Since proclaiming himself the “best rapper alive” on his 2005 album Tha Carter II, New Orleans MC Lil Wayne has been residing as much as the title. Lil Wayne has many years within the sport, after rising to prominence within the Scorching Boys, with Juvenile, B.G., and Turk on the Money Cash label. These days, he stands as one of many best-selling artists of all time. As these finest Lil Wayne songs present, his affect on hip-hop tradition is immeasurable. In the course of the mid-00s, you couldn’t go wherever with out listening to his free-flow, and now we’re counting down the High 20 Lil Wayne songs. In any case, it’s Wayne’s world, we’re simply residing in it.
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25: Drop The World
Like most of Weezy’s output, “Drop the World” was legendary earlier than it even got here out. It’s the stand-out monitor on Rebirth, and never simply because it’s one of the verse-heavy cuts. Wayne’s ascent to the highest started shortly after Eminem’s battle with drug dependancy acquired actual. So when Em was again on the scene in 2009, individuals questioned when the 2 guys may collaborate. They’d by no means finished so earlier than — two of the one titans who hadn’t – and the end result was an immediate basic. “Drop the World” was the primary (and perhaps finest) of the three songs the MCs would seem on collectively over the course of the subsequent yr.
24: 30 Minutes to New Orleans
To his diehard followers, Lil Wayne’s ascent was outlined by delays and leaks. In 2007 and 2008, you would get on DatPiff, SOHH, or wherever, and there’d be new Wayne music. The leaks acquired him a buzz like nobody had ever had. Would we get full variations of the songs? Blended and mastered variations? For many of those, the reply was no. Perhaps essentially the most well-known occasion was “30 Minutes to New Orleans.” It first reared its head in a documentary known as The Carter, with Wayne rapping it on a tour bus, however we wouldn’t get a full model for what felt like years.
23: Georgia
“Georgia… Bush” is exclusive amongst Lil Wayne’s catalog, however there are few songs prefer it in rap, interval. It’s nearly like a kind of occasions a comic offers an incredible efficiency in a dramatic function. The bars are scathing and the hook is a slam dunk. What extra may you ask for? Dedication 2 was one of many mixtapes that propelled Wayne to new heights between Tha Carter IV and Tha Carter III, and shutting it out with this music is without doubt one of the most show-stopping moments of Lil Wayne’s profession.
22: Nightmare of the Backside
It was by no means an official single, however “Nightmares of the Bottom” is without doubt one of the songs that made Tha Carter IV what it was. Wayne had spent the previous few years cultivating this rockstar persona, and now, contemporary out of Rikers, he was debuting a brand new music on an MTV Unplugged session. The rockstar factor was understanding. “Nightmares” has a beat that makes it really feel like one thing Wayne may have recorded years earlier, and being sandwiched between C4’s official singles makes it really feel much more standout.
21: Issues
Midway by way of Tha Carter V, it turns into clear that the wait was value it. The album hits the bottom operating, wiping away any doubt after years of delay, however by the point you get to “Problems,” it’s evident that Wayne continues to be among the many finest. He reminds you that he can nonetheless kill a hook together with his circulation, and it’s so slick right here that it’s straightforward to overlook simply how good his wordplay is. His inflection makes it one in every of his most existential-feeling hooks too.
20: I Miss My Dawgs
“I Miss My Dawgs” is a poignant music for a lot of causes. It’s Lil Wayne at a younger age, actually and candidly addressing his falling-out with former labelmates – and he’s nonetheless on the label. It was additionally an early signal of the facility of Wayne’s elastic voice, which may bounce from a shrill croak to a brash rasp right away. On 2004’s Tha Carter, Wayne already had a backstory that was making him a legend.
19: 3 Peat
The opener of Wayne’s most monumental album is big. Over a Maestro beat, he raps his ass off for 3 minutes straight. On Carter III, he’d do that whereas additionally going pop within the largest methods, getting bizarre on songs like “Phone Home” and taking up personas in songs like “Dr. Carter.” “3 Peat” is so spectacular that it principally offers Wayne permission to do no matter he desires.
