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�That�s happened more than a few times, when you play games a lot, especially with your homies, and everybody�s on some sort of team and everybody�s counting on everybody,� Wayne tells VIBE over the phone. �It doesn�t even have to be a phone call. It can be somebody at the door, it can be your mom screaming at you, anything.�
Artists have historically relied on video games to pass the time during their tours, and Wayne has always been known for his adoration for the Madden NFL series. He�s a die-hard sports fan, as seen from his social media and his appearances on sports talk shows with his friend Skip Bayless. Years ago, T-Pain said he saw Wayne and Cash Money co-founder Birdman bet up to $10,000 on games, while letting the computer battle it out to see who wins � like sports betting, but you get to pick each other�s competition.
�I don�t recall that,� Wayne laughs when asked if T-Pain�s statements were true. �I don�t recall letting the computer play for no $10,000, but we definitely probably played each other for something like that. � I�m sure I didn�t lose that $10,000 bet whenever it happened. I don�t think I�ve lost too much. I�d say about $500 would be the biggest loss I�ve had, if anything. Maybe $1,000. But I�m putting the [cheat] code in on you and everything for that $10,000.�
These days, while Wayne says that Drake and Birdman have made games tough for him in terms of other artists, he admits that his biggest competition is at home.
�If I�m playing an artist, I�m only practicing against you to get better against my kids. You gotta stay superior on stuff like that,� he chuckles. His sons are aged 10, 9 and 9, �but think they�re 21 and 22.� �My sons, they like to play vintage, so I have to go back and get a team that was great in the year of the team that they pick. My middle son�s vintage team is the LA Rams, my youngest son, Meatball, is going to go with the Atlanta Falcons from the year that Deion Sanders was playing, and my oldest son, Tune, is going to go with the Bengals when they had Boomer Esiason.�
Wayne also spoke about the Top 50 rap lists that have been circulating this summer. While he�s cited Jay-Z as his GOAT before, he took time to give credit to Missy Elliott as one of his favorite rappers and described her impact using another sports analogy.
�A lot of people, their eyes widen up when I say that. If I placed her, there may be a question. It shouldn�t be, though,� Wayne says. �When Missy came out, everybody was rapping about the same things, and everybody [in each region] was trying to get better at the same things, one type of style, in my eyes. � Missy came out way from Virginia on some other shit, making sounds. Her and Timbaland were like Tom Brady and Bill Bellichick.�
His rap bonafides are unquestionable, but Wayne has also dabbled in rock: his tour with Blink 182 was paired with a mashup of his song �A Milli� and the band�s �What�s My Age Again,� and he released his own rock album Rebirth in 2010. When asked if he would consider making another rock album, Wayne said he liked the idea.
�I would definitely want some help on it this time. I did that one by myself. The most help I got, I consider her like another mom, is [soul/R&B singer] Ms. Betty Wright. She taught me a few strings, a few chords on the guitar, how to hold a few notes,� Wayne reveals. �I would definitely fuck with Blink, I�d let Travis go crazy on one or two of them bitches. � I would love to go back and do some vintage songs on it this time as well. I would have to get some clearances on one or two songs from a band or an artist we all love, and do it like that. I�m trying to see what�s up with a Nirvana song or something. Try to get my Kurt Cobain on.�
"I can�t wait to get in the studio now every night, just to see what I can come up with."
The Young Money Entertainment founder also says that despite a lack of updates, he and Drake still plan to make an album together.
�We�re both doing what we do, but he already know,� Wayne says. �We still text and send songs here and there, change a verse because he killed me or change a verse �cuz I killed him. It�s still the same competition.�
While those two projects are good interview fodder, Wayne�s 13th studio album Funeral is further along � he�s said in the weeks after this interview that he plans to release it by the end of the year. It�ll be his first collection of new, timely music in at least four years, and he says his recording process has changed drastically since his prolific mixtape days.
