Lil Wayne appeared on the latest episode of Drink Champs and his almost 20 year beef with Pusha-T was brought up once again.
The topic was discussed while addressing (now old) rumors that Pusha was slated to feature alongside Wayne on Rick Ross' track, "Maybach Music VI.” That feature never happened, but it prompted co-host N.O.R.E. to reflect on the rappers' relationship with one another and ask what turned their relationship sour in the first place. Wayne's response? “I swear to God, I don’t know, man."
Watch the moment below.
However, while Wayne apparently can't remember what went down — or he's just done talking about it, which is fair enough — we do. So, if you're left wanting a little more insight into what went down between him and Pusha-T, allow us to briefly recap.
How did the Lil Wayne vs. Pusha-T beef start? A brief history.
Before becoming a solo artist, Pusha-T was part of the group Clipse, along with his brother, No Malice. In 2002, Lil Wayne and Baby featured on the remix of Clipse’s track, “Grindin'.” Pusha and No Malice also featured on a Birdman song, “What Happened to That Boy,” which was produced by long-time Clipse collaborators The Neptunes (comprised of Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams). This is when the problems between Wayne and Pusha began, according to Ebro Darden’s recount on Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning back in 2018.
On the show, Darden explained that The Neptunes were never paid for their work with Birdman, which resulted in Pharrell refusing to work with Birdman’s label, Cash Money Records (CMR), ever again. So when Wayne (also on CMR) later approached Pharrell asking for Billionaire Boys Club gear, he was turned down.
Still, Wayne wore Billionaire Boys Club for his “Hustler Muzik” video and rocked BAPE (which Pharrell had been wearing for years) on a VIBE cover in 2006 — stylistic moves that didn't go unnoticed. When Pusha-T and Malice dropped “Mr. Me Too" feat. Pharrell, it called out those jacking Clipse and Pharrell’s style, which was seen as a subtle diss aimed at Wayne. In a 2006 Complex interview, Wayne then claimed to be the one who made wearing BAPE hot — not Pharrell.
In the following years, Wayne and Pusha continued to trade subtle jabs, but it was Pusha-T’s 2012 Drake diss “Exodus 23:1” that put any doubts to rest. On the song, Pusha clearly went after Wayne and Cash Money Records, “You signed to one nigga that signed to another nigga / That’s signed to three niggas, now that’s bad luck.”
Listen below.
After that, Wayne responded with a tweet saying “Fuck Pusha-T and everybody that love em.” He also released a Pusha-T diss record of his own, “Ghoulish,” which quoted the tweet and doubled down on its message. “His head up his ass, Imma have to head-butt him.” Revisit Wayne’s diss below.
Fast forward eight years and the feud between the rappers is all but forgotten — at least it is to Wayne, anyway.
Want more beef history? Discover what went down between Drake and Pusha-T’s here.
