In the late 1990s, Eminem and Lil Wayne burst onto the Rap around the same time. Both MCs’ careers date back earlier into the decade. However, the same 1999 Marshall Mathers released The Slim Shady LP, The Hot Boys’ Weezy dropped breakout solo, Tha Block Is Hot. Each artist had respected veteran producers at the helm in the form of Dr. Dre and Mannie Fresh, respectively. From there, each artist took flight into superstardom during the next decade.

Although an Eminem and Wayne collaboration may have seemed unusual to some Rap fans in the ’90s, the two men worked together several times. 2009’s “Forever” linked Em, Weezy, Kanye West, and Wayne’s protege Drake for a blockbuster single. Later that year, Marshall appeared on Wayne’s Rock song “Drop The World.” A year later, Tunechi returned the favor with a feature verse on “No Love.”

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Appearing on Drink Champs (episode #195) for the release of his January 31 album, Funeral, Wayne describes the level of competition that he feels with Eminem. “I did a few joints with Em, that’s my man,” Lil Wayne says. Co-host N.O.R.E. brings up Eminem’s propensity to out-rap his collaborators—a claim once popularized by Nas during the feud with JAY-Z.

“You’re probably the only person that did a record with Em that [the fans] said that Em didn’t body,” N.O.R.E. says at 35:30. “How do you feel about that?”

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Wayne responds, “I can humbly say that I expected [to stand up for myself]. When you get on that joint, it’s like a championship game. And [then] you win it, and they ask you, ‘How do you feel?’ I came in with my game plan, and I expected my game plan to work. When you send a song to Em…yeah, I tried to attack it like that, like, ‘Nah, you’re not gonna do me [like] this. So I’ma put it all out there [too]. Either we gon’ be right here with it, and we’re going to make a beautiful great song, but you ain’t gon’ do me that.’ Nobody ever said [anybody bodied each other]; I just made sure that he didn’t body me, ’cause that boy is a monster.”

N.O.R.E. asks if Wayne is competitive, and the guest says “yeah” with wide eyes. He adds that that includes his pupil, Drake. “All day. I make sure he knows that when he sends [the beat]. ‘Make sure your mama don’t be listenin’ to this.'”

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Wayne also credits his mentor and adoptive father Birdman with his competitive spirit. Before speaking of Em specifically, Weezy said that on Hot Boys’ songs, Cash Money Records’ co-founder always put the best verses up front. “Being in Hot Boys was perfect, but I looked at it like school. That’s a test: ‘I’ma go pass the test when I get to that studio; my verse gon’ be the hardest.’ And with Baby, it was always about who he wanted to go first…That always let us know he liked your verse the most. Now go back and listen to how I start off on all them songs.”

N.O.R.E. also reads a text from Tidal’s JAY-Z. “When [Lil Wayne] rapped [a mixtape version of] ‘Show Me What You Got,’ I had to take a long walk and look at myself in the mirror, and I said ‘are you sure you still got this?'” After hearing Jay’s words, Wayne recalls getting Shawn Carter’s rare praise for Da Drought 3’s “Dough Is What I Got.” “[JAY-Z] let me know ‘you comin’ for me, boy!’ It’s just a privilege. I can’t get on that [song] and play with it, man.” Wayne likens the thrill to his favorite NFL team: Green Bay. “You don’t understand, I’ma about to walk out of here like the Packers won!” Wayne adds that he feels that Eminem made him feel like Jay’s sentiments. He also says that his “Hello Brooklyn” verse (which includes a reference to Capone-N-Noreaga) for JAY-Z was something Hov heard on a Wayne mixtape and asked him to re-purpose for American Gangster. Elsewhere in the discussion Weezy also points out that his mixtape catalog earned him no money.

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The interview finds Lil Wayne crediting Missy Elliott as one of his favorite rappers. He describes the love and loyalty that JAY-Z showed him during hard times. The MC also describes writing none of his bars down since an early 2000s mixtape. It is believed to be 2003’s SQ7: 10,000 Bars tape with Squad Up. He also details his fandom of the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Red Sox, Louisiana State University, and the Packers.

Funeral features 2 Chainz, Big Sean, Lil Baby, Takeoff, and veteran Young Money artist, Lil Twist. Notably, the LP is 24 tracks long. Following the Jay Rock-assisted “Bing James,” there is a 24-second moment of silence. This week, Wayne confirmed to Skip Bayless that both gestures are signs of respect to Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday (January 26).

.@RealSkipBayless: Your 13th studio album ‘Funeral’ just dropped. What do you want this one to say in the totality of your career?@LilTunechi: To show where I’m at in my career, show the hungriness. To show younger artists that there’s still hunger, and you don’t lose it. pic.twitter.com/WO5qBv26Mi

— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) January 31, 2020

The Drink Champs interview taped prior to that incident.

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Earlier this month, Eminem released a sneak-attack album, Music To Be Murdered By.