Entertainment
Lil Wayne recalls suicide attempt aged 12 but saved himself by calling police: ‘I got a little too scared’
Lil Wayne has explored his mental health battle in a new interview (Picture: Getty Images)
Lil Wayne realised he had a mental health issue when he made a suicide attempt at the tender age of 12, the rapper has revealed.
The Lollipop hitmaker has touched on his personal struggles through his music over the years, with mentions on his collaboration with Solange Knowles titled Mad, and the song Let It All Work Out.
He’s now delved further in an interview with Emmanuel Acho on his podcast series Uncomfortable Conversations, which explores mental health.
Recalling his suicide attempt while on a half-day from school, Lil Wayne said: ‘I picked up the phone, I called the police. Yes I knew where she [his mother] put her gun and it was in her bedroom. And so I went in her bedroom, grabbed the gun. I already made the phone call, looked in the mirror.’
The rapper, now 38, said he attempted to take his own life but ‘got a little too scared’.
Hee was also brought around when he heard a Notorious B.I.G. song come on TV in the background.
‘Then I said: “F**k it”. Biggie was on. I’m looking in the mirror, so you could look through the mirror and the television was behind me. So I was watching the video through the mirror,’ he explained.
‘One More Chance was on. And Biggie was already gone or something. So I was looking, I was like: “You know what?” Start thinking I had to get myself mad and noticed that I didn’t have to, that’s what scared me.’
‘How I knew I had a mental health problem was when I pulled the trigger,’ he added.
In 2016, Lil Wayne rapped about the incident on Solange’s Mad, saying: ‘And when I attempted suicide, I didn’t die/I remember how mad I was on that day/Man, you gotta let it go before it get up in the way/Let it go, let it go.’
More: Mental health
On the song London Roads, he also said: ‘Ms. Cita, I remember goin’ in your gun drawer/Puttin’ it to my chest and missin’ my heart by centimeters, oh Lord.’
Lil Wayne, real name Dwayne Carter Jr, returned to music last year with the release of his chart-topping album, Funeral, in January 2020. He’s currently working on his next record, I Am Not A Human Being III, which is expected to arrive later this year.
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