Did Lil Wayne Just Sign to Roc Nation?


Photo courtesy of 106 KMEL

Lil Wayne performed at legacy Bay Area hip-hop radio station 106 KMEL’s annual Summer Jam bash on Saturday night, and reports have swirled online that he announced he signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation label. The only video that’s surfaced of the event sees Wayne telling the crowd “I just signed a deal with my motherfuckin idol Jay Z” without getting into further details. Watch Wayne’s big announcement below.

Videos by VICE

Jay’s got a couple business ventures on the table right now—alwayswith Roc Nation assembling one of the most formidable rosters in the business and Tidal endlessly in search of attention-grabbing artist partnerships. Wayne could be joining Vic Mensa, J. Cole and Rihanna on Roc Nation’s artist roster or Big Sean, Meek Mill and Kanye West in tapping the Roc for management. Or he could just be looking for a home for the new album. Tidal exclusivity for Free Weezy isn’t entirely a pipe dream: Wayne dropped his latest single “Glory” on the fledgling streaming service just two weeks ago.

It’s also helpful to remember that this isn’t the first time Jay and Wayne have courted each other’s business. Wayne named a whole single after D’ussé, the Bacardi cognac Jay promotes, and in 2013, Hov told NYC’s rap radio morning show The Breakfast Club he tried to scoop Weezy a couple years prior but halted to avoid insulting Cash Money’s Birdman. Jay and Cash Money go way back.

UPDATE: Wayne’s manager Cortez Bryant cleared things up with Billboard: “When Wayne was speaking about the partnership with Jay Z, he was speaking about his new deal as an artist owner with Tidal.”

Lil Wayne announces he is now signed to JAY-Z

A video posted by HELLABOOTSY (@hellabootsy) on