Weezy was ranked No. 7 on Billboard and Vibe‘s 50 Best Rappers of All Time listing.
Lil Wayne photographed on July 9, 2023 at Quixote Studios in Los Angeles.
Ramona Rosales
After being featured within the prime 10 of Billboard and Vibe‘s Best Rappers of All Time listing, Lil Wayne has determined to share his personal rating.
In his new Billboard cowl story that was revealed Wednesday (Aug. 2) in honor of hip-hop’s fiftieth anniversary this month, Weezy shared the highest 5 from his G.O.A.T. rappers listing (in “no particular order,” he clarified): Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, UGK, Goodie Mob and The Infamous B.I.G. “It’s as a result of I organically grew up on [them]. You already know, whenever you’re requested, ‘How’d you begin listening?,’ there’s a narrative for everyone … like, somebody I do know instructed me to begin listening or no matter. However like I mentioned, each resolution I make is natural,” he instructed Gail Mitchell, Billboard‘s govt director of R&B and hip-hop.
Weezy himself ranked No. 7 on our listing, for being “probably the most masterful lyricists of our time, delivering mind-boggling verses for the final quarter century,” and for “setting the stage for rap hopefuls and fellow Billboard all-time chart stars Drake and Nicki Minaj, each of whom Wayne helped turn into the worldwide icons they’re as we speak by means of his Younger Cash/Money Cash file label.” When requested throughout his Billboard cowl interview about his placement on the listing, Tunechi responded, “That’s superior. You’ll be joyful to be anyplace on that listing.”
Billboard broke down Wayne’s relationships with every rapper and rap group from his G.O.A.T. listing beneath.
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Missy Elliott
Even when Weezy says his listing is in “no particular order,” he beforehand mentioned Missy was “all the time going to be first” throughout Fox Sports activities’ What’s Wright? With Nick Wright podcast final 12 months. “She’s an enormous affect of all the pieces I’ve ever completed.” Missy retweeted the clip and relayed her gratitude by writing, “Every time @LilTunechi says my title in his interviews twitter don’t have sufficient house for my tosay my GRATEFULNESS as a result of he’s a LEGEND himself who birthed many emcees after him & as a person to acknowledge me as an enormous affect 4 him I ship you like WAYNE.”
The 2 sat down in Could for an episode of TV One’s Uncensored, the place Tunechi continued to sing her praises. “Earlier than Jay — this was earlier than I even knew Jay-Z existed — I used to be into Missy Elliott. And it was since you… would say issues that I’d wish to say as I’m rapping. You not solely made ’em, you made me adore it. And also you made an entire track of it…. I turned so serious about you,” he instructed her.
Missy and Wayne have collaborated a number of occasions, on songs like 2009’s “All 4 U,” the 2012 remix of Busta Rhymes’ “Why Cease Now” (additionally that includes Chris Brown) and Timbaland’s “The Get together Anthem” (additionally that includes T-Ache) in 2013.
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Jay-Z
Weezy’s 35-minute monitor “10,000 Bars” from 2002 marks the final time the MC wrote down lyrics earlier than hopping in a sales space, after he found that Hov spits no matter involves him, he mentioned throughout The Pivot Podcast final month. “Like Biggie, love Biggie, love Jadakiss, I like all that sh–. However Jay…. the second I heard it, I ended. You may ask my boy. ‘I heard that n—a Jay-Z don’t write no extra,’” he mentioned. “We went within the studio, and we did ‘10,000 Bars.’ And that was the final time I rapped something off of a paper.”
In 2020, throughout a dialog with Lil Child for Rolling Stone‘s Musicians on Musicians collection, Wayne mentioned how Jay’s 1999 album Vol. 3… Life and Instances of S. Carter modified his life. “It was the primary album the place I really [got] the automotive that the rapper was speaking about. That was my album,” he mentioned. “Additionally, Jay talked so loopy. He went bananas on that album. I obtained lyrics from the album tattooed on me and s–t. I’ve songs which can be remakes of spinoffs of songs from that album, you recognize?”
