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Drake has seemingly sided with Nicki Minaj after the latter's online tirade against Jay-Z for picking Kendrick Lamar over Lil Wayne to headline the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show.
In a series of X posts on September 9, Minaj argued that Wayne should be the one headlining the halftime show as the event was scheduled in his hometown of New Orleans. One of the X (formerly Twitter) posts read:
"And btw, you don’t know the half of what lil Wayne has done for me & others. Wayne had drake & I on his tour w/no papers signed. He was on all of my mixtapes w/no papers signed. This man has literally changed the FACE of hip hop. The hair too. IYKYK."
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It further read:
"He inspired so many to tat their faces & get locks. Inspired your faves to wanna be a great MC. he never was in this for the money. It’s always been for the love of music."
The X post was reposted on Instagram by internet personality DJ Akademiks. Drake was one of the many people who liked the post. Lil Wayne, Drizzy, and Nicki Minaj ran in the same circles, with the latter two signed to Wayne's Young Money Entertainment record label when they started their careers.
Drake's liking Minaj's post on Instagram spurned a wave of mixed responses. People commented that the rapper finally took a stance in the situation involving his mentor Wayne and his rival Kendrick Lamar. One person tweeted:
Many agreed with this sentiment, adding that liking a social media post hardly counted as support.
"That's what support means to you people? He couldn't say a single word? Post that on his own Insta? A like on a guy who always speaks ill of Nicki Minaj suddenly thats where he thrives?" one person questioned.
"That’s it? Not even a repost on his story or retweet? Mind you Akademiks be talking bad about Nicki," another person added.
"They need to revoke his canadian citizenship i can’t do this anymore," another person commented.
"Yall should be embarrassed to even post this.. unless yall tryna show how unsupportive he is," another X user said.
However, others welcomed his support, saying a like was the most they would get from the Canadian rapper.
"Y’all know that man ain’t gonna say nothing to mess up his bag. This the most we getting from him!" one person wrote.
"Drake giving us a particle of salt..I’ll take it," another person added.
"OMG DRAKE FINALLY DOING SOMETHING YESSSS GAGGG !!!!" another netizen wrote.
Drake posted a series of Lil Wayne photos on his Instagram stories
While Drake's actions may not seem extremely vocal, he quietly supported Lil Wayne from the sidelines. On September 10, the Canadian rapper posted Lil Wayne's photos on his Instagram stories, in what many assume was a show of support for Wayne.
Many of Wayne's supporters, including Nicki Minaj and Birdman, were in an uproar after it was revealed that Kendrick Lamar would headline the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show. Like Minaj, many felt it was allegedly disrespectful to Wayne to host an event in his hometown and invite Lamar to headline it instead of him.
Minaj also called out Jay-Z, the founder of Roc Nation which is set to host the performance along with Apple Music. She accused the rapper of snubbing Wayne to punish her, Drake, and Birdman. On September 9, Minaj wrote on X:
"Denying a young black man what he rightfully put into this game for no other reason but your ego. Your hatred for BIRDMAN, Drake & Nicki got you punishing Lil Wayne?!?!!! LIL WAYNE!!!!!!!!!! THE GOAT?!!!!!!!!!!! Nola what’s good?!!!!!!"
It further read:
"Eminem stood firm on having 50Cent come out. A white man. Shit sad. House N****R TINGZ. but it’s GOOD FI DEM!!!!!!! No loyalty ? Welp. then n****z will keep son’ing you!!!!!" the X post read.
Many people pointed out that the Super Bowl never invites artists from that city to headline the halftime show, citing examples of various singers who performed in other places.
On September 8, 2024, Kenrick Lamar revealed that he would be headlining the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show. The performance will be held at New Orleans' Caesars Superdome on February 9, 2025. It is unclear if other artists will join Lamar on stage.
The Alright rapper has had a successful year, starting with his high-octane diss battle with Drake. The feud saw the former gaining massive popularity on the music charts with the release of his hit track Not Like Us. Lamar also united the West Coast with his pop-out show on Juneteenth, where he performed most of his Drizzy diss tracks.
