This Is Who Lil Wayne Has Always Been

Even if cosigning Trump was a natural progression of Wayne’s politics, it still felt like a slap in the face

David Dennis, Jr.
LEVEL

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Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Getty

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When Dwayne Carter was 12, he put a gun to his chest and pulled the trigger. He lay on the floor bleeding to death until Robert Hoobler, an off-duty police officer who Lil Wayne now affectionately calls “Uncle Bob,” found him and saved his life. That life-changing moment has influenced the rapper’s relationship with police and those who align themselves with law enforcement — an effect you’ve noticed even if you weren’t aware of the cause.

Earlier this year, for instance, he went on Fat Joe’s Instagram Live interview show to discuss George Floyd and replaced his usual red flag with a blue one, pointing his ire at the victims of police violence. “If we want to place the blame on anybody,” he said, “it should be ourselves for not doing more than what we think we’re doing.” He followed up that comment by praising “Uncle Bob” for holding him in his arms in the back of a cop car until medical care arrived. Maybe that story is why Wayne has been so adamantly anti-Black every time the conversation involves anything remotely political.

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David Dennis, Jr.
LEVEL

Level Sr. Writer covering Race, Culture, Politics, TV, Music. Previously: The Undefeated, The Atlantic, Washington Post. Forthcoming book: The Movement Made Us