Lil Wayne is crediting Missy Elliot as one of the rappers that influenced him early in his career. The rapper made an appearance on the premiere of DJ Khaled’s podcast “The First One” on Thursday, Oct. 15, when he revealed how Missy Elliot had an impact on his sound.
A clip of the podcast was shared on Twitter by social and digital media marketing strategist, Karen Civil, and in it DJ Khaled asks Tunechi, “Who influenced you as a rapper when you was making ‘Block Burner’ and ‘Tha Block Is Hot?’”
Lil Wayne replied, “Missy Elliot. That was my favorite rapper because that would be why I was making so many sounds.” He went on to demonstrate some of the sounds Missy Elliot would make in her own music.
The 38-year-old also mentioned Mannie Fresh and how he was Wayne’s reminder to make sure to add “ha ha” ad-libs in between his verses to enhance them.
“I was like, ‘Man he want me to do a sound for every damn line.’ And so the ‘Block Burner’ song was my best favorite song because my favorite artist was Missy Elliot.”
DJ Khaled asked him to talk about his 1999 hit “Tha Block Is Hot.”
Wayne replied, “‘Tha Block Is Hot’ was an example of what happened because of ‘Block Burner.’”
Missy Elliot responded to the video on Twitter with a quote tweet saying, “@Liltunechi I am so GRATEFUL. You always showing LOVE & mentioning me as your inspiration. You also have INSPIRED so many artists also I used 2 get Clowned 4 making sound effects in my songs but I’m happy u & Manny saw the genius in it MUCH LOVE heart.”
Like Missy Elliot said, this isn’t Weezy’s first time mentioning her as one of his favorite rappers. In 2018, he starred in a commercial for Bumbu Rum where he was named as “The G.O.A.T. aka (Greatest Of All Time).” Along with the ad, Wayne revealed that Cam’ron, UGK, 8 Ball & MJG, Missy Elliott and Jay-Z were artists that made it on his top five list.
Missy Elliot caught wind of the ad and expressed her gratitude on Twitter. She wrote, “I am truly honored🙏🏾 & humbly grateful❤️such a Blessing🙌🏾.”
