Image via Getty/Erika Goldring
Lil Wayne’s thirteenth studio album, Funeral, will hit streaming services at midnight tonight, and we don’t have many clues as to what we’re about to hear. Outside of a short teaser on social media, a couple interview soundbites, and rumors about collaborators, Wayne has kept everything about the project under wraps. On the eve of its release, we haven’t even heard a single yet. So, what can we expect from the follow-up to 2018’s Tha Carter V? Will this mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Wayne, or will it represent a decline in his abilities? Will he reinvent his sound, or double down on what he does best? Only time will tell, but as we wait for Funeral to arrive, the Complex Music team put together a list of 9 things we’d like to hear on the album.
An updated sound (but not a complete reinvention)
During a recent interview with New Orleans radio station Q93.3, Wayne revealed that his next project will sound much more on-trend with rap’s current sound than previous offerings. “What the new thing is for me is actually trying to put out music that sounds a little more like today’s music,” he said. “What that means for me… is adding hooks. I forget about hooks. I forget ’em. Somebody gotta come in the booth and stop me from rapping, like, ‘This is where you stop it and add a hook.’”
Of course, it would be a mistake for Wayne to completely reinvent his sound, but it is exciting to think about him adding a couple new tricks to his bag and updating his style (slightly) to make sense alongside everything else happening in 2020. So many of today’s biggest rappers—guys like Lil Baby and Roddy Ricch—pull from the sounds that Wayne first pioneered, so he won’t have to tinker with his style very much. But after Tha Carter V, which was criticized by some as having a dated sound, we’re very interested in hearing his interpretation of something that “that sounds a little more like today’s music.” —Eric Skelton
A concise tracklist
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a trend of rappers either releasing very short (Kanye) or very long (Migos) albums. Lil Wayne has often opted for the latter (2018’s Tha Carter V consisted of 23 tracks and lasted a total of 90 minutes). We can partially attribute this length to the album’s release date being delayed several years, but long projects aren’t new for Wayne. During his 2018 CRWN interview, he revealed that he was already sitting on a whole album’s worth of tracks, and even said he had once considered releasing Tha Carter V as a 40-track album. Lil Wayne wasn’t clear on whether a 40-song tracklist was just an idea for his 2018 album or a possible trend for projects to come, but we hope Funeral is concise. We’d rather hear 10 to 13 solid tracks than 40. —Jessica McKinney
Hungry Wayne
We need that throw-a-red-bandanna-on-the-microphone-before-a-freestyle Wayne back. Because, truthfully, it’s been a minute. No matter what era it is, Lil Wayne can still outrap most of your favorite rappers. As we see often with seasoned vets, what was once overwhelmingly impressive sometimes becomes underwhelming as time goes on. But Lil Wayne has an opportunity to show his unrelenting hunger is what separates the big dogs from the little dogs. Wayne is too skillful of an MC to ever let people question why he’s still dropping music in 2020, but Funeral could be a pivotal moment in his career. If he’s too comfortable and relaxed, he could easily fade into being a legacy act with this project, but if he taps back into the hungry Wayne who had a statement to make, this could mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter. It all comes down to one key point: Does Wayne still feel like he has anything to prove? —Kemet High
Production from Mannie Fresh
Dating back to Guerilla Warfare and the roots of Cash Money, Mannie Fresh has always known how to bring out the best in Lil Wayne. His beats, laced with coupled bass drums and G-funk whistles, are impressive enough on their own without vocals. But Lil Wayne’s unconventional flows and melodies have always found a natural home on Mannie Fresh production. On Lil Wayne’s last project, Tha Carter V, Mannie only produced two songs, which he claims were “dumbed down” due to Wayne’s record label interference. But in an interview with XXL last year, he revealed that they would soon give fans another untampered taste of what they’ve been creating since the start of their careers. With two albums worth of music left over from Tha Carter V sessions, Mannie Fresh confirmed that a collaborative project called The Fresh Files will be released. Will we get some of those songs on Funeral? If you know anything about the Hot Boys and classics on Tha Carter, you know the more Lil Wayne-Mannie Fresh songs the better. —Kemet High
