This week, New Orleans native Lil Wayne shared his thoughts on the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Even as residents across Mississippi and Louisiana payed homage to those who died in storm — through celebrations and church services — the rapper said he had “mixed emotions” about the progress of recovery efforts over the past decade.
“It’s no change, it’s just what they — and when I say ‘they’ that’s a quote, unquote. Meaning I don’t know who ‘they ’ are — but, it’s what they wanted,” he explained to sports reporter Michael Smith on his ESPN Radio podcast “His & Hers.” “That’s what I see. ‘Move who we don’t want out, and bring what we want in.’”
Continuing on the topic of aggressive gentrification, Weezy recalls a time when a reporter asked him to explain who he thought “they” were trying to move into New Orleans.
“The [interviewer] was like ‘who did they want in?’ I said, ‘Oh no, it wasn’t a who, it’s what they want in — money.’ And we — as in quote, unquote ‘me and my people’ — we scare that money away, that’s what they figure. ‘So wash them out.’”
Lil Wayne also points that although he now resides in Miami, he could not help but be affected by the devastation in his hometown.
“I’ve been out of New Orleans. But with that said, for the way it touched me is to thank God that I am the bread winner of my family,”
Check out the interview below.
