Lil Wayne is opening up about a difficult time in his adolescence.
In the latest episode of Emmanuel Acho's Uncomfortable Conversations series, the Grammy winner, 38, reflected on surviving a suicide attempt when he was 12 years old.
After revealing that an aunt of his told him that he wouldn't be able to work on his rap career due to getting in trouble with his mom, Lil Wayne explained that his "thoughts were everywhere."
"I picked up the phone, I called the police," he shared. "Yes, I knew where she 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 Like Father, Like Son rapper revealed that he first pointed the gun to his head before he "got a little too scared."
"Then I said, ‘F--k it,'" he said, while pointing a finger at the left side of his chest. "Biggie [Smalls] was on."
"I'm looking in the mirror," he continued. "So, you could look through the mirror and the television was behind me. So, I was watching the video through the mirror. "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."
Wayne noted, "How I knew I had a mental health problem was when I pulled the trigger."
Although he was struck in the chest, the musician revealed that due to his shock, he "didn't feel a thing." Wayne then recalled waking up to the police knocking on his door multiple times and explained he managed to make his way to the door while gravely injured and alerted them by knocking back. According to the rapper, a police officer nicknamed "Uncle Bob" was the one to save his life and he later revealed that the two met up again later in life.
The following year, in 1995, Wayne was signed to Cash Money Records, becoming the youngest rapper on the label. The musician has referenced the incident in his music before, including his lyrics in Solange's 2016 single, "Mad."
"And when I attempted suicide, I didn't die," he rapped. "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."