Lil Wayne's Most Obscure Songs You Need To Hear

Packs Shipment No. 9

A rare bit of good news snuck its way onto the timeline during the end of August when streaming platforms added Lil Wayne’s “No Ceilings” — one of Weezy’s best mixtapes. Stans of vintage-era Wayne, myself included, rejoiced.

But the excitement quickly dissipated when fans pressed play on the 11-year old mixtape and realized classic Weezy remixes like “Ice Cream,” “Poker Her Face,” and “D.O.A” were left off the tape. The surprise drop was tainted. A move that was supposed to make listening to the mixtape easier only made it annoying.

As streaming services slowly add classic mixtapes to their infinite catalog, changes like the ones found on "No Ceilings" will be necessary if fans want them to see them in places like Apple Music or Tidal. 

Cortez Bryant—Weezy’s manager since forever—told Genius he wanted to put all of Wayne’s mixtapes on streaming services but admitted the challenges to do so are massive. “It’s hard. 'Cause on the mixtapes, he rapped on other people’s beats. So that’s all the writers, and producers, and labels, and publishers, so it’s a bunch of people you got to go through to clear sh-t who may want too much money,” Cortez said. “So you got to deal with the legalities behind rapping on someone else’s song to get over the hurdle of getting it cleared. It’s not easy to put it out.”

Samples clearances will make it extremely hard for Wayne and Cortez to put every mixtape on streaming services, especially when Wayne’s massive catalogue accounts for well over 1,200 songs across his 25-year career. Whatever mixtapes they can put up for easy listening will be great, but eager fans should expect more songs being left in the Internet vault.

Thinking of the songs cut from the streaming version of “No Ceilings” led me into a rabbit hole of vintage Wayne. My ears slowly acquired an appetite for some of Wayne’s deepest mixtape cuts, songs so obscure that only real Wayne fans and New Orleanians growing up in the city during his historic run would have the song tucked in their memory. I’m the latter, and I’ve compiled a list of some of those songs for you.

Some of these gems are on official and unofficial mixtapes that have been buried in 20-track-long projects. Others, I honestly don’t know how I originally found them, likely from a friend or family member who did some of the heavy internet lifting for me. Either way, all of these songs deserve more attention, and I can’t think of a better service than providing someone with a vintage-Wayne song they’ve never heard before.

So, you’re welcome.

How Can Something

Wayne had massive leaks during his peak years. The majority of the leaks came from his Carter 3 sessions, forcing Weezy to repackage some of the songs into “The Leak” and relinquishing another chunk on the unofficial mixtape "Da Drought Is Over 2." The same leaks happened to the infamous Juelz Santana collaborations that never became official releases. “My Face Can’t Be Felt” was one of the leaked projects, and “How Can Something” likely flew under the radar because of it. 

Wayne was full of relationship quotables during his historic run, and this was no different. “How Can Something” might be one of the saddest Wayne beats ever. The pitched-up sample of Jermaine Jackson’s “Do What You Do” hints to the song’s main topic: Wayne and Toya’s fading relationship. Wayne raps about the past, present, and future standing of his childhood sweetheart like he’s reading directly from his diary. He talks about the birth of their daughter Reginae, their marriage and subsequent divorce, and how he’ll always love her despite things not working out. 

Wayne is a true poet here. Every verse is an emotional liver shot, and every other Wayne bar is a perfect caption for the first Instagram pic after a breakup (“I used to love her, fuck it, I still do”). I genuinely don’t know how more people don’t know about one of Wayne’s most emotionally captivating tracks. 

Diamonds and Girls

DJ Empire’s “Da Drought is Over 2” is one of the most iconic side effects of Wayne’s leaks. The unofficial mixtape boasts 22 songs, with most of them being some of Wayne's best work. Somehow, “Diamonds and Girls” didn’t get the same recognition as “I Feel Like Dying,” “Something You Forgot,” and “Prostitute Flange.”

You can tell Wayne is in rare form from the opening verse. He oozes confidence from his first breath with chuckle-inducing bars (“And here’s my most funniest joke: I’m broke”). In the second verse, his intensity creeps upwards until he’s out-rapping the beat and outdoing himself with jaw-dropping one-liners like “The watch nasty like Gonorrhea” to preface “Money long like Nia.”

His performance here is hall-of-fame worthy by itself, a pure lyrical showing that I would rank among some of the best in his career. It’s criminally under-appreciated. Plus, we get a standout verse from the Young Money version of Curren$y, something that’ll never get the appreciation it deserves.

Lisa Marie

In the video for Robin Thicke’s 2009 single “Shooter,” Lil Wayne is rapping directly to the camera in a posh New York loft. On his right is a black punching bag, and on his left is an attractive dark-haired video model casted to be Wayne’s girlfriend for the video. That model is Lisa Marie, Wayne’s muse of choice for a track so deeply buried in his catalog that it’s not on any official or unofficial mixtape.

“How Can Something” and “Something You Forgot”—a song where Wayne is pleading with Nivea to take him back— shows Wayne loves to rap about the women in his life. “Lisa Marie” is another example, too. Lisa Marie wasn’t widely popular in the golden age of Hip-Hop video vixens, but Wayne describes her as someone we all dream of. He gushes about everything about her, saying her smile makes him feel like a kid in the candy section of a supermarket, and he wants to be the water in her shower.

