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Lil Wayne Reveals How He Taught Himself To Learn the Guitar in the Mid-2000s

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For years, Lil Wayne heralded himself as the best rapper alive. On mixtapes and albums alike, he would confidently declare himself the greatest on the microphone. His barrage of punchlines made it hard to argue and the people all clearly loved it in his prime. The first three installations of Tha Carter were massive hits and cemented Weezy into the upper echelon of rappers at the time.

However, once you seemingly master the craft of rapping, what do you do after? What’s the next big thing to master? Does Lil Wayne branch out to other genres? Does he pivot to different industries entirely? Evidently, the New Orleans legend wanted something a little bit more than hip-hop superstardom. He wanted to be worldwide. He wanted to be a rockstar. So what better way to accomplish that than to pick up a guitar?

During a December 2008 interview with Spin Magazine, Wayne toyed around with a blue Gibson electric guitar while smoking a blunt. There, he admitted he learned how to play the guitar by ear alone, no lessons or extensive research necessary. Instead, he sounded out the melodies he wanted to hear and attempted to match the sound with his guitar.

Lil Wayne Trained His Guitar Skills by Ear Instead of Taking Lessons

That raw approach to playing the guitar led to some extremely mixed receptions. Critics especially weren’t nearly as impressed by Wayne’s shredding as by his rhyming ability. Some felt that it was outright embarrassing what he would put out into the world. However, as much as there were strong detractors, Wayne just brushed it off. Instead, he focused primarily on the fans who absolutely adored when he pulled the guitar out at shows.

“Now at my shows, I get to play like John Mayer,” Lil Wayne told the interviewer. “The crowd goes crazy when they hear that. When I even just walk by the guitar onstage, they scream. When I grab it, they scream; when I sit down and play, they hush. And when I finish, they scream.”

The results clearly spoke for themselves in 2008, before any backlash truly sank in with audiences. Even rockstars of the time had to admit he fit in right along with them. Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz said, “Lil Wayne is the new rock star. When he came on ‘FNMTV’, it was the equivalent of Elvis doing the hip shake. The crowd went crazier for him than the Jonas Brothers.”

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