Rappers Lil Wayne and Young Thug are friends turned foes turned friends again. The duo are set to release a single together, "Beef," on April 5.
Since beginning his career, Thugger has consistently expressed his admiration for Wayne. At a mere 19 years old, Thugger claimed that he would eventually sign to Young Money Records, the record label that Wayne founded in 2005.
In a 2014 interview with Complex, Thugger went as far as to say that he "want[s] to get in the studio with Wayne more than anybody in the world. I'll get in the studio with Wayne before Michael Jackson right, so I hope he's listening."
The two were consistently seen at events together throughout 2014, with rapper Birdman often nearby.
Wayne and Thugger later released "Take Kare," their first collaborative effort, in October of 2014. Birdman also appeared on the track. 2014 saw Thugger join Birdman's Rich Gang "supergroup" rap collective, which also includes Rich Homie Quan.
Things soured when Thugger decided to name his debut mixtape Carter 6, a nod to Wayne's album Tha Carter V, which had yet to be released at the time. Wayne would later go on and claim that Tha Carter V was being "held hostage" by his label and Birdman. He later sued Cash Money records and Universal Music Group, left Cash Money and released the album through Universal.
Wayne was not happy with Thugger's choice to name the tape as an "homage" to the New Orleans rapper.
The mixtape's cover features Thugger naked, something that Wayne went onto diss, saying that fans shouldn't listen to someone posing naked on an album cover. He later denied any connection to Carter 6. Throughout these disses, Thugger maintained that he had no gripes with Wayne.
Carter 6 was forcibly renamed to Barter 6, and thus began Thugger's side of the beef. Thugger would go on and sign to a different label, 300 Entertainment--a far cry from Birdman's Cash Money and Wayne's Young Money. The rapper previously had a fairly close relationship with Birdman, but this, too, fizzled when Thugger and Wayne fell out.
The pivotal moment in the rappers' beef came when Wayne's tour bus was shot at in Atlanta in 2015. Thugger was not charged, but both he and Birdman were investigated in connection to the shooting. A 2022 RICO indictment would later land Thugger, and his YSL record label, in legal hot water. The rapper has been in Fulton County jail since 2022. The highly publicized trial began in November of 2023 before pausing for two months when his co-defendant and fellow YSL rapper Shannon Stillwell was stabbed in jail.
Dropping a single together with such a title as euphoric as "Bliss," is perhaps the most solid confirmation that the rappers are no longer at odds with each other.
Fans of the rapper took to Wayne's Instagram to express their excitement about the collaboration. However, the post's top comment is a reference to the infamous 2015 tour bus shooting, writing "Didn't [Thug] try to kill u."
The majority of Wayne's comment section is flooded with fire and goat--a reference to the rappers being the Greatest of All Time--emojis. One fan wrote that it was "about time" the two "cooked" together. Another said, "This what we needed."
"Bliss" is set to release on Friday, April 5.
