Lil Wayne Crowns Nicki Minaj the GOAT Female Rapper, Calls Kanye West “Genius”

Ahead of his upcoming, highly-anticipated studio album Tha Carter 6, set to release at some point this year, Lil Wayne has been going on a string of promotional interviews. Last week during his Rolling Stone interview, he nominated himself to be the next Super Bowl Halftime performer. The day before that though, for the All The Smoke podcast, he gave some bold takes about some fellow hip-hop icons from his 2000s era.

Speaking with former NBA stars Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes of All The Smoke, Wayne made sure to give Nicki Minaj and Kanye West their flowers. Wayne not only competed with both of these icons on the charts but also collaborated with them multiple times in the studio. So, first, he set the record straight that Minaj is the greatest female emcee ever.

“Ain’t nobody fucking with Nicki, (everyone else) comes after,” Wayne said when asked where Minaj ranks among women rappers all-time.

After seeing this, Minaj responded with gratitude. Posting the clip on Instagram Monday, she thanked Wayne in the caption of the post for being a mentor to her.

“I’ll give u a dollar if you can find a lie!” she wrote. “When the greatest rapper of all time believed (and) still believes in you. I sure did lean on your confidence (and) u sure were ALWAYS there. Til this day — when I send you (something) you send a verse (back). @liltunechi we love you so much. We thank you so much.”

As for West, elsewhere on All The Smoke, Wayne referred to the Chicago rapper as a “genius,” regardless of his recent antics regarding antisemitism.

“He’s a genius… What I mean by that is he can stop being Kanye West at any time and start being Kanye East and be the best at that as well,” Wayne said. “He’s a genius when it comes to music. Whatever route he wanna go, he’s gonna be packing arenas.”

Wayne and West collaborated multiple times over their multi-decade careers, whether it be “Barry Bonds” in 2007, the “Lollipop” remix in 2008, “Forever” with Drake and Eminem in 2009, or “Smuckers” with Tyler, The Creator in 2015. So, on top of playing a huge role in Minaj’s career, it’s clear to see why he appreciates the talent of West as well.

Check out Wayne’s full conversation with All The Smoke below.

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Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images