Lil Wayne picks his favourite rap songs
Lil Wayne is an epic star and undoubtedly one of the best rappers to ever touch a microphone. As a lyricist and music executive, he has been highly successful and is responsible for many of the stars we see on the charts today.
From Drake to Nicki Minaj and Tyga as the face of Bridman’s Cash Money and the founder of Young Money, he has profoundly impacted hip-hop since his emergence at the turn of the millennium.
Wayne (real name Dwayne Carter) grew up in the South, which shaped his musical taste. However, he was still aware of music from other regions of America. Whether it was Death Row on the West Coast or Roc-a-Fella on the East Coast, Carter was paying attention to these movements and, more importantly, listening to the artists.
Hip-hop in the South during the 1990s was respected, yet it was still not as prevalent in the culture as it is today. From Geto Boys and UGK to Three 6 Mafia and 8Ball & MJG, whether it was Texas or Tennessee, there was still a disconnect between the region and the mainstream.
Some of the people who broke this barrier include Master P, Birdman and, in many ways, Lil Wayne. His relentless mixtape run saw him release 29 mixtapes that managed to shift the needle and turn heads in New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
That said, since the release of his debut album Tha Block Is Hot in 1999, Lil Wayne has gone on to achieve amazing things and in a 2020 interview with DJ Khaled, he reflected on who inspired him growing up and the tracks he considers the best rap songs of all time.
Naming four, he began, “As far as anthems, I’m going first with Killa Cam ‘Oh Boy’. I became the boy because of that song. That song wasn’t a song it was a lifestyle. And then, from Jay’s album, he has this song. I got the lyrics tattooed on me. ” The latter is a Jay-Z track named ‘Lucky Me’.
Carter continued, “Missy had this joint [‘The Slide’] it was number nine on her shit, and she just went bananas, and the last one is Goodie Mob ‘Goodie Bag.’” You can see the official list of Lil Wayne’s favourite hip-hop songs below
Lil Wayne’s favourite rap songs ever:
- Cam’Ron – ‘Oh Boy’, Come Home with Me, (2002)
- Jay-Z – ‘Lucky Me’, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, (1997)
- Missy Elliott – ‘Slide’, Under Construction, (2002)
- Goodie Mob – ‘Goodie Bag’, Soul Food, (1995)