18: Cash To Blow (Birdman, that includes Lil Wayne and Drake)
Collectively, Wayne, Drake, and Birdman recorded quite a few tracks, most of them certifiable hits that ended up on Birdman tasks or Wayne mixtapes that didn’t get an official launch. “Money To Blow” is most emblematic of the Birdman life-style that introduced all these guys collectively. It additionally boasts a basic Drake hook from his early days and culminates with one in every of Wayne’s most prophetic lyrics of all time: “We gon be all right if we put Drake on every hoooook.”
17: Make It Rain (Fats Joe, that includes Lil Wayne)
One among Wayne’s first basic options comes from period that seemingly had no finish. And it’s only a hook! Wayne was all the time good for a hook – it’s one of many extra underrated points of his profession, and definitely an unsung talent as a featured artist. A rapper so massive showing on a monitor with Fats Joe was one other signal that hip-hop was quickly altering all through the 00s.
16: Again That Azz Up (Juvenile, that includes Mannie Contemporary and Lil Wayne)
“Back That Azz Up” is amongst top-of-the-line Lil Wayne songs – and it’s not even his monitor. He solely has a function, and it’s an outro. Whereas not an instance of his finest lyrics, the music has develop into a staple of each celebration in black America and an early signifier that Wayne can be a star. His presence alone speaks to his charisma, though he wasn’t even a solo act but.
15: Tie My Palms (that includes Robin Thicke)
Wayne rapped quite a bit in regards to the affect of Hurricane Katrina and the Bush Administration. Typically he did it openly, however “Tie My Hands” is the alternative, thanks partially to a function from Robin Thicke. His voice is restrained however hopeful, and an amazing counterpart to Wayne’s (at occasions frantic) grief. Few rappers are tied to their metropolis like Wayne is to his.
14: Grown Man (that includes Curren$y)
Wayne made a handful of songs like “Grown Man”: laidback with out fairly evolving into full-on seduction anthems. He was at his most convincing on this mode on Tha Carter II, on which his fame and energy had been in excellent steadiness. After that, he acquired too massive to kick it like this. ‘Grown Man’ is basic not only for the beat, however for the king of chilling, Curren$y, getting a function. He and Wayne have a storied profession, however that is his solely look on a Lil Wayne studio monitor.
13: This Is The Carter
As a result of the collaborations between Wayne and Mannie Contemporary had been finally fewer in quantity than lots of people hoped for, the highlights have come to age like wonderful wine. “A lot more rich and a whole lot smarter” wasn’t simply true on Tha Carter, it was true 3 times in a row. Wayne’s mumble of “finally perfect” wasn’t true but, however the way in which he mentioned it, you knew it will be.
12: Go DJ
“Go DJ” is the quintessential music of the golden age of Lil Wayne and Mannie Contemporary. When you needed to deliver one music from Tha Carter to a desert island, this may be it. Wayne sounds hungry, like he may have rapped on this factor endlessly. In some methods, he did, although the music would kind of mark the tip of his skilled involvement with Manny Contemporary for years to come back.
11: Dr. Carter
“Dr. Carter” is presumably the unlikeliest success of Wayne’s profession. It’s not solely an idea music, which, in 2008, had largely fallen out of style, however it’s additionally exceptionally literal. On prime of that, it’s ridiculous. However the truth that it really works and is inherently charming is a testomony to the charisma that discovered Wayne residing as much as the “best rapper alive” boast when the Younger Cash album Tha Carter III was launched. (The report went platinum in its first week and gained a Grammy Award for Finest Rap Album.)
10: Fireman
For a technology of listeners, “Fireman” was their introduction to Lil Wayne; it might have been their first time seeing A Bathing Ape gear in a music video, or recognizing the Phantom on the quilt of Tha Carter II by title. For others, it was a second of Wayne’s noticeable transformation right into a extra numerous, freely associative rapper. With “Fireman,” it grew to become clear simply how a lot potential Wayne had.
