Famed Southern rapper Lil Wayne nearly died when he was just 12 years old after shooting himself in the chest with a pistol. A police officer then took him to the hospital. When he dies, the artist mourns him. “You refused to let me die.”
The well-known US rapper Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., mourns the death of former police officer Robert Hobbler, who recently died at the age of 65. When the musician from New Orleans was only 12 years old, he shot himself in the chest with a pistol in 1994. Hobbler found the boy and helped save his life. Lil Wayne has publicly described the incident several times. At the beginning of his career, the 39-year-old artist described the event from his childhood as an accident. But in current interviews, such as with “HipHop DX”, he now speaks of mental problems and an attempted suicide.
Lil Wayne posted a photo of his rescuer at the time on Instagram and shared his thoughts on “Uncle Bob,” as he calls Hobbler himself. “Everything happens for a reason, I was dying when I first met you in this very place. You refused to let me die.” Everything that doesn’t happen has a reason. “That reason is you and faith. RIP Uncle Bob. Aunt Kathie has been waiting for you. I will love and miss you and live for all of you.”
The US site “Nola.com” reports that police officer Robert Hobbler was not on duty that day 28 years ago. However, he still came to the boy’s aid when he listened to the emergency call over the radio. Five other officers also went to the scene. Compared to “HipHop DX”, the rapper recalls that the police initially jumped over him and looked for drugs and weapons.
It was Hobbler who took care of him immediately and didn’t want to wait for the ambulance. The police then drove him to the hospital. According to the report from “Nola.com”, the police officer tried to speak to him. “Stay awake, son, you’ll get through this, you’ll see,” he is said to have said while the boy was lying on his lap.
Lil Wayne claims to have met the cop again years later after the incident. Hobbler, 65, has struggled with many health issues in recent years, according to Nola.com, which refers to his grandson. Including diabetes and the consequences of a traffic accident.
While only East and West Coast rap was talked about in the 90s, it is Lil Wayne who, alongside Outcast and Gucci Mane, is considered a pioneer of the extremely popular Dirty South genre. In the song “I Feel Like Dying” (2007) he already dealt with the subject of depression. He has also processed his experiences as a twelve-year-old musically, namely in “Let It All Work Out” from his hit album Tha Carter V (2018).