Lil Wayne Dedicates 24 Seconds of Silence to Kobe Bryant on 'Funeral's Eighth Track

Wayne thanked his engineers for being able to make the change on short notice.

Lil Wayne has made his sports fandom painfully clear for over a decade now. He has appeared on ESPN dozens of times and made even more sports references in his music. Therefore, it's no surprise that he paid tribute to one of his sports idols on his latest release.

On Friday, Wayne released his thirteenth studio album, Funeral. The release comes just five days after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. In honor of his fallen friend, he dedicated 24 seconds of silence at the end of the album's eighth track, "Bing James." Canadian beatsmith Bijan Amir produced the track, which features TDE's Jay Rock. Amir best-known work is 21 Savage and Offset's "Ric Flair Drip," which originally appeared on the duo's Without Warning project.

Wayne joined Fox Sports 1's Undisputed to discuss the new album, in addition to the upcoming Super Bowl.

"I have to thank my big brother Mack [Maine]," Wayne told hosts Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe. "That was an idea he called me with right then and there. A day later, he called me with the idea. Of course, I agreed with it."

Wayne said the addition didn't interfere with the album's release, though it was on such short notice.

"Everybody who's involved with that type of thing," Wayne said, "everyone [understood] at that point."

Wayne previously dedicated a track to Kobe back in 2009, after Bryant's Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals.

H/T: TMZ Sports