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Lil Wayne Really Loves Prince

He calls the singer 'exceptional.'

We know Lil Wayne has been influenced by guys like Jay Z and 2Pac, but one of his greatest musical influences may surprise you: Prince.

“It was the way he pronounced words and the way he used his voice," Weezy told XXL for their new cover story. "It was like if he was playing with a baby. You know if he was playing with a kid. [Imitates a baby cooing] It was the way that he was exploring it. He wasn’t doing it because it was funny. He was doing it because he could make it sound good and exceptional."

Soon, Tunechi started taking cues from that. "I realized that I could do that, too," he said. "He wasn’t afraid of how he sounded because he knew what he was saying and how he was saying it would always sound good.”

We actually heard an inkling about this fandom back in 2009, when the Young Money MC told MTV News his dream movie role: "Prince in 'Purple Rain.'"

And while Wayne praised Prince for not being afraid of how he sounded, he did admit he's a bit uneasy -- even all these years and accomplishments into his career -- about how Tha Carter V will be received.

“I’m always feeling like I ain’t done sh--," he admitted. "I’m still nervous about Tha Carter V...I’m confident about what I do, but I’m still nervous about what people think."

There's still no official release date for Tha Carter V, but Tune has been releasing music to hold us over until we get there -- and he took MTV News behind-the-scenes for the video for one of those songs, "Krazy," which you can watch below.

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