INTERVIEW: Karrine Steffans On Lil Wayne Possibly Retiring, 'He's Dealing With Business & Birdman Struggles'

Late last week, Lil Wayne posted a rather unexpected tweet that made the hip hop community go into shock. “I am now defenseless and mentally defeated and I leave gracefully and thankful I luh my fanz but I’m dun,” his message read.

As soon as this was posted, Weezy’s fans everyone began speculating what it meant. Was he about to retire from the rap game? Did he have enough of the drama between Cash Money and Birdman? Is he OK?

As I was reading fans’ tweets – who were just as confused as I was about this – I remember seeing model, actress and author Karrine Steffans’ tweets talking about Wayne, too. That’s when we both started to have a conversation about him, via Twitter (we follow each other), on what Weezy’s tweet was all about.

As many of us know, Steffans – who’s now a New York Times best-selling author for her Vixen series and entrepreneur -- was once in a well-known relationship with Wayne for almost 10 years. So, I was confident that she knew the rapper better than any of his fans, and perhaps even some of his friends and family, ever will.

That’s why I decided to turn our convo into an interview and ask her more about what she thought of Wayne’s potential retirement, why his tweets made her cry, the love she still has for him, why Wayne isn’t a quitter, and more.

Check out iHeartRadio’s interview with Karrine Steffans below.

iHeartRadio: How do you feel about Lil Wayne's retirement tweets? You what do you think they means?

Initially, upon seeing his tweets, I felt instantly sad. I know that feeling. We all know that feeling. I think his tweets mean that he’s tired. We all get tired.

iHeartRadio: What do you think would make him even say something like that?

Wayne has been dealing with a lot in his business life, and his business life is also a large part of his personal life as far as his relationship with Birdman is concerned. These struggles have been made public for a while and he and I have discussed them over the years. Frankly, any one of us would feel defeated during or after such a battle.

iHeartRadio: What do think he's feeling weak about? Cash Money? Tha Carter V not being released?

I’m sure it’s a culmination of all those things and only he knows what else. What the public sees is only the tip of the iceberg and as much as he and we refer to him as a Martian, he’s only a man and a man can only bear so much before he needs to take a knee.

iHeartRadio: You said that you cried when you read this. Why?

I was actually toiling with the same feelings the night before I saw the tweets and asked my Instagram followers why they follow me. Why…what is all this for? Why am I doing all of this if I’m not seeing results of feeling free to create? I felt like deleting all my accounts, shutting down my lifestyle site, and just giving up. I still feel like that. So, I guess the tweets resonated with me instantly because of my own feelings of defeat.

iHeartRadio: Why does Wayne still have this emotional connection with you?

I have an emotional connection to everyone I have genuinely loved and who have, on some level, genuinely loved me. If the love was ever real, there is no way I can or would ever want to pretend as if I don’t love a person well after our season has passed. I’ve seen this man lay on the bathroom floor, next to the toilet, shaking. This man has laid on my chest, crying for a lost loved one. There is a bond there, a decade of experiences. Our time is over, but the one thing none of us can change is history. No matter what, I never want to see him hurt and I always want to see him win. I will always wish him well. That will never change.

iHeartRadio: What do you think rap would be missing, if Wayne left it?

Whether Wayne retires or not, hip-hop is missing a lot, including the point of the music and the movement. Most millennials don’t know or understand a time when the music saved lives and shaped our consciousness, so they don’t notice the difference between now and even just twenty years ago, ten years ago. As a conscious adult, it’s hard to listen to anything that disparages its own people and degrades its women, while fueling patriarchy and the systematic breakdown of the black family and community overall. As for Wayne’s involvement in the culture, I’m not sure he would or could ever be the same or if we’d want him to be, but there was a time, before it all got so heavy, that he was the voice of the young hustler who wanted a better life. Tha Mobb on Tha Carter II is a perfect example of that spirit. Sure, it wasn’t conscious per se, but it was far from the unconscious mumble rap kids are fed now.

iHeartRadio: Have you reached out to him about all of this? What did he say?

I don’t reach back when I’ve moved on, so no. There is no reaching out, only empathy, well wishes, and long distance support for someone who saw me through some of my darkest days.

iHeartRadio: What would you tell him to keep his head up?

Funny thing is, Wayne doesn’t need direction on how to keep his head up. Wayne is a soldier. His head is already up. Never mistake his taking a knee to him lying down. He had a moment, a public moment, but I don’t think for one minute Wayne is somewhere looking at his feet right now.

iHeartRadio: Why do you think Lil Wayne is not a quitter?

Why? That’s not for me to say. All I know is that some people are born to win. His success was not an accident or happenstance. Winning is not what he does, it’s who he is. But life ebbs and flows and sometimes…we need respite. But resting and quitting are two different things. As someone who has been his friend, I believe in him. Nothing can shake that belief, not even him.

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