"Wayne has peaked" — Joe Budden explains why Lil Wayne might never have "the world in the palm of his hands" as a rapper again

Joe Budden and his fellow co-hosts on The Joe Budden Podcast discussed Lil Wayne's career in their recent episode as the rapper prepares to release his upcoming album, Tha Carter VI. The hosts had mixed reviews about the rapper's career, with some claiming that he had reached his peak and others arguing that he could reclaim his place as one of the most formidable rappers of his generation.

During the March 16 episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, podcast co-host QueenzFlip asked his fellow panelists their opinion about whether Lil Wayne could evolve in his career or if the rapper has already reached his peak. Budden replied with:

"The answer to your question is yes Wayne has peaked."

Budden then explained his reasoning, adding that he didn't doubt the rapper's ability. However, he stated that, in his opinion, Lil Wayne lost the ability to "have the world in the palm of his hand" as he once did due to a myriad of factors that boiled down to presentation, adaptation, and song-making skills.

"That is the ability to rap for rappers of this echelon. The other stuff, your song-making ability, your chorus-making ability, how you come off, how you're presenting yourself, how you understand, how you adapt, all of those other things that you have to have to have the world in the palm of your hands like he did at one point, as you age, that goes away. I think it's natural."

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Joe Budden claimed the world has seen the "absolute best" of Lil Wayne

During the discussion surrounding Lil Wayne's career, Joe Budden claimed that the Orlando rapper had already given his "absolute best" to the world. He continued that while Wayne's rhyming could better itself over the years, the world may never experience the height of his career that occurred due to several factors being in sync at "that moment in time."

"I don't think y'all even have a foundation to lay this argument on. Wayne, we can safely say, we have seen the absolute best of. I don't give a f**k if his rhyming improves for the next five and 10 years," Budden said.

The podcast host continued:

"That moment in time where what he's doing what's in sync with what the people backing him is doing is in sync with what the fans are receiving him in sync with making his best music, songs, choruses, performances, Billboard. That has happened already."

While fellow panelist Officially Ice argued that Lil Wayne might not be trying to have the "world in the palm of his hands" now because he lost the hunger he had when he was younger, Budden retorted that that was an indicator that Weezy peaked. This was countered by Ice and QueenzFlip, claiming that Wayne could regain that hunger when needed, to which Budden replied that he hadn't witnessed that yet.

Budden also continued that he was not questioning the rapper's ability; instead, he wondered why Lil Wayne was not doing whatever he could to get back to where he used to be in his career.

Budden also praised rappers like Lil Wayne and Rick Ross for persisting with their careers despite facing health issues at the time, adding that he thought Wayne's "magnum opus" was either Tha Carter II or Tha Carter III.

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In other news, Lil Wayne's upcoming album, Tha Carter VI, the sixth installment of his long-running Tha Carter series, is scheduled for release on June 6, 2025. This marks the rapper's first solo project since his 2020 LP Funeral.