Weezy F Baby and the “F” is for flatterer? Rapper Lil Wayne dropped by ESPN’s Monday Night Football (December 19) broadcast to give a play-by-play of the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers game but was nearly left speechless thanks to an on-air surprise.
Hosts former NFL players Peyton and Eli Manning broke from the game’s live stream during a break to premiere a new rap song recorded, especially with the New Orleans native in mind. The brother duo shared that Eli, the retired New York Giant quarterback, had picked up a new hobby in his free time — rapping. However, while Eli seemed excited to share his latest song with the Young Money Records boss, big brother Peyton wasn’t quite as supportive.
As the music video loads, Eli appears in the booth dressed in fashion designer Celine (now prevalent in hip-hop) from his hips up to the top of his head and a gold Cuban link chain to match his new swagged-out drip. Backed by a drill beat as gunshot ad-libs loop, Eli gives off his best 8 bars. Finally, the video ends, and Peyton anxiously awaits Lil Wayne’s feedback. At first, Lil Wayne is speechless, but as he takes it all in, he responds, “Somebody ended up sending me a full-body picture of it, and then I saw that you had on some khakis or something. That’s when I knew this must be a spoof or something.”
Later adding, “I didn’t know what was going on. I saw the Cuban around your neck. I’m glad I actually saw a video of what that was all about. But you killed it. You killed it. Yeah, you killed that.”
In typical sibling fashion, Peyton jumps in to play the contrarian proclaiming, “No, it wasn’t.”
Pleased by Wayne’s response, Eli confessed that Lil Wayne’s music inspired him. More specifically, his songs “A Milli” and “Fireman.”
“I wasn’t watching a lot of Lil Wayne, but I was listening to him,” he said. “I was listening to ‘A Milli,’ I was listening to ‘Fireman,’ I was listening to ‘Stuntin’ Like My Daddy’ — that’s my personal favorite,” said Eli.
Lil Wayne has inspired many fellow musicians, including Machine Gun Kelly, JID, and Jack Harlow, to name a few. His music has inspired a few cringe-worthy videos, including a Florida police department’s drug bust. Maybe Lil Wayne will go on to mentor Eli’s future music career as he did with Tiffany Haddish.
Watch the full video below.
Eli’s rap had @LilTunechi speechless 😭 pic.twitter.com/EUM81HkCbj
— ESPN (@espn) December 20, 2022