Chords for Lil Wayne On Inspiring Next Generation of Rappers, Young Money, 'Carter VI' & More | Billboard Cover

I am naturally, _ [A] organically _ [Am] _
amazing.
[G] I'm [Am] one of a kind.
So actually, I would [G] love to see [Am] that thing try [G] to duplicate [Am] this mother f***er. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
[B] _ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ You had a great vantage point, starting at 7, signed [Bb] at 11, 12, you're a [N] professional.
You've seen a lot of changes, so I was going to ask you,
what's been the biggest changes you've seen in the genre since you've been in it?
There was no such thing as social media when I was doing this.
Everything's changed because of social media.
So, with that said, our genre of music is no different than everything.
One lesson learned that you still carry with you since you started?
That [G] answer's always the same, is never [Eb] stop.
Never stop learning.
_ Humble yourself.
Humility [Em] goes a long way, and it'll keep you learning.
And I try [C] to get better and better and [Eb] better and better and better and better and better.
[Dm] That's always my, [B] whatever, rule or something I've learned or lesson or whatever.
The boys' [N] unforgettable moments.
Probably my first time grabbing a mic at a block party and breaking my fear
and rapping the stuff that I had rapped in the mirror for like thousands of hours that night before.
Did you ever subscribe to the notion that hip-hop was only a young man's game?
That's what they used to say back in the day.
No, because when I was growing up, all the rappers were old.
_ I mean, I guess I'm just not from that narrative around,
because when I started, people was way older than me.
I started at 11, so _ everybody was older than me.
So, no, it was never _ a young man's game.
I've always felt when I was a young man, I had to fight my way in.
[B] What you have here is bought for you, courtesy of [E] the young man, young Carter. _ _
_ _ Stop, stop, stop it, stop it, y'all.
[D] _ Stop it, take it, stop it. _ _ _
_ _ [Gbm] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ [Em] You're kinda in a blueprint.
I got it.
Your label, [A] other ventures.
Yeah.
What [G] role do you feel [Em] that you've played in that evolution,
because now a lot of rappers are doing the same thing?
I get this from watching [B] Jay-Z and watching the way Reverend Run and Russ [N] moving.
They never stop.
They just evolve.
[E] Hopefully, there is someone, those under me or those like me or [Eb] whatever,
_ _ probably following in my footsteps.
Others might call you the first rock [G] star.
You've [Em] used different genres from rock to pop to R&B to soul to everything else in between.
And you've got the younger artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Travis Scott, Young Thug,
and Trippie Redd have listed you [Cm] as an influence.
So what do you think your influence has been [B] on this next [Em] generation of rappers coming up?
Everybody got tattoos in [G] their face.
Everybody got [B] this buzzer.
That's like [Em] seeing your kid come out the room and looking [D] just like you.
[B] That feels amazing.
Yeah, so that part, [Em] I see that.
That's visible.
I see that [A] influence right there [Em] because I know for a fact I didn't get this [N] look.
There was no one that inspired this look.
I just ran into looking like this.
Yeah, so they _ [B] can't lie and say they got it.
_ [Ab] _
Other [A] than that, I hope that my work gets it.
_ _ [Bm] _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ [G] _ _ [Gb] _ _
[B] _ [Am] All right, I know you've got Young Money.
You've got a roster that [Ab] you're building.
[Eb] _ _ _
[Dm] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [D] _ _ What does it take to break hip-hop artists now?
You have to know the social media.
If you don't, you have to have a team that [Gb]
does.
With that said, I think that the main thing today is what it's [Db] been _ _ yesterday and the day before yesterday.
You just have to have real talent.
Okay.
Yeah, because there's so many people and so many people available to do this.
And you have to have real, _ _ everlasting, _ undeniable _ talent.
A lot of the artists want to be exactly what they see on social media.
And not knowing what they have inside them, they just want to be that. _
Instead of being what they actually can be.
We're talking authenticity _ as well, too.
So is that hard to draw it out?
No, and even if it is a challenge, that challenge has always been one of the most funnest things ever to me.
What do [D] you listen for?
What two or three qualities do you think [C] artists today need to have?
As you just said, it's so hard to rise up above everything that's out there.
The genre that you're attacking, even if it's hip-hop or not, [A] you have to be great in that.
You have to be at least good, at least good, only if you're willing to turn and work as hard as you can to turn that good into great. _
And then, you know, come out at me and you'll be talking about the greatest.
Show me.
Think hard and challenge yourself.
_ Is it hard for you to say to someone, _ _ it's not there yet?
You've had to say that.
Oh, [E] not at all.
Not at all.
Yeah, if they're my artists, I can't tell no other artists that.
Yeah.
Yeah, but if you're [B] my artist, all right, yeah, I'll let them know.
All right.
You better go do that shit again.
[Ab] _ Yeah. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Fm] _ _
_ _ [Cm] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [Cm] _ _
_ _ _ What's been your secret to longevity?
Me?
I don't have a secret.
I just work and I never stop.
I don't do nothing but my music.
_ [Db] [Eb] In my mind, every [D] single time I say the word [C] work, I ask God to [N] forgive me because I know this has never been a job.
So it's just a dream come true.
So that's why I've never stopped.
I'm excited by the growing ranks of female rappers right [F] now.
I wanted to get your thoughts on that.
I started at [Cm] Billboard in 99 and it was, you know, you had your Roxie and Shantay and _ Kims and Queens and MC [C] Lyce and stuff.
And then there's nothing.
And then Nicki pops up.
Why is this happening now?
What's your thoughts on that?
I think that it just wasn't, it wasn't interesting to women.
[E] You know, it was as interesting, you know, as the way Nicki and Meg and others have.
It looks like, you know, it's [Eb] awesome. _
And it was, I don't think it was, you [D] know, I don't think they [C] looked at it, viewed it as something that they wanted to do and actually [G] make a living from it.
Right.
And it seems maybe the industry is a little more open minded.
Oh, definitely.
Now?
Oh, what?
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
We got here for everything [Gb] now. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[N] Technology, AI.
What are your thoughts on that coming into the music industry?
Someone was, someone asked me about that recently.
And so, you know, I was, they was just trying to tell me, it was like, you know, they got the tune to make your voice.
Right.
And like, and say that it could sound just like, I was like, but _ if it's not me, _ like, if it's not going to say like, but you know, it could say something like, but if it's not _ _ me, like, I'm amazing.
_ Like, plain and simple.
That was the answer.
Exactly.
I love that answer.
The whole thing too with holograms has always bothered me too a little bit.
Yeah, and also they cost a lot because I tried to get one to perform.
And they told me how much that was, and _ _ rest in peace.
You were [Bm] a big mixtape person.
In the wake [D] of the technology, is [G] mixtape still a [Em] thing?
The terminology, the definition changed.
_ [Bm] That's all.
It just changes.
[D] It changes up.
It had, [Em] because it changed before I started too.
Mixtapes can [B] mean an album.
It mean [Dbm] anything now, but everybody know when [G] it comes to Lil Wayne, they know how I approach my mixtapes.
So my mixtapes won't [D] ever change.
Working on [Bm] something now?
I'm always working.
I'm working on Carter Six though.
And what can we expect [Gbm] from that?
_ Um, do [Em] not set expectations [Bm] for me because I will [D]
always exceed [Em] them.
So just go there with a clear mind and expect [Bm] the best.
And I'll be better than that.
[Gbm] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ _
[Bm] _ _ _ _ [Gbm] _ _ _ [Em] _