Lil Wayne hosted his annual Lil WeezyAna Fest Saturday night at New Orleans’ Champions Square, where the rapper brought out surprise guest Nicki Minaj and accepted an apology from Birdman.
The one-day fest, which doubled as a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the rapper’s landmark Tha Carter III, also featured performances by Jeezy, Youngboy Never Broke Again, Torey Lanez and more. The concert streamed live on Tidal.
Minaj’s surprise appearance came in the final moments of WeezyAna. “I want to show love for this man who gave me my career single-handedly,” the rapper said (via the New Orleans Advocate). “Who wants me to give Lil Wayne some babies?” Minaj’s brief set featured her recent verses on “FeFe” and YG’s “Big Bank.”
The concert also marked a public reconciliation between Lil Wayne and his longtime mentor/father figure/record mogul Bryan “Birdman” Williams, following a public falling out that featured the shelving of the rapper’s Tha Carter V and a drive-by shooting on Lil Wayne’s tour bus.
In June, the business bad blood between Lil Wayne and Birdman ended when the rapper settled his Cash Money lawsuits, and on Saturday the mogul apologized to Lil Wayne for the souring of their relationship.
“It feels amazing to be home fucking with my son, I love that nigga to death. I don’t know what y’all know but I know what the fuck I know and I know how I feel about what I know,” Birdman said. “I knew this day was gonna come but I ain’t know when it was gonna come. But this nigga right here? The best nigga, the realest nigga, the illest nigga. And I wanted to apologize to my nigga worldwide. That nigga put his life in my hands.”
Birdman added, “We’re gonna do this shit ’til the day we die” before Lil Wayne launched into the Big Tymers’ “Still Fly.”