Lil Wayne has spent decades presenting himself to the world as an unknown martian and unstoppable moneymaker, but he has feelings, too.

The rapper let down his guard on Instagram this week, admitting that the NFL’s selection of Kendrick Lamar as the halftime show headliner for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans “broke” him.

“That hurt a lot,” Wayne said in a video broadcast on the social media platform on Friday.

Wayne, the most famous rapper (and one of the most famous artists in general) to emerge from the Crescent City, assumed he would play at the 2025 Super Bowl.”I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown, for automatically mentally putting myself in that position,” he told me. “I thought there was nothing better than that spot, on that stage, on that platform in my city.”

The “A Milli” rapper said he’s spent the week since the NFL publicized Lamar’s performance healing, explaining that he “had to get strength enough to [respond] without breaking.”

“I’m just trying to put myself back together.” His words were simple.

Nicki Minaj, who has been signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money label since 2008, was quick to express her support for Wayne on social media.

“This, too, shall pass; but what you have done for Hip Hop culture will endure. “It will withstand the test of time,” Minaj said to Wayne on Instagram.

Wayne thanked supporters for their messages of support following the halftime announcement in his video.

“I’ma say thank you to every voice, every opinion, all the care, all the love and support out there,” he went on. Your words became arms that kept me up when I attempted to fall back.”