Funny enough, Lisa doesn’t seem nearly as interested in Wayne. Her response to Wayne telling her he’s writing a song about her can is only, “That’s sweet” and “That’s deep.” Damn. Well, at least we got a fire song out of it.

Love This Fuckin Guy

I don’t know how I found this song as a young, bright-eyed Wayne stan. If I had to guess, it was probably one of those random Limewire downloads with a title I’d never seen before. 75% of the time, those curious downloads are either spam, an old song with a new title, or porn. But sometimes you get a hit, a brand new Wayne track sent from the internet pirates. I’d bet that that’s how I found “I Love This Fuckin’ Guy.”

If “How Can Something” is Wayne spilling his deepest thoughts from his diary onto Pro Tools, then “I Love This Fuckin’ Guy” is Wayne just rambling the random thoughts he scribbled into the margins. The typical, but still elite, boastful bars are the meat and potatoes of this near-five minute song. But personal stories—like his mom being pulled over in Colorado and being high off cocaine in an abandoned house with Lil Tootie—are hidden throughout the spooky beat.

“I Love This Fucking Guy” isn’t listed on any official or unofficial mixtapes. The song almost feels like a throwaway, like Wayne had bars clogging his brain that he needed to release before moving on to the next beat. This is arguably the most obscure song on this list, and maybe Wayne wanted it that way.

Louisianimal

Let’s do some quick house cleaning first. The title on the YouTube video is wrong; that is Hurricane Chris on the intro and hook, not Lil Boosie. Also, listen to “The Drought is Over 6: The Reincarnation” if you really need to, but don’t feel pressed about it; it’s average. “Louisianimal,” however, is one of the few standout tracks.

“Louisianimal” was Weezy’s only response to 50 Cent during their feud back in 2012. Wayne identifies who he's talking about within the first few lines: “All about a dolla, Fuck two quarters/B*tch I’ll pour syrup in that Vitamin Water/ I hope you die ugly and tonight’ll be gorgeous.” On the outro of “Play This on the Radio,” 50 responded to the diss track by saying, “And I’m on your heels, Mr. Carter, I heard you/ You want me to… die ugly? okay/ Don’t end up on the list, n****.”

Wayne liked to dip his toe in Baton Rouge beats, and he shined every time he touched one. The song is so short and niche that it’s easy to never stumble on it, but it’s definitely still worth mentioning.

Pick and Roll

You know how it goes with Youtube mixtape covers; ignore the one shown above. 

Apart from a few mainstream features that were already out, the very unofficial Leak 5 was pretty forgettable. “Pick N’ Roll” is a hidden gem that was likely intended to be on one of the leaked joint mixtapes with Juelz Santana. Juelz drew the short end of the straw when they gave him a harsh beat that sounds like a siren blaring in your ear. He makes it work because 2000s-era Juelz was elite, but your ears perk when Wayne takes the stage.

Wayne and Juelz showcase a back-and-forth sound that feels like an early ancient invention in rap’s history, especially with the current Detroit rap scene dominating the style. Wayne’s short but sweet verses are predictably quick-witted, succinct, and show-stealing before passing back to Juelz. There’s a favorite short verse for every Wayne fan here. Mine? 

“Put it in the air like renuzit
Me and 'elz blues brothers I'm a play Belushi
Modern day Pacino, but this is not a movie
But I do watch movies when I sit in my jacuzzi”

Never Get It

I don’t know why I wouldn’t expect David Banner to create such a sonically interesting beat like the one he made for “Never Get It,” with screeching guitar riffs as a base for drums that sound every bit of early 2000s hip-hop. I do, however, expect golden-age Lil Wayne to flow all over it effortlessly.

Wayne cleverly reimagines the bridge, giving himself breaks every eight lines to reload before firing more classic Wayne ammunition. It’s the only semblance of structure in this near five-minute showing. Everything in between is Wayne coloring outside the lines, quickly switching topics from braggadocio bars about his old songs (“And if I sing Prostitute she gon' need some new pants”) and proclaiming Wayne season (“I vow to stay on top of my Somers like Suzanne”), to literally anything else you can think of (“Steppin' out my shower like a lion in a robe”).

It’s another one of Wayne’s theme-less tracks where he goes off on a tangent. I imagine he blacks out in the booth, and when he comes back to his senses, he’s left with a fever, an empty double cup, and a track like “Never Get It.” Then he puts it out, and only a few of us are lucky enough to find it.

---

Heat Packs

Instead of the traditional Heat Packs, where I showcase some new music, I’m dropping a playlist of more prime-Wayne deep cuts that I didn't mention above. The playlist features 26 songs of some of the most obscure tracks from peak Lil Wayne, so I think y’all will enjoy it. 

I didn't mean for this to be a Wayne edition, but it ended up being that way. Making this Packs was fun to do, so I might end up doing more things like this in the future, though.

Anyway, here is the playlist. Enjoy. 

---

Welp, hope y’all enjoyed this edition of Packs. We back next Friday with a new delivery.

Between Packs, follow me on all the socials: @Tribecalledni on damn-near everything. 

Until next time, be cool.