Lil Wayne pays tribute to Kobe Bryant with a special performance at the BET Awards
Lil Wayne honored Kobe Bryant with a special performance at the 2020 BET Awards on Sunday.
The rapper paid tribute to the late NBA superstar with a video highlighting some of his greatest moments on the court and backed with Wayne’s 2009 track named for Bryant.
Kobe died in January along with 13-year-old daughter Gigi and seven other people in a helicopter accident. He was 41.
Remembered: Lil Wayne paid tribute to Kobe Bryant with a rendition of his 2009 song Kobe Bryant for the 2020 BET Awards
Wayne added some special lyrics to the end of the song.
‘This is Black power status/ Two fingers for the Mambacita/ I’m screamin’ Black Mamba matters.’
He also had a message for Bryant’s family, saying: ‘My heart goes out to Vanessa and the whole Black Mamba family.’
‘Rest in power/ Let’s hope for peace/ Black lives matter, facts,’ he finished.
Tribute: Wayne remembered Kobe with a video highlighting some of his greatest moments on the court and backed with a 2009 track named for Bryant
Tragic: Kobe died in January along with daughter Gigi and seven other people in a helicopter accident
For Kobe: Wayne added some special lyrics to the end of the song, rapping ‘This is Black power status/ Two fingers for the Mambacita/ I’m screamin’ Black Mamba matters’
Wayne included a tribute to Bryant on his latest album Funeral, which came out just days after the NBA pro’s death.
Referencing the MVP’s two NBA jersey numbers, Wayne had a 24-second moment of silence on the eighth track of the album.
Lil Wayne has expressed his admiration for Bryant before.
Special number: Wayne included a tribute to Bryant on his latest album Funeral, adding a 24 second moment of silence in the MVP’s honor
Inspired: In a March interview on MTV’s Fresh Out Live, he called Kobe someone who ‘strived to be the best in everything’
In a March interview on MTV’s Fresh Out Live, he called Kobe someone who ‘strived to be the best in everything.’
‘What I admire the most is how [his legacy] evolved. We knew him as the kid phenom straight from high school… He hit the league and murked it.. [then] he became a champion,’ he said. ‘It’s very hard to become a champion… He did it again and then again.’
Kobe is survived by wife Vanessa, 37, and daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, three, and Capri, one.
Family: Kobe is survived by wife Vanessa, 37, and daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, three, and Capri, one