�I love the difficulty of trying to fit in with what�s going on today, making sure I sound likeable to the ears today and having to remind myself that it�s not about what it was back then. Going to the studio now, for me, is awesome. I used to go to that mufucka and do 12 songs a night. Cut a beat on, I�m going to go and you let me know when to stop,� Wayne said. �It�s different now. I can�t wait to get in the studio now every night, just to see what I can come up with. [Before] it was just me going to the studio and saying, let me kill ten more songs and then I�m going to go home or do whatever I was doing. Now, it�s let me see what I come up with. Self-discovery, rebirth � call it whatever you want to call it but it feels awesome, I swear to God.�
Artists have historically relied on video games to pass the time during their tours, and Wayne has always been known for his adoration for the Madden NFL series. He�s a die-hard sports fan, as seen from his social media and his appearances on sports talk shows with his friend Skip Bayless. Years ago, T-Pain said he saw Wayne and Cash Money co-founder Birdman bet up to $10,000 on games, while letting the computer battle it out to see who wins � like sports betting, but you get to pick each other�s competition.
�I don�t recall that,� Wayne laughs when asked if T-Pain�s statements were true. �I don�t recall letting the computer play for no $10,000, but we definitely probably played each other for something like that. � I�m sure I didn�t lose that $10,000 bet whenever it happened. I don�t think I�ve lost too much. I�d say about $500 would be the biggest loss I�ve had, if anything. Maybe $1,000. But I�m putting the [cheat] code in on you and everything for that $10,000.�
These days, while Wayne says that Drake and Birdman have made games tough for him in terms of other artists, he admits that his biggest competition is at home.
�If I�m playing an artist, I�m only practicing against you to get better against my kids. You gotta stay superior on stuff like that,� he chuckles. His sons are aged 10, 9 and 9, �but think they�re 21 and 22.� �My sons, they like to play vintage, so I have to go back and get a team that was great in the year of the team that they pick. My middle son�s vintage team is the LA Rams, my youngest son, Meatball, is going to go with the Atlanta Falcons from the year that Deion Sanders was playing, and my oldest son, Tune, is going to go with the Bengals when they had Boomer Esiason.�
Wayne also spoke about the Top 50 rap lists that have been circulating this summer. While he�s cited Jay-Z as his GOAT before, he took time to give credit to Missy Elliott as one of his favorite rappers and described her impact using another sports analogy.
�A lot of people, their eyes widen up when I say that. If I placed her, there may be a question. It shouldn�t be, though,� Wayne says. �When Missy came out, everybody was rapping about the same things, and everybody [in each region] was trying to get better at the same things, one type of style, in my eyes. � Missy came out way from Virginia on some other shit, making sounds. Her and Timbaland were like Tom Brady and Bill Bellichick.�
His rap bonafides are unquestionable, but Wayne has also dabbled in rock: his tour with Blink 182 was paired with a mashup of his song �A Milli� and the band�s �What�s My Age Again,� and he released his own rock album Rebirth in 2010. When asked if he would consider making another rock album, Wayne said he liked the idea.
�I would definitely want some help on it this time. I did that one by myself. The most help I got, I consider her like another mom, is [soul/R&B singer] Ms. Betty Wright. She taught me a few strings, a few chords on the guitar, how to hold a few notes,� Wayne reveals. �I would definitely fuck with Blink, I�d let Travis go crazy on one or two of them bitches. � I would love to go back and do some vintage songs on it this time as well. I would have to get some clearances on one or two songs from a band or an artist we all love, and do it like that. I�m trying to see what�s up with a Nirvana song or something. Try to get my Kurt Cobain on.�
"I can�t wait to get in the studio now every night, just to see what I can come up with."
The Young Money Entertainment founder also says that despite a lack of updates, he and Drake still plan to make an album together.
�We�re both doing what we do, but he already know,� Wayne says. �We still text and send songs here and there, change a verse because he killed me or change a verse �cuz I killed him. It�s still the same competition.�
While those two projects are good interview fodder, Wayne�s 13th studio album Funeral is further along � he�s said in the weeks after this interview that he plans to release it by the end of the year. It�ll be his first collection of new, timely music in at least four years, and he says his recording process has changed drastically since his prolific mixtape days.
�I love the difficulty of trying to fit in with what�s going on today, making sure I sound likeable to the ears today and having to remind myself that it�s not about what it was back then. Going to the studio now, for me, is awesome. I used to go to that mufucka and do 12 songs a night. Cut a beat on, I�m going to go and you let me know when to stop,� Wayne said. �It�s different now. I can�t wait to get in the studio now every night, just to see what I can come up with. [Before] it was just me going to the studio and saying, let me kill ten more songs and then I�m going to go home or do whatever I was doing. Now, it�s let me see what I come up with. Self-discovery, rebirth � call it whatever you want to call it but it feels awesome, I swear to God.�
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