Lil’ Wayne Covers Interview + Questioned by Paris Hilton

HILTON: So you said you’ve been rapping since you were 8 or 9. Do you remember your earliest rhyme?

WAYNE: I honestly don’t. I remember some parts of it. I remember the content of what I was rapping about, but I definitely don’t remember the first rap. But I remember where my head was at and what I was thinking about and things like that. I just wanted to be like Cash Money. That’s all it was. At the time, though, I think I was more fixated on groups like Another Bad Creation and Kris Kross and stuff like that.

HILTON: I know that you helped discover Drake, and now he has become one of hip-hop’s biggest names. What potential did you see in him and what have you been able to impart to him from your own experiences?

WAYNE: When I first heard Drake, I already knew that he had potential beyond my imagination, because the kid was singing and rapping-and he was rapping real well. So that’s kind of an odd mixture-like, you don’t get somebody very often who is real good at this and real good at that. So that’s when I already knew that he was gonna blow up, right there. He would’ve done it-with me or not-I just wanted to make sure it was with me. And the main thing I’ve told him, or taught him, for lack of better words, is just to stay humble and remember who you are throughout it all, because there’s gonna be moments in every single day when you’ll have to go back to that person and reflect on that person. You have to self-reflect. If you forget who you actually are, then what’s the use of even looking in the mirror.

HILTON: When you’re writing lyrics, do you ever worry about being offensive, or that you’ll kind of have to, like, edit them?

WAYNE: No. That’s one thing about me, and I think that’s what most of my fans enjoy about me, that I don’t hold nothing back. I do exactly what I want to do, and say exactly what I want to say. Sometimes I consider the fact that I have a daughter, but I also think about the realities of the world, and just let her know that this is the reality and this world is crazy and there are people out there that are a certain kind of way. I mean, once I get through that hump, then, like I said, I just say what’s on my mind.

EHRLICH: What are some of the things that you do to bring yourself back to Earth and remember who you are? I’m assuming that your kids are part of that.

WAYNE: It’s my family and my friends, plain and simple. My family and my friends-they keep me grounded. Especially my mom, because she would kick my ass if I was to change. So, flat out, that’s what it is.

HILTON: I think it’s good when your family keeps you humble. I’ve seen so many people gain a certain level of celebrity and just turn into different people.

WAYNE: Yeah, I have as well.