Lil Wayne Attempted Suicide at Age 12, New Song Reveals Why He Shot Himself in the Chest
Lil Wayne is revealing he attempted suicide at age 12.
During a recent interview with Billboard, it was revealed that what had long been described as an accident by the 35-year-old rapper, was, in fact, a suicide attempt.
The shocking revelation came after Wayne played Billboard a verse from one of the tracks on his upcoming album Tha Carter V, which explains Wayne shot himself in the chest, just missing his heart, after his mother told him he would no longer be allowed to rap.
The rapper added the lyric about his attempt after the suicides of designer Kate Spade and renowned chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain.
Tha Carter V is expected to drop this fall and will be the musician’s first album since 2011.
As for why Wayne decided to open up now, Mack Maine, a close friend of Wayne and fellow rapper signed to Young Money, Cash Money, said to Billboard, “He just told me one day that he was ready to address it now.”
“Just being an adult, reaching a level of maturity and comfort where it’s like, ‘I want to talk about this because I know a lot of people out here might be going through that,” Maine added.
In 2016, Wayne referenced attempting suicide but did not go into detail on a verse during Solange’s track “Mad” from the album A Seat at the Table.
“And when I attempted suicide/I didn’t die/I remember how mad I was on that day/ Man, you gotta let it go before it get up in the way/Let it go, let it go before it get up in the way/Let it go, let it go.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “help” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.