Lil Wayne's new album Funeral sees the rapper pay tribute to the late Kobe Bryant on the eighth track, "Bing James." The Jay Rock-featuring song ends with 24 seconds of silence, a nod to Kobe's Lakers jersey number.
Fans first speculated the silence was a tribute after Funeral hit streaming services, and now a representative for Wayne has confirmed as much.
Appearing on Undisputed to promote Funeral, Wayne made sure to take another moment to pay tribute to Kobe. "You're going to have to do the season for Kobe and dedicate it to him," he said. "The message that LeBron said, 'I'm going to go out and do it for you.' I believe that's the message of every single player in the NBA. That's how they all feel."
Additionally, he explained how the idea for the 24 seconds of silence happened. "That right there, I have to thank my big brother Mack," he said. "You know that was an idea he called me with right then and there. A day later, he called me with this idea he thought of and of course I confirmed it, I agreed with it."
In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Beats 1, Lil Wayne also spoke about the legacy of Kobe and how his passing impacted him. "Everybody know, obviously very terrible day for sports. But as far as me and with my concern and my thoughts and prayers was just for the family of Mr. Bryant and the family of the others' lives that were lost from the tragedy, and the situation, the accident," Weezy explained. "I have kids, man. I have four kids. And I have a beautiful daughter, and I cannot imagine. And I've been trying not to imagine. Again, thoughts and prayers to the families."
Check out what fans had to say about the tribute on "Bing James" below.
