Lil Wayne is an artist that has always done well for himself. Early in his career, Wayne rose to fame as a member of Cash Money Records’ Cash Money Millionaires. As a result, he had some hit records under his belt. Among Wayne’s hits were “Tha Block Is Hot” and “Way of Life.” While Wayne made noise, he was not a superstar. Instead, Juvenile was the superstar of Cash Money Records.
Lil Wayne found himself the only artist on Cash Money, after 2004. At that time, Wayne was riding a career high, as “Go DJ” was dominating radio. It looked like Wayne was turning a corner, as Tha Carter did well. On that album’s lead single, Wayne boldly declared himself “the best rapper alive, since the best rapper [Jay-Z] retired.” With Tha Carter II, Wayne took it to new heights, while taking a hiatus from releasing albums.
Lil Wayne instead began releasing tons of mixtapes and doing features. Unorthodox, at the time, Wayne turned himself into a star. When he did a feature for Ja Rule, he caught 50 Cent’s attention. 50 called him a “whore” for doing songs with any and everybody. While Wayne did make a diss track, he walked it back, and befriended 50. However, he still took over the game. After a three year wait, Wayne finally dropped Tha Carter III. Seeking to establish himself as a superstar, he recruited Static Major to do the hook and bridge. As a result, the song was the biggest record of 2008. Sadly, Static passed two weeks before the song’s release.
