walking upstream…
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. joined Cash Money Records as a child prodigy in the early 1990s and, after grinding through the Hot Boys and a run of solo albums, declared himself 'the best rapper alive' and largely made the case with Tha Carter III (2008) — a chart-topping, Grammy-winning album built on his signature stream-of-consciousness wordplay, gravel-and-melody voice, and prolific, often-unwritten freestyle technique. He mentored a generation of Young Money artists, Drake and Nicki Minaj foremost among them, reshaping mainstream rap's sense of what a punchline could be.
the sound in question
2008
LollipopLil Wayne
walk the tributaries ↓
Jay-Z1990s–2000s · East Coast hip-hop / Mafioso rap
Wayne has named Jay-Z his favorite rapper and top-five pick, gotten lyrics from Jay's 'The Life and Times of S. Carter' tattooed on his body, and credited Jay directly with inspiring him to stop writing lyrics down and record entirely off the top of his head.
listen: upstream & heresource: American Songwriter — Lil Wayne Stopped Writing Down Lyrics Because of Jay-Z ↗
1996
Dead Presidents IIJay-Z
2008
A MilliLil Wayne
listen forPlay Jay-Z's dense, rapid-fire 'Dead Presidents II,' a showcase of pure technical command, next to Wayne's famously off-the-dome 'A Milli' — both are essentially technical exhibitions, an MC daring you to keep up.
Tupac Shakur1990s · West Coast hip-hop / Conscious hip-hop
Wayne has said his 2011 single 'How to Love' pulled direct inspiration from Tupac's 'Keep Ya Head Up,' and he paid further tribute covering Tupac's music for his MTV Unplugged special — the plainspoken, melodic uplift-through-hardship mode of that song traces straight back to Tupac's own message records.
listen: upstream & here
1993
Keep Ya Head UpTupac Shakur
2011
How to LoveLil Wayne
listen forPlay Tupac's tender, community-facing 'Keep Ya Head Up' next to Wayne's 'How to Love' — both strip away bravado for a plain, melodic plea aimed at someone specific rather than a boast aimed at everyone.
The Notorious B.I.G.1990s · East Coast hip-hop / Gangsta rap / Hardcore hip-hop
Wayne named Biggie among his all-time top five rappers and, as the Hot Boys era wound down, became explicit about wanting to be remembered in the same breath as Biggie and Jay-Z — the rags-to-riches, hood-to-hustle storytelling framing of his own breakout single echoes Biggie's debut template.
listen: upstream & here
1994
JuicyThe Notorious B.I.G.
1999
Tha Block Is HotLil Wayne
listen forPlay Biggie's 'Juicy,' the archetypal rags-to-riches rap origin story, next to Wayne's debut single 'Tha Block Is Hot' — both are a young rapper's first big statement, turning a hard-knock backstory into a victory lap.