Drake Was Initially Not Permitted On Lil Wayne’s Tour Bus, According To The Director Of 'The Carter,' Who Described Him As 'Such A Dork'

Drake played a significant role in transforming Young Money into a leading label in hip-hop; however, there was a period when he was not permitted on Lil Wayne’s tour bus.

Adam Bhala Lough, the director of the well-known documentary The Carter, discussed the film’s production and its sequel, which has recently surfaced online, with music journalist Andre Gee for his Substack newsletter.

Reflecting on the time during Tha Carter III when he filmed Wayne at the height of his career, Lough recounted an amusing story involving Drake and his initial awkwardness within Young Money.

He mentioned, “Most of the time when I wasn’t filming Wayne, I was on set with Tez [Bryant, Wayne’s then-manager], Mack Maine, and Nicki Minaj. Before Wayne appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, I spent some time with her when she was relatively unknown, and they wouldn’t allow Drake on the bus. He was quite awkward, and they wouldn’t let him on.”

Lough continued, “Once Drake began selling millions of records, the situation changed. Initially, he was definitely not allowed on the bus and was not socializing with them, primarily due to the presence of actual Blood gang members, which may have intimidated him. I found it intimidating as well, even though they treated me well. These were serious gang members who were armed, and situations could escalate quickly.”

In addition to his work on The Carter, Lough, who has directed music videos for MF DOOM and a documentary on Lee “Scratch” Perry, revealed that disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon were initially involved in funding the documentary.

“Quincy Jones III reached out to me after seeing one of my prior films and expressed a desire to collaborate. He mentioned having a connection with a company linked to Miramax, which was owned by Harvey Weinstein and Steve Bannon,” Lough stated.

“Many might not recall, but Bannon came from Hollywood as a producer. The original backers for The Carter were supposed to be Weinstein and Bannon, which could have led to an interesting outcome, but they shut down their operations during the film’s production.”

Regarding the sequel, Lough recently uploaded a rough cut on YouTube after hackers leaked previously recorded footage from the Tha Carter and Tha Carter II eras. The two-hour clip features Lil Wayne presenting unreleased music, working in the studio with a young 2 Chainz (then known as Tity Boi) and Curren$y, as well as discussing his challenges with Cash Money Records.

View this post on Instagram

It is not confirmed whether the film will receive an official release, but Lough aims to complete a finished version and has had favorable discussions with Wayne’s manager, Fabian Marasciullo.

“There are essentially two options: Either a major streaming service will pick it up, or we might opt for self-distribution and release it directly to fans. We’ll see how it unfolds; it will happen as it should,” he explained.

Lough also suggested that the sequel might be divided into two parts, stating, “There’s so much footage that it may warrant two films. In that case, I’d estimate it to be around 40% done. If it’s just this one part, I’d put it at closer to 70% done, but it still requires mixing, color correction, and other enhancements.”

The rough cut created by Lough is available for viewing.