9: We Takin’ Over (DJ Khaled, that includes Akon, TI, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Birdman and Fats Joe)
One other DJ Khaled music ranks greater than this one, however the unique “We Takin’ Over,” and Wayne’s subsequent freestyle over the instrumental, was indeniable proof that, when he mentioned he was the very best, he was proper. The sentiment of the music utilized to Wayne fairly actually, and “Feed me rappers or feed me beats” can be the mantra of his career-defining run.
8: Proper Above It (that includes Drake)
“Right Above It” got here at a selected second in time in Wayne’s profession: his unopposed run because the king of rapdom was drawing to a detailed, and he was about to start out his notorious imprisonment at Riker’s Island. And Drake was getting greater by the day. Kane Beatz was additionally making a few of the finest beats of the period, and this was one in every of them. It’s one of many standout Wayne/Drake collabs that sees them being uncharacteristically jubilant however not with out some venom.
7: I’m On One (DJ Khaled, that includes Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne
This is without doubt one of the finest, if not the very best, DJ Khaled singles, and it’s completely classic Drake and Rick Ross. The “DJ Khaled!” drop is sort of chilling, and it will be laborious to prime a beat that includes these three artists at the moment. However the actual show-stealing second comes from Wayne, who opens his verse with top-of-the-line strains of his profession: “I walk around the club… f__k everybody.”
6: Shooter (that includes Robin Thicke)
Wayne was all the time a assured and eclectic collaborator. It’s one of many issues that finally led him to Rebirth. If “Tie My Hands” is a sobering tribute, then “Shooter” is a gradual, seductive construct to a piercing collection of moments which might be fairly reverse of sobering. Thicke’s finest collaboration with a rapper, it’s additionally a staunch and superior indictment of anti-Southern sentimentalities: “If we’re too simple, y’all don’t get the basics.”
5: Stuntin’ Like My Daddy (that includes Birdman)
Of all of Wayne and Birdman’s Money Cash Data collabs, that is essentially the most important. It’s acquired the very best hook of any music they’ve made collectively – and possibly the very best hook of the period – and it options a few of their most classic verses. For mainstream followers extra aware of Wayne, it turned Birdman right into a family title. “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy” is so massive, its fame will in all probability outlive the feud that finally undid their collaborative partnership.
4: Mr Carter (that includes Jay Z)
Tha Carter III established Wayne as one of the necessary rappers of the period. It opens up with the bombastic and melodramatic “3 Peat’,” as Wayne runs his victory lap all through the remainder of the album. ‘Mr Carter’ isn’t simply two titans buying and selling bars over a classically-chipmunked soul pattern, nevertheless, it’s one biggest all-time baton passes and endorsements. Jay’s presence on the music was particularly vital given the duo’s historical past of will they/gained’t they feuding.
3: Lollipop (that includes Static Main)
T-Ache acquired well-known utilizing autotune, however it was Wayne’s “Lollipop” that basically ushered it into mainstream acceptability. Now it’s a mainstay, however “Lollipop” continues to be one of many period’s most memorable moments. It’s lyrically sparser than quite a lot of what Wayne was recognized for on the time, however the trade-off was one in every of his most earworm-y hooks and largest crossover singles ever. “Fireman” and the vast majority of the singles off Tha Carter had been smash hits, however for a number of months you couldn’t go wherever in America with out listening to “Lollipop.” (Actually. It topped the Billboard Scorching 100 for 3 weeks.)
2: Hustler Musik
For these amongst Wayne’s followers who contemplate Carter II to be his crowning achievement, “Hustler Musik” is probably most consultant of a “they don’t make ‘em like this anymore” beat that showcases the confidence of Wayne’s circulation. Even earlier than he grew to become the largest rapper on the planet, Wayne believed he’d made it.
1: A Milli
With “Lollipop,” Wayne crafted one of many largest crossover singles ever, establishing the entire hip-hop domination he’d been speaking about for years. If there have been nonetheless any doubters, “A Milli” proved not solely that he may play within the pop lane, however that he may out-rap nearly anybody. The beat is an immediate basic that’s an ideal slam dunk for Wayne’s unmatched charisma. On “A Milli,” he actually was the very best rapper alive.
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