It was also an early sign of the power of Wayne’s elastic voice, which could bounce from a shrill croak to a brash rasp in an instant. It’s Lil Wayne at a young age, honestly and candidly addressing his falling-out with former labelmates – and he’s still on the label.

“I Miss My Dawgs” is a poignant song for many reasons. His inflection makes it one of his most existential-feeling hooks too. He reminds you that he can still kill a hook with his flow, and it’s so slick here that it’s easy to miss just how good his wordplay is. The album hits the ground running, wiping away any doubt after years of delay, but by the time you get to “Problems,” it’s evident that Wayne is still among the best. Halfway through Tha Carter V, it becomes clear that the wait was worth it. “Nightmares” has a beat that makes it feel like something Wayne could have recorded years earlier, and being sandwiched between C4’s official singles makes it feel even more standout. Wayne had spent the past few years cultivating this rockstar persona, and now, fresh out of Rikers, he was debuting a new song on an MTV Unplugged session.

It was never an official single, but “Nightmares of the Bottom” is one of the songs that made Tha Carter IV what it was. What more could you ask for? Dedication 2 was one of the mixtapes that propelled Wayne to new heights between Tha Carter IV and Tha Carter III, and closing it out with this song is one of the most show-stopping moments of Lil Wayne’s career. The bars are scathing and the hook is a slam dunk.

It’s almost like one of those times a comedian gives an amazing performance in a dramatic role. “Georgia… Bush” is unique among Lil Wayne’s catalog, but there are few songs like it in rap, period. Maybe the most famous instance was “30 Minutes to New Orleans.” It first reared its head in a documentary called The Carter, with Wayne rapping it on a tour bus, but we wouldn’t get a full version for what felt like years. Would we get full versions of the songs? Mixed and mastered versions? For most of these, the answer was no.

The leaks got him a buzz like no one had ever had. In 20, you could get on DatPiff, SOHH, or wherever, and there’d be new Wayne music. To his diehard fans, Lil Wayne’s ascent was defined by delays and leaks.

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