Lil Wayne Celebrates His Expansive Catalog With "I Am Music" Compilation

With a career that spans nearly three decades, Lil Wayne is a definitive artist in pop culture as a whole. From his days of carving out the Cash Money legacy with the Hot Boyz to a flourishing solo career that broke records and influenced a generation, it’s impossible to deny what Lil Wayne brought to the table. However, in recent months, his status as an icon has come into question. When he didn’t land at #1 on the now-infamous Top 50 Greatest Rappers list, he made it clear that he earned that spot with his DMX-assisted single, "Kant Nobody".

However, as we approach the sixth installment in Tha Carter series, Lil Wayne came through with a surprise drop, I Am Music. His first real compilation project celebrates his expansive career, specifically within the last 20 years. Lil Wayne’s “greatest hits” go as far back as Tha Carter and include records as recent as Tha Carter V (i.e. “Mona Lisa ft. Kendrick Lamar). Additionally, I Am Music includes massive collaborations with Drake, Eminem (via Rebirth), Jay-Z, Detail, and more.

The release of I Am Music comes on the cusp of something big. Lil Wayne hasn’t confirmed a release date for Tha Carter VI, though the pre-save link went live last summer after announcing the project at OVO Fest. But in the months that followed, Weezy didn’t provide much of an update on when we could expect it. However, he’s currently ramping up for the upcoming Welcome To Tha Carter tour which will find him performing in significantly smaller venues than expected. The intimate setting seems to relate to the release of I Am Music and provides day-one fans of Lil Wayne with an up-close-and-personal experience.

It seems as though we could expect Lil Wayne to bank off of nostalgia in the next little while. The rapper brought his iconic No Ceilings mixtape to streaming services last year. However, DJ Drama recently confirmed that Lil Wayne's Dedication 2 will follow suit. The Gangsta Grillz founder, who just released his new project, I’m Really Like That, recently confirmed that the second installment in the Dedication series will also hit DSPs in the near future. No timeline of when that will be but at least, one of Lil Wayne's greatest pieces of work will be widely available in the future.