Born and raised in New Orleans, Lil Wayne is one of the wealthiest rappers alive. The Louisiana musician is the mogul that founded the legendary Young Money label, which launched the careers of artists such as Nicki Minaj, Drake and Tyga. That said, Lil Wayne has seen an unfathomable amount of success himself and has sold millions of records over the years.
Lil Wayne (real name Dwayne Carter) was discovered by Birdman when he was just a teenager and signed initially to Cash Money as part of the Hot Boyz group. However, as the group dissipated, Lil Wayne became Birman’s protégé. Remaining on the record label, Carter began recording his debut album, Tha Block Is Hot. Having already built a buzz by touring on the underground across the south and with multiple tracks receiving local airplay in the south, Tha Block Is Hot, pushed by Cash Money and Universal Music, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.
Between 1999 and 2004, Wayne released two more studio albums, but they never reached the heights of his debut. However, he did multiple features, including a verse on the Destiny’s Child song ‘Soldier’. In 2004 Wayne released his fourth studio album, Tha Carter, which birthed his Carter album series. Fortunately, with his classic mixtape series Dedication alongside DJ Drama shaking up the underground, Lil Wayne became Cash Money’s face and, before long, its new star.
After being given his imprint label Young Money, Carter began recruiting some of the most prominent artists in hip-hop today and as such has become a multi-millionaire and business tycoon. In this article, we will look at the rapper’s five best songs of all time. Please take a look at our picks below.
The five best Lil Wayne songs of all time:
5. ‘Drop The World’ ft Eminem
One of Carter’s most popular songs is ‘Drop The World’ featuring legendary Detroit rapper Eminem. Released as the third single for Wayne’s 2010 album, Rebirth, ‘Drop The World’ is one of Lil Wayne’s most revered songs. Recorded at Effigy Studios in Eminem’s home state of Michigan, ‘Drop The World’ peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2010.
Lil Wayne and Eminem are both considered deadly lyricists, and this collaboration saw a mixture of aggression and togue-twisting rhymes that these two artists could have only achieved. With a rock-rap sound, the single was produced by Hit-Boy alongside Travis Barker of Blink-182,
4. ‘Mirror’ ft Bruno Mars
Released as the sixth single of Wayne’s 2011 album Tha Carter IV, ‘Mirror’ was a highly successful crossover track for the Louisiana rapper. Its slow, melodic instrumental made it very suitable for mainstream radio, and Bruno Mars’ emotional hook gave ‘Mirror’ a feel of profundity.
The track is exceptionally introspective and reflective. The single, which has been described as a rap ballad, debuted at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified four times platinum by the RIAA. Industry rumours emerged when it was released that the track’s producer, REO, was in talks with Kanye for the beat to be used on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. However, he was happy that Wayne used it as he felt Carter had done the instrumental justice.
3. ‘6 Foot 7 Foot’ ft Cory Gunz
‘6 Foot 7 Foot’ was the lead single of Wayne’s 2011 album Tha Carter IV. Written while he was in prison, the track is revered for its witty lyricism and clever metaphors that could go right over your head. Featuring Bronx rapper Cory Gunz who delivers a lethal, fully-automatic barrage of lyrics in the second half od the song, ‘6 Foot 7 Foot’ is a classic.
The album cut debuted at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since become a fan favourite and in 2017 Insane Clown Posse even released a cover of the song. With an unfathomable amount of downloads on iTunes, the single was certified seven times platinum by the RIAA a year after its release.
2. ‘A Milli’
‘A Milli’ is one of Lil Wayne’s most well-known tracks. Released in 2008, it was the second single of Carter’s sixth album Tha Carter III. The freestyle song samples ‘Don’t Burn Down the Bridge’ by Gladys Knight & the Pips and was so popular it won a Grammy for ‘Best Rap Solo Performance’.
The song was critically acclaimed and praised by a number of different music publications, such as Rolling Stone, which ranked it as the tenth best song of 2008 and Blender, which placed it at number one. Produced by Mr Bangladesh, the producer disclosed that the song “created a lot of Lil Wayne fans. There’s a lot of Lil Wayne babies today that we see just based off ‘A Milli’ coming out!”
1. ‘Lollipop’ ft Static
Number one had to be given to this iconic track. Released as the lead single of Tha Carter III in 2008, the song has remained Wayne’s most successful track of all time. The single spent five weeks at number one and is a diamond-certified album cut. Furthermore, it was the most downloaded single worldwide on iTunes the year it was released. The track was a milestone for Carter and marked his first top ten hit as a lead artist.
The track was so popular it even got an official remix from Kanye West. Produced by Deezle and Jim Jonsin, the track sonically takes a lot from crunk music, which was very popular in the south during the early and mid-2000s. The featured artist Static Major died only two weeks before the track was released and Wayne paid tribute in the music video. To this day, it is Lil Wayne’s most successful single.
