Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar’s “Mona Lisa” has already proven to be one of the most popular songs from Weezy’s new album Tha Carter V thanks to its dense verses and storytelling. In the wake of its release, some fans have noticed that portions of Kendrick’s verse (in which he plays the character of a popular rapper) bear a striking similarity to one of Wayne’s real-life relationships.
For years, the New Orleans rapper was romantically connected to Karrine Steffans, the former hip-hop video vixen who gained national fame with her 2005 tell-all book Confessions of a Video Vixen.
In a 2012 interview with VladTV, Steffans explained that she kept her romantic relationship with Wayne going throughout her two marriages and other relationships, something that would eventually become an issue for her partners:
“Wayne will call the house at three, four o'clock in the morning, and I will answer. And if he says, ‘I’m at the skatepark, or I’m here,’ I’ll get up and I will go… And I’ll be gone for days,” she said. “When he calls my phone, he has a ringtone, and you know it’s him because it’s his voice rapping or singing about me, and that’s the tone. And it goes off at 4 o'clock in the morning, and I jump up and I get dressed and I leave, you stop being able to take it after a while.”
These remarks bear a striking resemblance to the narrative of Kendrick’s verse, where he discovers his girl is also messing around with Wayne after hearing her phone go off with the Young Money rapper’s 2008 hit “Lollipop” as its ringtone. Kendrick raps:
Fucking on another nigga, that’s a negative alone
But you sucked this dick, that’s just nasty
Matter of fact, bitch, gimme your phone! (No!)
You fuckin' with Wayne’s? (No!)
Bitch, gimme your phone! (No!)
Let me, let me take this call real quick
(…lick me like a lollipop) He on your fuckin' ringtone?
Is that the shit that you do?
It’s also worth noting that “Lollipop” was the highest-selling ringtone of 2008. Although Wayne has never said if the song is about someone in particular, its lyrics are a thinly veiled reference to oral sex. Steffans is often referred to as “Superhead,” a nickname that stemmed from a previous relationship with a rapper. In a 2007 interview for Ozone Magazine’s sex issue, Wayne discussed his relationship with Steffans, including the fact that she continued seeing him during her marriage:
Wayne directly referenced his relationship with Steffans on 2013’s “Love Me” with Future and Drake, as well as Drake’s 2008 song “Ransom.” His leaked 2007 song “Prostitute Flange” is widely believed to be about her, while Steffans has also claimed that Wayne’s verse on Joe Budden’s 2012 song “She Don’t Put It Down” a reference to their relationship:
You be fuckin' that nigga like you was fucking me?
Ha, fuck that nigga! He can’t fuck with me
I’m Tunechi, bitch, and you know that
Based on Wayne and Steffans' lengthy relationship and the details about the pair that match Kendrick’s verse, it seems like Kendrick could be referencing her on his “Mona Lisa” guest feature.
Listen to the song above and read all the lyrics to Lil Wayne’s “Mona Lisa” featuring Kendrick Lamar on Genius now.
