Take a behind the scenes look at @undisputed‘s theme song “No Mercy” performed by @LilTunechi. pic.twitter.com/cokK1cOeU2
— FS1 (@FS1) August 31, 2016
This is probably all Birdman’s fault.
Undisputed, Skip Bayless’ new FS1 debate show with Shannon Sharpe, premieres in less than a week so they decided to unveil their brand new theme song by none other than Lil Wayne. “No Mercy” sees Wayne spitting about debating “face to face” backed by a guitar-heavy production from Jingle Punks’ president and CCO, Jared Gutstadt, who is also credited as a writer on the track.
Weezy, of course, was a guest on Skip’s previous show First Take on ESPN several times, and Skip even called him “my friend” when he announced the track on Twitter.
https://soundcloud.com/undisputedonfs1/lil-wayne-no-mercy-undisputed-intro-teaser
Adding some hip-hop to the show’s intro is no surprise. First Take had Wale as their musical lead-in for years. For Wayne, while it’s a nice look to be on television everyday, it’s also a sign of the times and the nature of his relationship with Cash Money Records. He’s infamously locked in to a years-long lawsuit with the label over their failure to pay over $51 million in royalties, and advances and that has stalled his career making it nearly impossible to release an album.
He has found some loopholes by releasing mixtapes — including the Free Weezy Album, a Tidal exclusive — and a collaboration album with 2 Chainz that technically was a 2 Chainz solo LP with a ton of Lil Wayne features. Also, Tune’s racked up a ton of features and endorsement opportunities to pad his pockets while he can’t officially release music. It should be noted, however, that “No Mercy” will release as a single on Cash Money Records on iTunes next month.
Tune in to Undisputed with Skip and Shannon when it debuts on Sept. 6 at 9:30 a.m. ET on FS1, and check out a preview of Lil Wayne’s “No Mercy” below.
