Along with Atlanta rapper T.I., Young Money spitter Lil Wayne was one of the artists featured on the Destiny’s Child single “Soldier.” Released nearly a decade ago, the song reached the #3 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and according to Wayne, the song put him on another plateau musically.
Lil Wayne was asked about the record during a Q&A segment following his CRWN interview last week at South By Southwest. He says the song didn’t serve as a rebirth, but did prove to be a significant move in his music career.
“I didn’t look at it as the rebirth,” Lil Wayne said. “But I see the word you mean. I see why you used that word ‘rebirth’…But I looked at it like it was definitely my platform…That set me off right there…I forgot to even mention that. That song right there, that verse, them little eight bars. That got me there, boy…If you ask me ‘Why?’ [Because] it was Beyoncé. That shit was big, man. Destiny Childs ‘Solider,’ it was poppin. We was on there. We was there early.”
The rapper also detailed his 2007 arrest in New York on a gun-possession charge. He revealed that he was targeted during the arrest, which took place on his tour bus following a show at the Beacon Theatre.
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According to Weezy, the officers on board the bus attempted to decipher which one of the 13 people on the bus was the rapper. And upon finding out who he was, they pulled him to the side and chose to place responsibility for the gun on him.
“It’s New York and they don’t play with them niggas, man,” he said. “They don’t play with niggas, man. Rappers too with them pistols. They don’t play with them niggas. Like my nigga, it was 13 of us on the bus. You know what I mean? Like they literally came to us and was like—They was blatant. They was talking to each other right in front of us like ‘Which one is Lil Wayne?’ Like ‘Which one of them Lil Wayne?’ You know what I mean? It was like ‘Uh, I think it’s that one.’ They was like ‘okay.’ And they moved me to the side like that. And they was like ‘Yeah, we putting the gun on you.’”
Towards the conclusion of his CRWN interview, Lil Wayne spoke on what he hopes will be his legacy, and the artists whose legacies he admires. Among the artists he named were country music singer Willie Nelson and fellow rapper Snoop Dogg.
He also revealed that prior to wanting to be remembered as “a good spirit,” he hoped his legacy would be similar to that of The Notorious B.I.G, Jay Z, or Tupac Shakur.
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“I would just say I would like to be remembered as a humble, good soul. A good spirit. A good soul,” Lil Wayne said. “[A] thing like that. You know what I mean? Like a…a Willie Nelson. You know? Just remembered as everybody fuck with you. Like A Snoop Dogg. You know what I mean? Before I used to be shooting for more of a Biggie, Biggie/Pac/Jay type title. I used to shoot for that. But now I think my history already done that. You know what I mean? So, now I just—I wanna just be remembered as ‘Man, that nigga was cool. He did great ass music and that’s who he is. Period.’”
Lil Wayne is currently at work on Tha Carter V, an album the rapper previously revealed would be his “final solo album” during an interview with MTV earlier this month.
“I personally plan on this being my final solo album, yes, and it’s definitely the final Carter album,” he said while speaking with MTV. “It’s the final Carter album. It’s stopping at five. I didn’t smile when I said it.”
CRWN x Lil Wayne, Ep. 2: Willie Nelson, Skateboarding and the Power of the P from CRWN on Myspace.
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