LeBron James 21st Birthday Party with Performance by Lil' Wayne

LeBron James and Lil Wayne *Exclusive Coverage* during LeBron James 21st Birthday Party with Performance by Lil’ Wayne at House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

Bron knows the lyrics, this time.

LeBron James love to rap along to his favorite artists. It’s probably second on his list, after playing ball. He loves rapping along to music so much, in fact, that he’ll do it even when he doesn’t know the words yet. James went viral at the beginning of June for posting a video of himself rapping a Gunna song, and fans noticed that he kept looking down at his phone and reading lyrics. Fortunately, James didn’t have to read the lyrics during his appearance in the new Beats commercial. He knew the lyrics that Beats threw at him by heart.

The commercial sees LeBron James show up to a party and gush over the brand new Pill +. He then hears Lil Wayne’s classic “A Milli” blasting out of the device. He raps along to the chorus before a hard cut to a release date for “The Predicament.” The titular collaboration between James and Beats is set for release on June 25. James and Wayne have known each other for over a decade, but the two icons have not always seen eye to eye. Lil Wayne told Rolling Stone that he had a falling out with James after James and Dwyane Wade failed to acknowledge his court side presence during a 2011 game.

LeBron James’ New Beats Collab Is Called “The Predicament”

“Them n**gas never speak to a n**ga,” Wayne told the the outlet. “They don’t chuck me the deuce or nothing. N**ga spent all that money on them f**king tickets … Come holla at me. We sit right by them little b**ch a*s n**gas. At least come ask me why I’m not rooting for you.” The athlete and the rapper settled their problems, however, and were back on good terms by 2012. Wayne has become such a James fan, in fact, that he compared himself to the legendary athlete during a 2023 appearance on Bleacher Report.

Wayne felt he brings the same strengths to the rap game that LeBron James does to the court. “I would say that I’m like a LeBron,” the rapper posited. “I dropped my first solo album when I was 14, and that’s the same album I’m talking about that went platinum. The phenom that came out and I stuck something that came out. And I’ve been doing this at this pace or higher ever since, just like him.” It’s hard to argue with Wayne’s longevity. And based on the fact that James is still rapping to his music in 2024, he’d likely agree.