Lil Wayne turned 40 on Tuesday. Since then, not only have other superstar musicians shared tributes to the rap legend, fans have been taking to social media to share their favourite songs, some memorable Lil Wayne moments and their general admiration for him.
We looked through the vault to pick out the top classics of his iconic career thus far:
Lollipop
There’s no other place to start than with the Static Major-featured “Lollipop”.
Released as the lead single for his excellent, multi platinum-selling album “Tha Carter III”, “Lollipop” is undoubtedly Wayne’s biggest single.
It properly solidified him as the top rapper alive and paved the way for all that was to come.
It also rightfully won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song a year later and earned several other notable accolades.
A Milli
Recently, The Game brought out Lil Wayne at one of his shows and, during Wayne’s performance, pretty much begged him to perform “A Milli”.
“You got a lot of songs,” he said. “But this is my favourite. I need to see it live, this is for me.”
Wayne proceeded to put on a classic performance of this, one of his biggest singles to date, as The Game jumped up and down with joy like a kid in a candy store while singing along word for word.
You can hardly blame him, there’s just something about this record.
She Will (featuring Drake)
One of Wayne’s most important contributions to music was bringing us Drake.
The Canadian star has been at pains over the past few years to point out that without Wayne he wouldn’t be where he is today.
Despite the pair teaming up on several singles, especially during the first few years of Drake’s career, the clear standout is 2011’s “She Will”.
Wayne’s flow is at its most precise here, while Drake anchors the song with one of his most memorable hooks.
6 Foot 7 Foot (featuring Cory Gunz)
You’d be hard-pressed to find Lil Wayne in more imperious form than he was on the classic hit single, “6 Foot 7 Foot”.
The rhyme schemes, the metaphors, the double entendres and the flow. They’re all elite.
The highlight quotable (which is of course, “Real G’s move in silence like lasagna”) still draws oohs and aahs to this day. Cory Gunz brought his best bars here, too.
Hustler Muzik
By the time “Hustler Muzik” dropped on January 1, 2005, Lil Wayne was already openly referring to himself as the “best rapper alive”.
While many saw this as a premature title, the 22-year-old New Orleans rapper made a good case with his coming-of-age album, “Tha Carter II”.
“Hustler Muzik” is one of Wayne’s most mature records to date and sees the Birdman-protégé showcase his lyrical depth and a musicality that wasn’t evident before.