Credit: Monica Schipper/WireImage; Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Live Nation

The people close to Lil Wayne are making it clear they’re not happy with him not being named the Super Bowl LIX halftime show headliner. Nicki Minaj and Birdman both took to X today to air their gripes with the NFL’s (and presumably Jay-Z’s) decision to have Kendrick Lamar headline the February showcase. While they didn’t explicitly name Jay-Z, who has had a hand in producing Super Bowl halftime shows since 2019, it seems pretty apparent what they’re talking about.

Nicki Minaj took to her account to bemoan “Denying a young black man what he rightfully put into this game for no other reason but your ego. Your hatred for BIRDMAN, Drake & Nicki got you punishing Lil Wayne?!?!!! LIL WAYNE!!!!!!!!!! THE GOAT?!!!!!!!!!!! Nola what’s good?!!!!!! Eminem stood firm on having 50Cent come out.” She also posted “One nigga took a knee The other nigga took the bag. He gon get you ‘niggers’ in line every fkng time.”

Her latter post referred to popular sentiment that Jay-Z’s 2019 partnership with the NFL was in response to former San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick being veritably exiled from the NFL after kneeling during pregame National Anthem performances.

Nicki’s stream of posts included her noting, “I love watching the whole industry play dumb time after time. lol. The truth is the truth no matter who tells it. Picking & choosing who yall accept truth from then BAM! Pow! 💥 might tell you a joke but won’t tell you a lie. Bwahahahaaha.” She also posted “Yall know his next move is going to be to tell yall a “certain someone” is being treated soooooo unfairly so that yall can go back into that trance,” likely referring to Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album not being nominated for any 2024 Country Music Awards. Jay-Z spoke up on Beyonce’s behalf during a memorable speech at the 2024 Grammys.

In another post, Nicki noted, “Got everything in the world. Still spiteful & evil. Disgusting. Be happy Abeg. Go be fkng happy n!gg@!!!!!!!! In rap business. In women business. When you got the Politicians & the police you good tho.” And when another X account told her to “sit out” of advocating for Wayne, she posted, “Oh you think speaking up on injustice within your work place should only be done if it’s for a person who would do it for you? Im rlly the realest n!gg@. Wow.”

Her posts come alongside Birdman’s own Monday afternoon statements. A day after the NFL’s official announcement, Birdman posted, “Smfh,” and then “These niggaz Pussi @NICKIMINAJ @Drake @LilTunechi YMCMB. I’m make these niggaz respek us on Gladys 🐐.” He followed up by posting about “Hatin shit 4real.” These are his first X posts in five months; it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that they came the day after his longtime protege was passed over.

Nicki and Birdman join Master P and Cam’ron and Mase as artists who believe Wayne should have been the headliner for the February New Orleans event. Earlier today, Master P wrote an open letter on his Instagram opining, “#LilWayne should be a part of this celebration as well. He’s one of the greatest Hip Hop artists alive, still relevant, and he’s a New Orleans native. Let’s not miss this cultural moment in the South.”

And this morning, rapper Cam’ron spoke on the selection on his web series It Is What It Is, noting “There’s no reason why Lil Wayne shouldn’t be performing in the Super Bowl,” adding, “It’s not really a secret. Lil Wayne had a problem with somebody before who’s kind of part of the organization running it. This is payback.” He concluded, “Who’s Lil Wayne’s artist? Drake … Lil Wayne not to be performing in New Orleans for the Super Bowl is egregious and it’s gotta stop.”

Lil Wayne and Jay-Z had a bit of a frenemies relationship in the late ‘00s, as Wayne’s ascendance as a rap superstar dovetailed with Jay-Z shifting into a music industry executive.

In December of 2006, after Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come album, Wayne told Complex, “I’m better than [Jay-Z]. I’m 24 years old… I’m 13 years deep with five albums and 10 million records sold. I don’t like what he’s saying about how he had to come back because hip-hop’s dead and we need him. What the f— do you mean? If anything it’s reborn, so he’s probably having a problem with that. You left on a good note, and all of the artists were saying, ‘Yo, this is Jay’s house. He’s the best.’ Now he comes back and still thinks it’s his house… It’s not your house anymore, and I’m better than you.”

The two traded numerous shots on record over the years. But whatever competitive rift they had seemed to be a thing of the past by 2018, when Wayne told a Chicago crowd that, “[Jay-Z] helped me when I was really, really, really down…That man helped me with my taxes. He’s a real friend, y’all.”