Rapper Lil Wayne has doubled down on his support for cops in the wake of George Floyd‘s death. The 37-year-old came under fire earlier in the week when he suggested that activists were also to blame for the unarmed black man’s tragic death. Now, he’s appeared on the latest episode of “Young Money Radio” on Apple Music, to further explain his thoughts about the police following nationwide outcry and protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“My life was saved when I was young,” he began. “I was 12 or something, I think. Shot myself. I was saved by a white cop, Uncle Bob. So you have to understand … you have to understand the way I view police, period. I was saved by a white cop. There was a bunch of black cops jumped over me when they saw me at that door, laying on the floor with that hole in my chest. He refused to. He said, ‘I found this baby on this floor. I need to get to a hospital.’ He didn’t wait for an ambulance. He took his car. He made somebody drive it, and he made sure that I lived.”
Although his life may have been saved by a cop, Lil Wayne has had a range of experiences with law enforcement, particularly growing up in the south. “I’m from New Orleans, 17th and High Grove. We have a thing called Jump Out Boys, uptown New Orleans. That’s the police,” he said. “They pull up on you, they already got their door cracked. It look like, you ever seen a clown car — when a clown pull up in a small car and 30 of them get out the car, like 30 clowns. That’s how it be, like one small police car pull up, but they got both doors cracked on both sides. Bop, soon as they stop, bop, they jump out. So many of them jump out, and they ain’t coming running up to you to ask you what’s your name and how you doing and how’s your day. No, they not coming around after you for that.”
Wayne also discussed a more recent event involving a White pilot on his private jet. “A couple days ago I’m on my plane, private plane, mind you, thank God,” the rapper said. “So I had a situation on my plane. Pilot so happens to be Caucasian. I go up there to talk to him. He tells me, ‘Get out of the aisle and go back to your seat.’ He must have thought he was flying United Airlines or something, he must have forgot that that was my plane. He must have forgot. I think what happened is he did forget, he forgot what was going on. You know what happened, though? He had police waiting for me when we landed, waiting for my ass. Thank God the police, they didn’t forget what was going on, and they let me go ahead home.”
He concluded the interview by pleading with listeners not to judge him for having a favorable opinion of the cops. “So … before you want to speculate about anything, understand that I go through situations, too, and we all got our situations, so don’t judge no one for no reason, for how or whatever, don’t judge,” he said. The interview came just two weeks after the tragic death of George Floyd, which sparked global outcry. Celebrities have joined in the ongoing marches not only across the country, but around the world, and even more public figures have encouraged citizens to use their voice and vote in primaries throughout the country, like former President Barack Obama.