Lil Wayne Says Drake Inspired Him to Use Teleprompters During Live Shows

Lil Wayne has revealed that Drake helped him find a practical solution to one of the challenges created by his enormous music catalogue: remembering every lyric during live performances.

During an appearance on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast, Wayne explained that he began using teleprompters after seeing Drake rely on screens to follow his lyrics onstage.

The technology allows performers to see upcoming words without noticeably interrupting the concert. For Wayne—whose career includes studio albums, mixtapes, features and countless unreleased recordings—it has become a useful safeguard against forgetting a line.

Drake gave his mentor an unexpected lesson

The revelation presents an interesting reversal in the history of Young Money.

Lil Wayne famously helped introduce Drake to a global hip-hop audience and gave the Toronto artist an important platform during the early stages of his recording career. Years later, Wayne found himself adopting a performance technique used by the artist he helped develop.

While some rap listeners may view teleprompters as unusual, they are commonly used by touring musicians, television presenters and other live performers. The screens can be especially useful when an artist regularly changes setlists or has decades of material from which to choose.

Wayne previously discussed the same technique during a March 2026 appearance on ESPN’s UnSportsmanLike, saying teleprompters helped prevent him from forgetting his lyrics and that he picked up the idea from Drake. His new Friends Keep Secrets conversation has now brought the story back into the social-media spotlight. LilWayneHQ covered Wayne’s earlier ESPN explanation.

Lil Wayne has admitted forgetting his own lyrics

This is not the first time Wayne has spoken openly about the difficulty of keeping track of everything he has recorded.

During a 2020 conversation with Eminem on Young Money Radio, Wayne said he sometimes searches his own lyrics online to determine whether he has previously used a particular line or idea.

That challenge is understandable for an artist whose creative process has produced an unusually large body of work. Wayne became known for recording without writing lyrics down, developing verses inside the studio and delivering them directly into the microphone.

Remembering those performances years later can be very different from memorizing lyrics that were written and repeatedly rehearsed beforehand.

Drake and Wayne previously sparked a teleprompter debate

The use of the technology became a public talking point in 2024 after fans noticed teleprompters during a Drake concert featuring Lil Wayne.

Wayne appeared during Drake’s It’s All a Blur Tour — Big as the What? stop in Sunrise, Florida, where they performed their 2010 collaboration “Right Above It.” Footage showed lyrics appearing on screens positioned near the stage.

I’m looking at two different Waynes, the one in the picture is GOAT level Wayne and the video is Uncle Wayne 🤣

— Deano (@Deanoversity) July 22, 2026

The discovery divided rap fans. Some argued that performers should know every word, while others defended the technology as reasonable support for artists managing extensive catalogues. Teleprompters are also common across other musical genres and do not necessarily mean that the performer is reading every word throughout the show. Complex documented the original online debate.

Their Young Money relationship continues to evolve

Wayne’s story illustrates how the influence between him and Drake has operated in both directions.

Wayne gave Drake an early co-sign, collaborations and access to the Young Money platform. Drake subsequently became one of the biggest touring artists of his generation, developing performance systems suited to arenas and stadiums.

In this instance, the student introduced the mentor to a tool that allowed him to present his music more reliably.

For an artist with as many recordings as Lil Wayne, using a teleprompter may be less about preparation and more about managing the scale of the legacy he has created.

The disclosure nevertheless leaves hip-hop audiences with a familiar debate: Should rappers be expected to remember every lyric, or is using available technology simply part of producing a professional live show?