Lil Wayne Explains The Real Reason Drake Isn't Included On His Album

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Lil Wayne Explains Drake’s Absence From His Latest Album

Tha Carter V has been a long time coming, to say the least–so now that it’s finally here, it’s really no surprise that fans are taking their time to truly dissect the ins and outs of the project.

One of the first things everyone seemed to notice about Lil Wayne’s highly-anticipated album were the features, which of course included the fact that the rapper’s longtime friend, collaborator, and signee Drake didn’t make the cut. Rumors started flying early, and many were speculating that label troubles between the two had something to do with Drizzy’s absence.

Now, Wayne is here to clarify the real story about why he left Drake off such an important project.

This week, the Young Money founder returned to Tidal’s CRWN series for an in-depth conversation with Elliott Wilson. It all happened in Weezy’s hometown of New Orleans, and also happens to mark the rapper’s first live interview since he dropped Tha Carter V. Wayne’s last CRWN appearance occurred back in 2014, where the conversation consisted of dishing about his long dispute with Birdman and his album’s frustrating delays–so his return to the platform is very fitting, all things considered.

The lengthy conversation touched on a wide range of topics, which includes the incredibly long journey to Tha Carter’s fifth installment, before finally speaking on why Drake was not featured on the album. Regarding the rumors surrounding Drizzy’s absence,  Wayne responded that it was because of clearance issues. “He has a song,” the New Orleans native said. “It didn’t get cleared. People be tripping man.”

So there you have it. Fortunately for fans, it looks like there’s no bad blood between Drake and Wayne despite any label issues.

You can watch the CRWN episode now on Tidal’s website.