gotta be an amazing payoff.
[01:29:22] Lil Wayne: First of all, the amazing pair of us, the opportunity to get to do it. I mean, it's literally a dream come true every single day. And you turn your dream to your quote unquote job, if that makes sense. But that's the overall pair. And then to be recognized, that's a great icing on the cake. Everything else.
[01:29:39] Tyra Banks: So I'm gonna say something. Everybody, where's my camera? Everybody, whether it's your Spotify, your Apple, your Pandora, your whatever, get that song. Like download it, do whatever, and play that song when you're going through something. And whether it is the lyric, or the melody, or his savant voice, it's gonna get you through.
[01:30:02] Craig Carton: I appreciate that. You worked with another savant. You're in the black and white video with Michael Jackson. Oh, yes, that is a very savant video.
[01:30:06] Tyra Banks: Yes, that is another savant. That is a savant!
[01:30:10] Lil Wayne: Wait, wait, you say Black and White, you talking about the song? The song Black and white. I don't remember that. Yes, she's in the video. Which one? The Black and Why video. Wait, what are you talking? What are you doing right now?
[01:30:18] Tyra Banks: Do you remember the morphing when all the faces were changing and it was like the first time it was like super crazy technology because they had never had that. Because they had never had that?
[01:30:25] Lil Wayne: Yeah, because it was like turning everybody, like... I was one of the people. What? How'd that come about?
[01:30:30] Tyra Banks: I was modeling in L.A. And I went on an audition.
[01:30:35] Lil Wayne: See, I was very young when that song came out, and so, excuse my age, I think I was more into the weird El Yankovic.
[01:30:44] Craig Carton: He did versions of Michael Jackson.
[01:30:46] Lil Wayne: It was actually like, instead of I'm bad it was I'm fat. Oh purple, oh green, oh yellow, oh red, oh ant with polka dots on your head.
[01:30:55] Tyra Banks: I didn't know he did another version of that one. I know he didn't eat it and all that, but I didn't know that he did.
[01:31:01] Lil Wayne: I think it may actually be a real rock band song and not weirdo Yankovitch.
[01:31:07] Craig Carton: I'm sure a lot of people covered it, but you just turned Michael Jackson's black and white into a weird- I was a kid. That you know the lyrics. I love weirdos. Well, I was actually very talented.
[01:31:17] Lil Wayne: He's still touring. I was thinking about going check him out.
[01:31:21] Tyra Banks: He should do a, he should do it how to love, like what would that be?
[01:31:23] Lil Wayne: Oh
[01:31:25] Craig Carton: It would be hard to blank on this.
[01:31:27] Tyra Banks: How to show. You might not want that.
[01:31:29] Craig Carton: Obviously you are on stage with a BG who just got engaged and you are in the moment and your fiance was with you in that moment, which is awesome to see her and you together. So Marcus and Trent wants to know Wayne, who would you want to perform at your wedding?
[01:31:46] Lil Wayne: I think, you know, it had to be my first choice, of course, would be Ms. Anita Baker. Yes. I heard that she's getting a bit tired of performing and I wouldn't want to stress her in any way.
[01:31:58] Lil Wayne: And so if not, and I go with peace. What?
[01:32:01] Lil Wayne: Baby face.
[01:32:01] Craig Carton: You can't go wrong with any of them. So you'd want to go with sweet love. I imagine. Right.
[01:32:06] Lil Wayne: You know what? You lead that choice up to the leg.
[01:32:11] Craig Carton: By the way, that'd be weird. Like if someone said to you, Wayne, I want you to perform, but I demand that you play this song, you'd be like, how about you just leave that up to me, right?
[01:32:20] Lil Wayne: Uh, nah, that's happened. Correct. And they demand they, they want certain songs and that, uh, cue it up and give it to them. They write the check.
[01:32:28] Craig Carton: I'll sing that song right
[01:32:30] Lil Wayne: Why sing it five times if you need me to?
[01:32:35] Craig Carton: All right, man. All right. Let me go to question number two. This is from Jalen in Baton Rouge. All right, rumors are that you and Drake have unreleased material that you've done together. Is there any truth to that rumor.
[01:32:51] Lil Wayne: That is beyond true. Just be just about you know, just by us working together and we have a whole bunch of unreleased
[01:32:58] Lil Wayne: I go through stuff every other day. Just going down the drive just going down. I mean going through the files We have music from 2014
[01:33:08] Lil Wayne: in 2015, like stuff, really unheard stuff.
[01:33:12] Craig Carton: Is there any chance you guys would ever release that stuff? Oh, of course. Yeah.
[01:33:16] Lil Wayne: Edit stuff up and when I'm gonna I don't want to use the word boy But when I am doing nothing I edit that stuff up And you send it to his phone so you can hear the new versions of it and get him going
[01:33:26] Craig Carton: Does he ever write back? Let's release that, that thing.
[01:33:29] Lil Wayne: Every time yeah, it does exactly what you write back when we drop in this
[01:33:33] Craig Carton: All right, let's go to question number three. Eminem once said he was jealous of a line you performed about Funyuns. Uh, the line was got a bunch of zeros, like a bag of Funyun's from brand new with you watching Tiger is, has there ever been a line that you're not, you're jealous of, but you heard me like, man, I wish I'd written that.
[01:33:57] Lil Wayne: Plenty times Craig many times as it doesn't even have to be a rap It doesn't have to a rap line. They can just be literally crazy It could be by and you see it just a phrase you see if somebody on the show say is somebody on another So literally it could be just that name if I did not think of that
[01:34:14] Craig Carton: Right.
[01:34:15] Lil Wayne: And but but yes, definitely plenty times and Eminem is he's a usual suspect of that actually
[01:34:22] Craig Carton: Appreciate it's good lines, right?
[01:34:24] Lil Wayne: Yeah, he's a suspect of that. Meaning he has plenty of lines that I would say, say, oh my cow, I do not think of that