Drake
A Lil Wayne and Drake collaboration is long overdue. The last time we heard the duo on the same track was in December 2017, on “Family Feud.” It’s possible that the two have been cooking up something new, though. Tunechi alluded to working with Drake for 2018’s Tha Carter V, but revealed to Elliott Wilson during his CRWN interview that the music was blocked due to clearance issues. And although the two haven’t released anything new in the years following, Drake said during his two-hour Rap Radar interview that his “loyalty always lies” with Wayne. The two have been known to create some bangers over the years—“She Will,” “Believe Me,” “The Motto,” and “HYFR” are just a few of their hits—so hopefully those clearance issues are straightened out and we can hear Wayne and Drake reunite once again. This feels like the perfect time for a reunion. —Jessica McKinney
Some bounce music flavor
Bounce music is being pushed toward the mainstream more now than ever before. The style, which is defined by an uptempo beat that’s matched with call and response lyrics to get people dancing, is now getting its due attention outside its origins of New Orleans. In the last few years, we’ve witnessed artists like Drake collaborate with bounce producer 5th Ward Weebie to make “Nice For What.” We’ve seen OGs like Juvenile resurface himself and the sound in songs like “Throw Fits” and “Ride Dat” last summer. The City Girls sampled the bounce classic “Choppa Style” to create “Twerk” with Cardi B. And weirdly, we even saw pop stars like Kesha call on bounce legend Big Freedia to add some energy to her record “Raising Hell.” When we look at the major artists coming out of New Orleans right now, we think of rappers like NBA Youngboy, but he hasn’t tried to incorporate his region’s signature sound. Maybe Wayne can, while paying homage to his home and giving bounce music another well-needed boost in exposure to the rest of the world. —Kemet High
Young Thug
When Young Thug went on a rare media tour following the release of So Much Fun, he acknowledged his strained relationship with Lil Wayne: “I don't know, I don’t think that n***a like me. I don’t know why, though.” Although the two were often at odds with each other throughout the mid-2010s, Thug started his career by telling everyone Wayne was one of his biggest influences. “I want to get in the studio with Wayne more than anybody in the world," he revealed to Complex in 2014. “I’ll get in the studio with Wayne before Michael Jackson right now, so I hope he listening.” Although a reunion still feels unlikely at this point, we can’t help but get excited about the thought of Thug getting back in the studio with one of his early heros after dropping the most commercially successful album of his career. We also get the feeling that 2020 Thug would pull something special out of Wayne at this point if they got in the studio together. Honestly, with no public signs of a reconciliation, a Wayne and Thug collab is probably the least likely thing on this whole list, but we can hope! —Eric Skelton
Personal interludes
Any time Lil Wayne talks, whether he’s sarcastically clapping back at a lawyer or reacting to spilling his lean in an interview, an interesting moment will come. Although he used to drop occasional interludes in mixtapes like Dedication 5, it’s become a rarity for Wayne to stop the project and let his dialogue serve as a bridge between songs—the last time he did it was on Tha Carter II in 2005. Considering the 20 years he has in the game, its certain that his career has been filled with an abundance of interesting conversations and personal moments. With Funeral, we’d love to see him tap into some old conversations he’s had with Baby, include a toast he addressed to Young Money, or even add in court audio from one of the trails he’s surpassed. Either way, letting fans in on something we can’t get search for on the internet would make this project resonate more as a whole. —Kemet High
New Wayne-isms
Lil Wayne is the king of throwing bizarre one-liners into his verses. Over the years, we’ve come to affectionately know these as “Wayne-isms.” Just listen back to songs like “Hittas,” where he spits, “I’m a ass with that semi/Call me semicolon. On “She Will,” he raps the classic line, “Eat her til she cry, call that whine and dine.” Somehow, he manages to push the edge of absurdity without getting corny, while staying clever and comedically insightful enough to provide material for your next meme or motto. It truly wouldn’t be a Lil Wayne album if he didn’t load it up with more Wayne-isms. —Jessica McKinney