Nicki Minaj’s co-sign from Lil Wayne takes on many different forms. Besides giving the New York MC her big break in the 2000s, the Young Money mogul has always remained firm in asserting that she is among the best rappers in hip-hop.
During a recent interview on the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Wayne was asked where he ranks Minaj in the all-time female MCs list.
“Ain’t nobody fucking with Nicki,” Weezy said in response. “They come after.”
Soon after, Minaj reposted the clip on Instagram with a note of gratitude. In the caption, she echoed Wayne’s sentiments by referring to him as the best in the game: “I’ll give u a dollar if you can find a lie …When the greatest rapper of all time believed & still believes in you. I sure did lean on your confidence & u sure were ALWAYS there.”
She continued: “Til this day- when I send you smthng you send a verse bakk. @liltunechi we love you so much. We thank you so much. Long live the BAR! Bar for Bar. No pun intended”
Wayne put Minaj on the map after signing her to the Young Money Entertainment label in 2009. Soon after, she became a star and has remained an A-lister ever since.
“I wanted a New York female [artist],” Wayne said later in the interview. “And when I heard, Nicki was sounding like me. She was changing her voice up, I was like, ‘Okay.’ Like, I ain’t never seen this. This rare. New York female artists, I had to keep telling ’em, ‘Yo, don’t do that, don’t say that.’”
