("LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 09: Lil Wayne performs onstage during the 2025 BET Awards at Peacock Theater on June 09, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET)")

WATCH: Lil Wayne Dazzles BET Awards, Skips New Orleans Tour Date

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Five-time GRAMMY® Award-winning multi platinum rapper Lil Wayne released his highly anticipated 14th studio album, Tha Carter VI, via Young Money Entertainment/Republic Records, on Friday, June 6. The 19-track album was produced by an all-star lineup including Lil Wayne, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Wyclef Jean and more.

For the past six years, the New Orleans native who has made Miami his home for the past 20 years has been writing and crafting his massively anticipated sixth installment of his legendary Tha Carter series. The album includes features from Andrea Bocelli, Bono, Jelly Roll, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, MGK, Wyclef Jean, Kodak Black, along with his sons Kameron Carter and Lil Novi.

Wayne announced his upcoming tour the same day Tha Carter VI dropped. Notably, his hometown of New Orleans was left off the tour list. Who knows if it had anything to to with the Super Bowl “snub,” or the fact that many New Orleans fans just don’t have the money to buy a ticket? The tour kicked off with a marquee show at New York’s Madison Square Garden in New York. The full tour resumes in late July and continues through early October, with support from Tyga, Belly Gang Kushington, NoCap and the Hot Boys.

2025 was a rough year for Wayne, as he was not invited to perform at the New Orleans-based Super Bowl. But instead of focusing on that, Wayne pushed through with his album, going on to say: “Real art can’t be rushed — and y’all know I ain’t never been on nobody’s clock but mine. Been silent but not still. To the fans who’ve been waiting, I love you. This album is for the ones who’ve been riding with me through all Tha Carters. We takin’ it further than ever before with this one. Tunechi back. C6 is here. I’m just bein myself. Sorry for the wait.”

Even though the NFL sought Kendrick Lamar to perform their half time festivities, BET chose to spotlight Lil Wayne. (Although Lamar did take home the Album of the Year award).

The BET Awards broadcast delivered an epic celebration of Black culture’s past, present and future with its 25th anniversary show hosted by entertainment mogul Kevin Hart. Airing live from Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on June 9, the milestone broadcast paid tribute to a quarter-century of Black excellence in music, film, television, and sports with unforgettable moments, tributes and culture-shifting performance.

Over the years, fans have speculated Wayne lost his ability to spit bars in live performances with some naysayers assuming he lost out on the Super Bowl halftime show due to his “inability” to perform. However, he dazzled the audience with his performance which included an electric performance of “A Milli.” Most recently, Wayne signed and collaborated with his latest Young Money addition, heavy metal singer/chanteuse Lucifena, with a new video on the way. (In turn, the So.Cal.-based songstress is working on showcasing her own metal rendition of “A Milli.”)

And just when we thought his old friend Nicki Minaj wasn’t on board with his latest project, she hopped on the “Banned from NO” remix on June 11 which may or may not be a diss against Wayne’s neck of the woods.

Wayne approached the stage with a crisp cup of a beverage (maybe coffee?) and silenced his haters with a solid performance.

Watch Wayne bring the house down below.