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In a recent interview with XXL, Wayne talked about how Prince inspired him around the time when he was making The Carter II.
Lil Wayne Says Prince Is A Huge Influence On His Music - Page 3 of 3 - XXL
In a sense, many of the artists in your wake are expanding on what you’ve built—in the same way that you did to the early Cash Money artists, UGK and 2Pac.
LW-Yeah, but I couldn’t be like ’Pac because I was so New Orleans. Back then, when a nigga asked you to rap, you could be talking to them normal like this and when you asked them to rap, they’d put on a different voice. Niggas from New Orleans didn’t know how to do that shit. We just had to rap like we talk and hope you understand that shit. I couldn’t be like Pac. I had to be me. Muthafuckas compare me to him, but I have to be me. Everything was different.
Even as a young kid, were you always listening to hip-hop from other regions?
LW-Uh huh. None of them niggas around me was. Niggas wasn’t listening to nothing but us. So I had to listen to something else on my own time.
You’ve said that after you dropped your third solo album, 500 Degreez, you were able to start rapping the way that you’d always wanted to rap.
LW-Yeah, on Tha Carter I. When I started doing that, that’s when everyone else recognized me. That’s when I clicked beyond my region.
Do you remember much from your mixtape run when you were dropping roughly 200 songs or verses a year?
LW-Do I remember the verses? Hell no! I do new verses every day. I don’t remember shit I said last night, but I got it banging in the whip though to remind me.
We’re at Tha Carter V now. Let’s go back through the series. What stands out to you about the period when you made Tha Carter I?
LW-I was a little boss at that point. That’s when I’d got my shit together. I’d bought my mom a house. I had a chauffeur and didn’t have to drive no more. I was probably 19. I’d bought my first Bentley. I was stuntin’. I was on.
Then the Bentley kicked out on me at the daiquiri shop, and I went out and bought another one the next day! Fuck. I wish I wouldn’t have done that shit, but I did it. Shout out my nigga Moosa. He went out and picked up that shit for me. The daiquiri shop was packed, and my shit just died. I was like, “I just got this. It’s a Bentley!” So I slid out that bitch in a Corvette.
My nigga Moosa picked up the Bentley and put it on the back of a truck. He waited until every single soul left that daiquiri shop, just sitting on top of the Bentley, sipping a daiquiri.
Tha Carter II. What headspace were you in?
LW-I was feeling the success of Tha Carter I. I felt like people wanted to hear me. I was amped to do that, but then Tha Carter III? I don’t know what happened. It was amazing. And then Tha Carter IV was just unexplainable, and now this one here, there’s no words. I just hope everyone likes it.
When did you start working on Tha Carter V?
LW-I have a drive where I work so hard every day, and I hear old shit and be like, “Let’s pull this shit up, let’s reword this, let’s cut that.”
How do you feel like you’ve evolved as an artist over the years?
LW-I don’t know. I feel like I’m the same nigga. I came up talking about “the block is hot.’ I’m still talking about the block. I’m still talking about how much pussy I get. A nigga still gonna knock your head off.
Are there any goals or accomplishments that you feel like you have left to do?
LW-I gotta go to a Boston Red Sox game and sit at the top of the muthafuckin’ Green Monster. I’m running on the court of a big basketball game—I’m letting you know now. I’m stealing the ball from someone and taking a shot. I’ve always wanted to do that; it’s my dream. I’ll have on whatever shirt of the album we’re working on—probably [Carter] 13. And I’ll hit that shot.
What do you feel is your strongest virtue?
LW-That I gave my kids a great idea of what a dad is supposed to be.
A few years ago, you attended college at the University Of Houston then switched to take online classes at the University Of Phoenix. That was to show your kids the importance of an education, right?
LW-I went to school to show them, “My ass went to school. Your ass gotta go to school.” Flat out. I’m from the hood. You gotta do shit to show your kids that they gotta do it too, because they’ll be quick to say, “Well, you ain’t do it.” I know I was like that. [My mother] Cita graduated, so I knew that I had to graduate too.
Over the last few years, you’ve built Young Money into one of the biggest labels in music. Beyond raw talent, what initially struck you about Drake?
LW-Call me old-fashioned and country, but with Drake, that was the first time I’d seen someone that knew how to sing and rap. That’s all it was. I didn’t know nobody who knew how to do that. You had those old school singing niggas, where people would do a little eight-bar verse on their songs. But [Drake] was spitting and singing and killing that too.
It took a while though. It wasn’t until I heard him spitting on one of my beats when I was like, “This fool’s retarded.” When I hear something that I know I can’t do better? That’s when I’m like, “They need to be on the team.”
You were singing a little bit before that too, no?
LW-No. I don’t know how to sing. I get high and stretch my voice. I keep a little melody and harmony going—a nigga’s from New Orleans. I got a weird ass voice [imitates himself] like Prince. You gotta know how to use that shit.
What was it that initially struck you about Nicki Minaj?
LW-I wanted a female. Every team needs a female to rep your gang. She was annihilating niggas. I mean males. I was like, “I have to beef my shit up on that muthafucka.” She just knocked it out the park from day one. She’s just Nicki. I don’t know whose idea it was, but it was a good idea.
Where do see yourself in one year from now, five years from now and 10 years from now?
