Rapper retirements are a lot like wrestler retirements, they simply don’t exist. Everybody is always one more match or song away from a comeback. So when Lil Wayne announced he was retiring via Twitter, it was sad, but obviously temporary. Especially if Kendrick Lamar got any say in the matter.
Well, unsurprisingly, Weezy’s brief hiatus didn’t even last a week, and he’s back with a vengeance, saying names and addressing the whole matter on a new Tidal exclusive “Grateful.” On a soulful, upbeat production Tune gets right to it, uttering “New chapter, move on, look back for what?” before kicking off the track. After declaring there’s “no more CMB” he calls out Birdman by name for the first time on a track.
“And you don’t see Stunna right next to me
And I won’t see Stunna write checks to me
They can’t put no more Weezy Baby out
That’s that Cash Money vasectomy”
He mirrors those lines on the hook as well, where he chants “ain’t afraid to die, cause I done it already.” In his second verse he touches on the “retirement” and all the publicity it received, “And tell the press I’m not depressed, I just had to press reset, I just had to get me set, and I’m not playin’ skip recess.” He even tosses in a “respek” line for good measure and warns “I love ’em to death but they ain’t dead yet, don’t know how long I’m able to repeat that.”
Wayne has always played the whole feud neutral to the public, shying away from dragging Birdman or Cash Money’s name through the mud but it’s clear the gloves are off now.
