Juelz Santana Combats Claims That Lil Wayne Copied His Style

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2008 NBA All-Star in New Orleans - The Finale Party
NEW ORLEANS - FEBRUARY 17: Juelz Santana (L) and Lil Wayne attend the 2008 NBA All-Star finale party on February 17, 2008 in New Orleans, LA. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Juelz Santana gives Lil Wayne his flowers as "the best rapper in the world."

Lil Wayne stands as one of the greatest to ever do it but that journey hasn't gone without its fair share of criticism surrounding his style. More specifically, there are people who claim that Weezy bit Juelz Santana's style.

NEW ORLEANS - FEBRUARY 17: Juelz Santana (L) and Lil Wayne attend the 2008 NBA All-Star finale party at the Creole Queen on February 17, 2008 in New Orleans, LA. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

While it's hard to deny Dipset's influence on Lil Wayne, Juelz shut down any claims that Wayne was copying him at any point. Instead, he believes Weezy is a student of the game, like many other rappers that came up during that time.

Juelz addressed these claims about his I Can't Feel My Face collaborator in a recent appearance on Twitter Spaces with Rob Markman. The Dipset rapper explained that he never felt Wayne blatantly took his style, but he said that Wayne took notes of his competitors and those that came before him to form his unique style.

"You know, especially these blogs and shit, they try to separate or try to throw salt in the game. They love to hit me with the 'Oh, Wayne took all this from you,'" he said. "I be like, man, Wayne is a student of the game just like we've all been students of the game. So Wayne did exactly what he was supposed to do. Wayne studied every artist."

Juelz elaborated that Wayne took from each of these artists and "incorporated into his style and what he needed to do and became the best artist that he needed to be."

With all of these different influences seeping into Wayne's craft, Juelz said it turned Weezy into "the best rapper in the world."

"We all took shit from each other," Juelz continued. "That's my brother at the end of the day."

Check out the clip below. How do you feel about Juelz's comments? Sound off in the comments.

About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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