In 2007, Wayne appeared on “Whats up Brooklyn 2.0” from Jay’s American Gangster album. The next 12 months, Jay appeared on “Mr. Carter” from Wayne’s Tha Carter III album, and the 2 co-starred on “Swagga Like Us” (with Kanye West) from T.I.’s album Paper Path. DJ Khaled introduced Weezy and Hov collectively once more final 12 months (alongside Rick Ross, John Legend and Fridayy) for the God Did title monitor, which was nominated for 3 Grammys this 12 months — track of the 12 months, finest rap track and finest rap efficiency.
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UGK
Tunechi was featured on Bun B‘s “Rattling I’m Chilly” on his 2008 album II Trill, earlier than the 2 appeared collectively on “Uptown,” from Drake’s 2009 mixtape So Far Gone. In 2011, Bun B, Nas, Shyne and Busta Rhymes carried out the “Outro” of Weezy’s Tha Carter V album, and Wayne lent a verse to Bun B’s “Rudeboi,” from his 2018 LP Return of the Trill.
He additionally appeared on “3-Method Freak,” from Pimp C’s 2015 posthumous album Lengthy Stay the Pimp, which was launched on the eight-year anniversary of the MC’s loss of life. Previous to collaborating with UGK, Wayne sampled the hip-hop duo a number of occasions, together with their 1996 monitor “Homicide” on 2006’s “No Different,” that includes Juelz Santana, and their 2001 monitor “Woodwheel” on 2008’s “Magic,” that includes Gudda Gudda.
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Goodie Mob
“I’ve been listening to Goodie Mob since I used to be within the seventh grade,” Wayne mentioned throughout a 2016 Genius sit-down interview alongside 2 Chainz, earlier than spitting CeeLo Inexperienced’s traditional verse from “Goodie Bag,” from 195’s Soul Meals.
“My homeboy CT — we name him Thugger, Camouflage Thugger, he’s one in every of Mack good, good homeboys — he put me onto [Goodie Mob] again within the day, within the seventh grade,” Wayne additional defined. “He had me listening to that s–t each day. It modified my life. I began rapping about various things, and discovered that it was OK to rap optimistic, actuall,y and to make it sound correct. In the event you spittin’… not that it doesn’t matter what you’re spittin’ about, however in case you spittin’, you bought their ears. So that you may as nicely benefit from it and make the most of that reality. That’s what CeeLo and the entire Goodie Mob used to do.”
Three years in the past, Weezy interpolated Goodie Mob’s 1995 debut single “Cell Remedy” on “Wayne’s World,” from his Funeral album.
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The Infamous B.I.G.
Wayne’s earliest credit score on a Biggie file was when the Scorching Boys and Large Tymers had been featured on “Hope You N—as Sleep” from Biggie’s first posthumous album, Born Once more, in 1999. Tunechi was later featured on “I’m with Whateva” (alongside Juelz Santana and Jim Jones) from Biggie’s second posthumous album, Duets: The Remaining Chapter, in 2005; he sampled one other monitor off that album, “Spit Your Sport,” on “Spitter” from his personal Dedication 2 mixtape that was launched the next 12 months.
However two years in the past, Wayne recalled throughout Emmanuel Acho’s Uncomfortable Conversations collection about how Biggie’s “One Extra Probability” music video was taking part in on the TV display screen when he tried suicide at age 12. “Biggie was on. I’m wanting within the mirror, so you could possibly look by way of the mirror and the tv was behind me. So I used to be watching the video by way of the mirror. ‘One Extra Probability’ was on, and [I] suppose Biggie was already gone or one thing,” he mentioned on the time. “So I used to be simply wanting, I used to be like, ‘You already know what? Begin considering I needed to get myself mad and seen that I didn’t should.’ That’s what scared me. How I knew I had psychological well being issues was I pulled the set off.”
