Lil Wayne

The rapper on staying motivated, wanting to play the Super Bowl, and why he'll be working forever

- ANDRE GEE

When Lil wayne hops on Zoom one recent afternoon, he’s on a tour bus in California between stops on his Welcome to Tha Carter Tour, where he’s been performing at more intimate venues to better engage his fans this spring. Even with his Grammy Awards, platinum plaques, and a claim to rap GOAT status, he says that he has “so far” to go until he’s satisfied.

“The true artists and pioneers, they never retire,” Wayne, 40, tells me, noting that he has no plans to stop rhyming. He’s been locked in the studio nearly every day for almost three decades now, building a catalog of songs so expansive that he can’t even try to estimate the size of it. He recently finalized ColleGrove 2, a sequel to his 2016 collaboration album with 2 Chainz; they’re waiting for sample clearances before it’s released. Wayne is mum on Carter VI, the latest entry in his flagship album series, but his February “Kant Nobody” single with Swizz Beatz (and DMX vocal samples) indicates that he’s been working on that as well. This year marks the 15th anniversary of his star-making Carter III album (which he’s celebrating with a vinyl release), but Wayne tells me it’s not a big deal to him. He’s too focused on recording his next set of rhymes.

How do you view Tha Carter III 15 years later? What role do you feel that project plays in your catalog? I’m going to be so honest with you: I don’t know Tha Carter III, Tha Carter II, Tha Carter One from Tha Carter IV. And that’s just my God’s honest truth. You could lie, you could ask me [about] such and such song, I wouldn’t even know what we talking about. So it holds no significance to me at all.