Nicki Minaj, Birdman and others criticize Jay-Z over Super Bowl halftime show

People close to Lil Wayne are making it clear they're not happy that he wasn't named as the headliner of the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. Nicki Minaj and Birdman both voiced their displeasure at X today over the NFL's (and presumably Jay-Z's) decision to hire Kendrick Lamar to headline the February show. Although they didn't specifically name Jay-Z, who has been involved in producing the Super Bowl halftime shows since 2019, it seems pretty obvious what they're talking about.

Nicki Minaj complained on her account, “Denying a young black man what he rightfully invested in this game for no other reason than your ego. Your hatred for BIRDMAN, Drake and Nicki made you punish Lil Wayne?!?!!! LIL WAYNE!!!!!!!!!!! THE GOAT?!!!!!!!!!!!! Nola what's up?!!!!!! Eminem insisted 50Cent come out.” She also posted, “One nigga kneeled, the other nigga took the sack. He'll get you 'niggas' in line every damn time.”

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In her last post, she referenced the widespread belief that Jay-Z's partnership with the NFL in 2019 was a response to the de facto expulsion of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick from the NFL after he knelt during the pre-game performance of the national anthem.

Nicki's post stream also included her comment, “I always love watching the whole industry act stupid lol. The truth is the truth no matter who tells it. Pick who you accept the truth from and then BAM! Pow! 💥 maybe tell you a joke but not lies. Bwahahahaaha.” She also posted, “You know his next move is going to be to tell you that “a certain someone” is being treated soooooo unfairly so you can fall back into that trance,” likely referring to Beyonce's Cowboy Carter The album was not nominated for any 2024 Country Music Awards. Jay-Z championed Beyoncé during a memorable speech at the 2024 Grammys.

God forbid if Wayne was to leave this earth right now, the culture would be in mourning. That’s why so many ppl keep saying to give our legends their flowers while they are still around to smell them. Sitting around all day playing games with ppl life & legacy. God ain’t sleep.…

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 9, 2024

In another post, Nicki noted, “Got everything in the world. Still spiteful and evil. Disgusting. Be happy Abeg. Go be damn happy n!gg@!!!!!!!! In the rap business. In the women's business. When you got the politicians and the police you're good though.” And when another X-account told her not to stand up for Wayne, she posted, “Oh you think you should only call out workplace injustices if it's for a person that would do it for you? I'm seriously the realest n!gg@. Wow.”

Their posts come alongside Birdman's own statements from Monday afternoon. A day after the NFL's official announcement, Birdman posted “Smfh” and then “These niggaz pussy @NICKIMINAJ @Drake @LilTunechi YMCMB I'm gonna make these niggaz respect us on Gladys 🐐.” He followed up with a post about “Hatin shit 4real.” These are his first X-posts in five months; it seems no coincidence that they came the day after his longtime protégé's omitted release.

Nicki and Birdman, along with Master P and Cam'ron and Mase, are artists who believe Wayne should have headlined the event in New Orleans in February. Today, Master P wrote an open letter on Instagram, saying, “#LilWayne should be part of this celebration too. He's one of the greatest living hip hop artists, still relevant, and from New Orleans. Let's not miss this cultural moment in the South.”

And this morning rapper Cam'ron talked about the selection of his web series It is what it isand noted, “There's no reason why Lil Wayne shouldn't perform at the Super Bowl,” adding, “It's not really a secret. Lil Wayne has had an issue before with somebody that's somehow part of the organization that runs this whole thing. This is the retaliation.” He concluded, “Who is Lil Wayne's artist? Drake… Lil Wayne not performing at the Super Bowl in New Orleans is outrageous and this has to stop.”

Lil Wayne and Jay-Z had a friendship-and-enmity relationship of sorts in the late 2000s, as Wayne's rise to rap superstardom coincided with Jay-Z's rise to executive status in the music industry.

In December 2006, after Jay-Z's Kingdom come Album, Wayne told Complex, “I’m better than [Jay-Z]. I'm 24 years old… I've been around for 13 years, got five albums and 10 million records sold. I don't like what he's saying about having to come back because hip-hop is dead and we need it. What the f*** do you mean by that? If anything, it's reborn, so he probably has a problem with that. You left on good terms and all the artists were like, 'Yo, that's Jay's house. He's the best.' Now he comes back and still thinks it's his house… It's not your house anymore and I'm better than you.”

The two have traded numerous blows over the years, but whatever rivalry there was between them seemed to be a thing of the past in 2018, when Wayne told an audience in Chicago: “[Jay-Z] helped me when I was really, really, really down… This man helped me with my taxes. He's a real friend, guys.”

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