ATLANTA — Metro Atlanta businesswoman Nina Packer reflected on her time as the Charitable Advisor and Director of New Orleans-born hip-hop icon Lil Wayne’s One Family Foundation (2007-2013) and how she watched his “immeasurable impact” on humanity from up close for several years.
Packer received a call from a friend who was a publicist she connected to the film industry. She reached out to Lil Wayne’s former manager Cortez Bryant in 2007 about if Lil Wayne needed a publicist. Bryant said he needed someone to help create a foundation and was referred to Packer.
“At that time in 2007, I was a non-profit consultant,” Packer said. “Most of my clients were traditional non-profit. My biggest client at that time was 21st Century Leaders, which is a non-profit youth leadership organization here in Atlanta.”
Packer told Bryant the first step was to develop a strategic plan for what the non-profit would become, and she would create it based on that idea. During the weekend of Super Bowl 41, Packer and Bryant had a planning meeting at the Young Money Entertainment headquarters, which was previously in Packer’s hometown of Miami.
“I started that session with one question: Who is Lil Wayne? Tez looked up at me and said, ‘Lil Wayne is a rockstar.’ I said, okay,” Packer fondly recalled.
Packer said the first investment that Lil Wayne made led to the reopening and revitalization of Harrell Park after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005.
“My knowledge going into this meeting with Cortez was Wayne was one of the Hot Boys,” Packer said. “Tez told me the story of them being students at Eleanor McMain Secondary School in New Orleans together. Tez was a section leader in the band and wanted to have extra practice on the weekends. Lil Wayne was the only person who showed up to practice.”
The driver took Packer to Harrell Park in the Hollygrove section of New Orleans. Packer worked with New Orleans Recreational Department (NORD) Director Larry Barabino Jr., and the city of New Orleans to discuss plans for revitalizing Harrell Park.
“We started talking through the needs and what it would take to get the park reopened,” Packer said. “They gave me a number and said for $200,000, we could restore the basketball courts first. That would allow kids to come back to the park to play basketball. The remaining $150,000 would be used to rebuild the multi-purpose building that sits on the park.”
After agreeing to the investment, Packer and her team sent over a letter of intent to the city of New Orleans. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held when the courts were resurfaced in 2007.
Lil Wayne and the One Family Foundation were not invited to attend when the park was fully restored. Packer recalled the insurance company Allstate also donated funds.
The Super Bowl host committee for Super Bowl 47 identified Harrell Park as its legacy project. They received funding from Chevron in the amount of $1 million to pour into Harrell Park.
“That act of what he did in New Orleans was a huge thing to do that other companies came and added to it,” Packer said.
“When the other folks came in and made additional donations, there was no mention of the original donation that rebuilt the building and resurfaced the basketball courts so that the gates to the park could reopen,” Packer said.
Packer said Harrell Park is where Lil Wayne played football growing up and meant a lot to him.
“His donation to reopen those gates was purposeful, it was meaningful and very intentional,” she said. “We could probably teach a whole course work on Lil Wayne’s impact in his New Orleans roots. He also has a deep reverence for his city.”
In 2008 when many people said that hip-hop was dead. Lil Wayne helped to keep it alive with his dedication, incomparable body of work, and amazing work ethic.
“Every move we made was a rockstar move,” Packer said. “Then, Carter 3 came out and did numbers that were unheard of at that time. At that time, the whole world is looking for Young Money.”
Packer recalled Bryant trusting her to help run the operation for Bryant Management. Packer became Director of Operations for Bryant Management towards the end of 2008 and remained in that role until 2014 for when he merged his company and became Blueprint Group. At that time, rap superstar Drake was an emerging client.
“When we became Blueprint Group, we had Nicki Minaj as a management client,” she said.
Packer said there are countless examples of his generosity and how Lil Wayne was genuine to everyone around him.
“For him, he had ways he wanted to improve people’s lives and be helpful,” she said.
Packer recalled when Lil Wayne was incarcerated on Rikers Island in New York in 2010 and he still did everything in his power to connect with fans.
“When he was incarcerated, he had a fan who shared that the fan’s mother was immobile and couldn’t afford a mobility chair,” Packer said. “It was taking a toll on their life. I remember getting a call that Wayne wanted this woman to have the Maybach of wheelchairs basically. I identified a someone who custom built a mobility chair and delivered it to the home. He was still creating an opportunity for other people while in jail.”
During his I Am Music tour, Packer said Lil Wayne visited his old school Eleanor McMain Secondary School to speak to students. The art students helped to create the backdrop for the tour.
Packer said before she became a nonprofit consultant, one of her first jobs out of college was at the NFL Youth Education Town in Atlanta. The NFL was developing recreation centers in every Super Bowl host city.
“I understand that when the NFL has a Super Bowl, they want to contribute to the community,” she said. “The NFL wants to be a part of what’s valuable on the local level and put a lot of intention around making sure these communities are left better after the super bowl than they were before.”
On Sunday, it was announced that rapper Kendrick Lamar was selected to headline the halftime show of Super Bowl 59 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Throughout the week, millions of fans, supporters, family, and friends showed their support for Lil Wayne while questioning the decision not to select Lil Wayne to perform at the Super Bowl in his hometown.
Although it is not a given for a hip-hop artist to be selected as the Super Bowl performer,” Packer agreed with millions of fans that if anyone deserves that opportunity, its Lil Wayne.
On Thursday night, Lil Wayne went on Instagram Live and thanked everyone for the outpouring of support. In the IG live, Lil Wayne said he was “hurt” by the decision and it “broke him.” He also said he’s “working on myself and working.”
Packer said she doesn’t understand the NFL’s decision to not select Lil Wayne as the halftime performer of Super Bowl 59.
“The reason we’re seeing such an outcry is because so many people know Wayne is a generous artist,” Packer said. “All of the features, all the mixtapes, all of the everything that he avails himself for in the culture, we feel that as love in the culture. That’s why people are not afraid to speak out. It doesn’t make sense. Why not Lil Wayne?”
Packer said Lil Wayne is very generous, he’s a phenomenal football and NFL fan and is the greatest rapper of all time.
“Lil Wayne is a rock star,” Packer continued. “The numbers represent that. His impact in terms of the artists he’s birthed through the Young Money label demonstrates that. The artists whose careers he’s helped to thrive during a time in music when music was being said that hip-hop was dead demonstrate that. There’s no denying that and his appeal is universal.”
Packer said she is forever grateful for how Lil Wayne is as a person and how much he has changed her family’s life.
“People think they want to compare him to any other rapper,” she said. “The reality is his impact is immeasurable. He’s always thinking about people and his fans and trying to move humanity forward.”