Still, the music has a polished sheen, and blockbuster moments – such as ubiquitous singles Lollipop and A Milli – don’t blunt Wayne’s phenomenal rapping, while his alien tendencies are teased out in various high-concept experiments. Tha Carter III (2008)Īfter numerous delays, Tha Carter III fell just short of the legendary mixtape run that came before it.

But now 21, Wayne’s voice smoothed from the jittery style of his early records to the more monstrous flow that would become so familiar. Mannie was still chiefly in control behind the boards and Wayne’s focus was again on New Orleans street rap staples: cash, rap supremacy and his rivals. The first instalment of Tha Carter linked past and present. The hooks are killer: see Way of Life, which updates Junior Mafia’s classic Get Money. Perhaps feeling liberated, Wayne breathes more fire than before. The same team is assembled, but their presence is minimised, allowing Wayne’s tales from Chopper City more space, his braggadocio bristling with extra confidence.Īfter Cash Money’s first star, Juvenile, bailed out, Wayne asserted his allegiance to the label by calling his third album 500 Degreez – 100 hotter than Juve’s classic. Wayne’s second album offered a better showcase for his burgeoning talent than Tha Block Is Hot. His finest full-length in a decade, the 36-year-old’s music-making instincts and passion for rap reach levels we feared would never return. Wayne puts the frustrating delays and legal wrangles with Birdman in his rearview mirror with a personal, big-hearted record that combines modern sounds and thrilling early-00s pastiches. His froggy flow would smooth out, and quotable lines would become more cutting, but there’s plenty of no-nonsense street bars and plaintive musings from a kid who was already a father. The 17-year-old little Wayne’s ferocious debut encapsulated the Cash Money Records machine with Mannie Fresh’s rumble’n’bump beats and ample appearances from Weezy’s group Hot Boyz and Big Tymers. This is well made early-2010s hip-hop, but where is Wayne’s once uncontainable personality? 8. Rather than inviting guests into his universe, Weezy frequently attempts to slide into the sonic lane of guys such as Rick Ross and T-Pain. Wayne’s Tha Carter series has produced some of his most seminal records so it’s disappointing to find the fourth instalment feeling so superfluous.

Photograph: Erika Goldring/Getty Images 9. Lil Wayne performing in New Orleans, August 2018.

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