Apple Music launched the interview series The Message, which “aims to further the dialogue about the unrest and inequalities in the United States and abroad via intimate conversations with some of the most prominent voices in Black music today.”
Hosted by Ebro Darden, Royce 5’9″ (virtually) sat down with him to speak his 63rd Grammy nomination, Lil Wayne, a Nas classic, and more.
“It feels cool. I’m not going to lie, man,” Nickel said about his Best Rap Album nod. “I’m a little bit embarrassed because I’m one of those guys who was like, ‘F**k the Grammys.’ And I’m totally like, ‘I’m f**king with the Grammys this year.’”
However, his tone changes when Wayne is brought up. “Cash Money, they signed their deal in 1997. So from then to now, they’ve walked billions of dollars into the Universal building. You can’t tell me that you feel like Universal has been protecting Lil Wayne,” Royce expounds. “Lil Wayne, I heard come out of his mouth in an interview that racism doesn’t exist. Being famous early for a Black person is crippling. My brother, you’re going to jail for the second time. The first time you went to prison, you went for a gun that wasn’t even on you. That’s racism Lil Wayne.”
He also praises Nas’ “I Gave You Power,” from his 1996 album It Was Written. “It made me want to write stories. Up until I heard that story, I never even thought about the possibility or the idea of writing a story. I was like, ‘Wow. You can just create a story in your mind and just rap it,’” he said.
Check out the entire piece below.
