Marking a rather heartwarming end to one of 2024’s many rap feuds, Lil Wayne extended an olive branch to fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar in an interview with former ESPN-2 commentator Skip Bayless last night (December 16). 

The moment follows an extended spat between the two rappers after Lamar was booked to perform at the 2025 Superbowl in Wayne’s hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. “It broke me and I’m just trying to put myself back together again,” wrote Wayne in response to the announcement in September of this year. Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj – who was first ‘discovered’ by Wayne – took to X to voice her frustration. In a series of posts on the platform, she called Roc Nation exec and Superbowl entertainment partner Jay Z “evil” and “disgusting” for snubbing Wayne in favour of Lamar. 

The rivalry then hit a new peak when Lamar name-checked Wayne on the surprise album release GNX. “I used to rock Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud / Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down,” he rapped on lead track “wacced out murals”, referencing both seminal Lil Wayne album Tha Carter III and J Cole single “Let Nas Down”, which talks about similarly disappointing a senior hip hop artist. 

Wayne initially appeared angered by the lyrics, writing on X: “Man wtf I do?! I just be chillin & dey still kome 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction,not even me but I shall destroy if disturbed.” 

However, last night’s interview on The Skip Bayless Show appears to mark a U-turn on the spat. Wayne revealed that he and Lamar had since spoken about the booking, stating: “I’ve spoken to him, and I wish him all the best and I told him he better kill it. He gotta kill it.”

Wayne also claimed that the interview was the first time that he heard Lamar’s lyrics about the feud, adding an element of confusion to his earlier X post. “That’s my first time hearing it. I think he’s a fan like I’m a fan of his music. I think that means he saw what everyone else saw, he saw how much [the Superbowl booking] meant to me. He didn’t let me down.”