The Super Bowl is also advertising’s… well… Super Bowl, which means we tend to get a lot of artist announcements via brand collaborations around this time of year. Last February, Beyoncé gave the world its first taste of Cowboy Carter in a Verizon ad. Lady Gaga was a week early with her “Abracadabra” video/Mastercard spot at the Grammys last Sunday, but Lil Wayne is right on time. The rapper just announced the release date for Tha Carter VI, his first solo album since 2020, in a Cetaphil Super Bowl ad.
The ad, titled “We’re all a Lil sensitive,” pokes fun at Lil Wayne’s disappointment over not being chosen to perform this year’s Super Bowl halftime show in his native New Orleans. (Kendrick Lamar will do the honors instead.) “But we have another focus,” a producer reminds him. Actually, he has two—working on the album and showing up like a hand cream-bearing superhero to heal the world’s awkward moments through moisturizer. In multiple instances, the dry-skinned victims wear jerseys showing the numbers 6/6/25—a Taylor Swift-esque easter egg for the ad’s final reveal: a shot of the rapper in the studio with a sign that says “Do not disturb ’til 06-06-25… Tha Carter VI.”
Per The Fader, Wayne’s label confirmed the release date for the album in conjunction with the ad. The rapper first began his Tha Carter series in 2004, with Tha Carter V dropping in 2018. He’s been keeping busy; today, Lil Wayne and GELO (a.k.a. professional basketball player LiAngelo Ball) also dropped a remix and music video for the latter’s viral hit “Tweaker.”
Speaking of the Cetaphil ad, Wayne said, “What attracted me to this project was the chance to flip the script… Showing a sensitive side isn’t a weakness—it’s a power. There’s nothing more real than turning those types of moments into a display of strength.” He added (via Rolling Stone): “This campaign made perfect sense to me. The world knew I was disappointed, but what they didn’t know was that it made me determined to deliver something way bigger.” Way to turn your pain into the world’s gain, Lil Wayne!