LW-In some pussy.
Lil Wayne Says Prince Is A Huge Influence On His Music - Page 3 of 3 - XXL
In a sense, many of the artists in your wake are expanding on what you’ve built—in the same way that you did to the early Cash Money artists, UGK and 2Pac.
LW-Yeah, but I couldn’t be like ’Pac because I was so New Orleans. Back then, when a nigga asked you to rap, you could be talking to them normal like this and when you asked them to rap, they’d put on a different voice. Niggas from New Orleans didn’t know how to do that shit. We just had to rap like we talk and hope you understand that shit. I couldn’t be like Pac. I had to be me. Muthafuckas compare me to him, but I have to be me. Everything was different.
Even as a young kid, were you always listening to hip-hop from other regions?
LW-Uh huh. None of them niggas around me was. Niggas wasn’t listening to nothing but us. So I had to listen to something else on my own time.
You’ve said that after you dropped your third solo album, 500 Degreez, you were able to start rapping the way that you’d always wanted to rap.
LW-Yeah, on Tha Carter I. When I started doing that, that’s when everyone else recognized me. That’s when I clicked beyond my region.
Do you remember much from your mixtape run when you were dropping roughly 200 songs or verses a year?
LW-Do I remember the verses? Hell no! I do new verses every day. I don’t remember shit I said last night, but I got it banging in the whip though to remind me.
We’re at Tha Carter V now. Let’s go back through the series. What stands out to you about the period when you made Tha Carter I?
LW-I was a little boss at that point. That’s when I’d got my shit together. I’d bought my mom a house. I had a chauffeur and didn’t have to drive no more. I was probably 19. I’d bought my first Bentley. I was stuntin’. I was on.
Then the Bentley kicked out on me at the daiquiri shop, and I went out and bought another one the next day! Fuck. I wish I wouldn’t have done that shit, but I did it. Shout out my nigga Moosa. He went out and picked up that shit for me. The daiquiri shop was packed, and my shit just died. I was like, “I just got this. It’s a Bentley!” So I slid out that bitch in a Corvette.
My nigga Moosa picked up the Bentley and put it on the back of a truck. He waited until every single soul left that daiquiri shop, just sitting on top of the Bentley, sipping a daiquiri.
Tha Carter II. What headspace were you in?
LW-I was feeling the success of Tha Carter I. I felt like people wanted to hear me. I was amped to do that, but then Tha Carter III? I don’t know what happened. It was amazing. And then Tha Carter IV was just unexplainable, and now this one here, there’s no words. I just hope everyone likes it.
When did you start working on Tha Carter V?
LW-I have a drive where I work so hard every day, and I hear old shit and be like, “Let’s pull this shit up, let’s reword this, let’s cut that.”
How do you feel like you’ve evolved as an artist over the years?
LW-I don’t know. I feel like I’m the same nigga. I came up talking about “the block is hot.’ I’m still talking about the block. I’m still talking about how much pussy I get. A nigga still gonna knock your head off.
Are there any goals or accomplishments that you feel like you have left to do?
LW-I gotta go to a Boston Red Sox game and sit at the top of the muthafuckin’ Green Monster. I’m running on the court of a big basketball game—I’m letting you know now. I’m stealing the ball from someone and taking a shot. I’ve always wanted to do that; it’s my dream. I’ll have on whatever shirt of the album we’re working on—probably [Carter] 13. And I’ll hit that shot.
Photo Credit: Atiba Jefferson
What do you feel is your strongest virtue?
LW-That I gave my kids a great idea of what a dad is supposed to be.
A few years ago, you attended college at the University Of Houston then switched to take online classes at the University Of Phoenix. That was to show your kids the importance of an education, right?
LW-I went to school to show them, “My ass went to school. Your ass gotta go to school.” Flat out. I’m from the hood. You gotta do shit to show your kids that they gotta do it too, because they’ll be quick to say, “Well, you ain’t do it.” I know I was like that. [My mother] Cita graduated, so I knew that I had to graduate too.
Over the last few years, you’ve built Young Money into one of the biggest labels in music. Beyond raw talent, what initially struck you about Drake?
LW-Call me old-fashioned and country, but with Drake, that was the first time I’d seen someone that knew how to sing and rap. That’s all it was. I didn’t know nobody who knew how to do that. You had those old school singing niggas, where people would do a little eight-bar verse on their songs. But [Drake] was spitting and singing and killing that too.
It took a while though. It wasn’t until I heard him spitting on one of my beats when I was like, “This fool’s retarded.” When I hear something that I know I can’t do better? That’s when I’m like, “They need to be on the team.”
You were singing a little bit before that too, no?
LW-No. I don’t know how to sing. I get high and stretch my voice. I keep a little melody and harmony going—a nigga’s from New Orleans. I got a weird ass voice [imitates himself] like Prince. You gotta know how to use that shit.
What was it that initially struck you about Nicki Minaj?
LW-I wanted a female. Every team needs a female to rep your gang. She was annihilating niggas. I mean males. I was like, “I have to beef my shit up on that muthafucka.” She just knocked it out the park from day one. She’s just Nicki. I don’t know whose idea it was, but it was a good idea.
Where do see yourself in one year from now, five years from now and 10 years from now?
LW-In some pussy.
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