Ice-T Says Lil Wayne Was Supposed To Perform For Grammy’s Hip Hop 50th Tribute

There were dozens of our favorite Hip Hop acts on stage at this year’s Grammy Awards, and Ice-T claims Lil Wayne should have been one of them. Missy Elliott, Public Enemy, Method Man, Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, Scarface, Lil Uzi Vert, and more came together to celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary. It was a show unlike any other as generations of the culture banded together, and Weezy was close to adding his name to the list.

“When we did the show, Lil Wayne was in the show, but then he didn’t actually do the performance,” Ice-T shared while on the Holdin’ Court podcast. “Something happened on the red carpet. Future was sitting at my table. He was supposed to perform, he didn’t perform. So, a lot of—” The host interrupted to suggest it was “a little bit of a mess.” Ice replied, “It’s live TV.”

Ice-T Almost Didn’t Perform At the Grammys

Public Enemy, Run DMC, Black Thought, Queen Latifah, WuTang, The Roots and Salt and Pepa all day! Hip hop ♥️????????#Grammys2023 pic.twitter.com/l9NaKZSO2c

— Sekiya Dorsett ???????????? ????️‍???? ✊???? (@sekiyad) February 6, 2023

Several artists were asked to perform but didn’t make the show. Ice-T recently said that his scheduling conflicts with Law & Order almost kept him from making an appearance. “I get a call from Questlove and he says, ‘We’re doing a thing in L.A. this weekend. I say, ‘I can’t make it,’” the Rap icon told PEOPLE. “He says, ‘The Grammys.’ And I go, ‘Eh.’ And he goes, ‘You don’t wanna be sitting home Ice, watching it—all your homies—and saying I was invited but I didn’t go. And I got my Black ass on the plane. He put it in perspective. The Grammys didn’t even respect hip-hop for so long. And now, to be here and to be honored like this, we’ll take it.”

Questlove also fired off tweets about the difficulties in rallying these hitmakers. Fans complained in droves, questioning why this or that artist didn’t perform. According to The Roots icon, many were already booked, some simply didn’t want to, and for the third group, Quest didn’t detail those responses. He did suggest there was an August taping that others agreed to, but not the Grammys. Quest was the co-curator for the performance and suggested he struggled with the team to create a full line-up. In the end, most fans seemed more than thrilled, regardless.