The Commercial Genius of Lil Wayne, the Pitchman
Despite his reputation as a loose cannon, Lil Wayne has proven himself to be an extraordinary commercial actor.

Image via Getty/Jonathan Leibson

Lil Wayne had a successful return to the spotlight last month with the release of his long-awaited album, Tha Carter V. But several months before, another side of the star came back to light: Lil Wayne, the pitchman.
Wayneâs commercial for Bumbu rum, which positioned him as the G.O.A.T. while featuring an actual goat, was a reminder that Weezy F. Baby has (in addition to his skills on the mic)Â shown a unique talent for selling products, as well. Anyone involved in the making of Wayneâs major ads will tell you: the Best Rapper Alive is also an extraordinary commercial actor.
Wayne-as-great-commercial-actor might be surprising to even his longtime fans. He has a well-deserved reputation for doing whatever he wants, consequences be damned. Whether heâs firing off headline-grabbing tweets or telling lawyers about their âstupid ass questions,â Wayne can be a loose cannonâsomething quite at odds with the early starts, long hours, and tight discipline needed to star in big-budget advertisements.
Sara Gilbert, Public Relations Manager for Sovereign Brands, was on set for Bumbuâs goat commercial, as well as several other Wayne-related promotional shoots including the âA Word With Wayneâ series. She says that Wayne has an ability to take inâand improveâthe concept of a scene in almost no time at all.
âIt must be from his experience being a professional for all of his adult life,â she explains. âHe can hear something and put his own spin to it instantaneously.â
Gilbert, who doesnât hesitate to call the rapper a âgenius,â notes that Wayne will sometimes even function as his own director, stopping a take when things get noisy.
âHe might hear something upstairs or down the hallwayâ[maybe] someone shifted their weight and they have their keys in their pocket. Heâll stop and wait for the noise to clear and then heâll resume or weâll take it from the top. He doesnât miss a stride, it doesnât throw him off his game. The fact that he self-corrects, heâs directing himself, is amazing.â
You may think he isnât listening or heâs in his own little world not even looking your direction, but Wayne is very aware of everything around him.
Matt Aselton, who directed Wayne in a slew of popular Samsung ads, says the crew was initially skeptical of the famous rapper in their midst, but quickly changed their minds.
In one of the spots, Wayne had a lengthy line accompanied by a tricky camera movement, while surrounded by a ton of extras. âEveryone was like, âI hope he can do it,ââ Aselton recalls. âI was like, âHeâs a rapper. Thatâs what they doâthey remember lines.â He nailed it the first time.â
Over the next few days, Aselton took his star through a variety of locations, bringing along the small skate park they had to build (per Wayneâs rider). Whether it was a convenience store or a mansion in Beverly Hills with Wesley Snipes, Aselton noticed that Wayne had a unique way of taking direction.
âI figured out pretty early that I didnât need to over-explain the idea,â Aselton explains. âEverything I said, he would always say, âGotchu.â Once he said âGotchu,â it meant stop talking. I kind of got used to that.â
Eif Rivera, the director of Bumbuâs goat ad, said something similar: âYou may think he isnât listening or heâs in his own little world not even looking your direction, but Wayne is very aware of everything around him. Heâs a very intelligent, focused individual.â
Andreas Nilsson, who helmed the memorable Apartments.com ad featuring Wayne and Jeff Goldblumââthese two wonderful freaks,â as he calls themâagrees. Nilsson first met Wayne on set at around 5 a.m. âHe was smoking the biggest joint Iâve ever seen,â the director writes via email. Nilsson says Wayne âlooks like he is on another planetâ when listening to instructions. But, Nilsson continues, âhe is totally on top of it and delivers like a pro.â
Rivera, who has also worked on videos like âGod Bless Amerikaâ with Wayne, says the rapper made every part of the spot his ownâeven his body language. Wayneâs slouched posture was his own touch, one that Sovereign Brands CEO Brett Berish was initially skeptical of.
âBrett said, âHe should be sitting up because it looks like he just kind of doesnât give a shit,ââ Rivera remembers. âAnd Iâm like, âBrett, thatâs Wayne. Thatâs how Wayne is. Let him do his thing.â The guyâs a superstar. Heâs been doing it so long he knows how to make it his own, but also stay within the guidelines of what weâre trying to accomplish.â
Even though Wayne is a superstar, both Gilbert and Rivera say that Weezy shook hands with and acknowledged literally everybody on set. âHe will go around and introduce himself. Like, yeah, we know [who you are],â Gilbert laughs. And Nilsson says that Wayne remains Facebook friends with everyone from the Apartments.com set.
Itâs Aselton who sums up Wayneâs approach to commercials the best. Unsurprisingly for someone so devoted to âsports sports sports,â Weezy F. Baby treats acting the way a pro athlete might.
âI do a lot of commercials with athletes. Athletes want a coach to say, âDonât do this, do this. Go there,â as opposed to, âThis is the mise-en-scène. This is the beat behind it,ââ the director points out. âThey donât really want to know. They want to know exactly what theyâre supposed to do and where theyâre supposed to go, and they want to please. I felt like Lil Wayne was a little bit that way, too. He reacted more like an athlete. I guess heâs a terribly good tennis player and heâs a very good skater, so I think he has that athletic mind.â