Kendrick Lamar has shouted out Lil Wayne as one of his main influences before but in the wake of Wayne's semi-retirement announcement, the Compton rapper recorded a video tribute of sorts. Kendrick spends most of the video exuberantly rapping along to vintage Wayne cuts like "Gangsta Shit," "Where You At," and Hot Boys' "Respect My Mind." Most poignantly, in what looks like a direct message to Wayne, Kendrick says that seeing Weezy record ten featured verses in a row in 2007 inspired him to do more features.It's always cool to see Kendrick, often held up as the most progressive rapper alive and a torch-bearer for lyricism, show appreciation for Wayne, forever the punching bag and supposed Exhibit A of Where Rap Went Wrong. That Kendrick holds Lil B in equal reverence shows that maybe, just maybe, the divisions between "real" rap and (ugh) "mumble rap" don't really matter and never have? Watch the video below.Phil Witmer is a Noisey Canada staff writer. Follow him on Twitter.
Advertisement