A Year of Lil Wayne: "Spitter"

Day 18: "Spitter" – Dedication 2, 2006

Kyle: It's Friday, and I'm in Paris, France, at the time of this publishing, which, wow, brag much? Anyway, Lawrence is back​ for a back and forth about one of the standout tracks on Dedication 2, Wayne's landmark mixtape with DJ Drama. I say landmark because this is the tape where, as I recall, it became no longer an acceptable opinion to say that Wayne was bad at rapping (I mean, this was already wrong, but it was still a popular opinion). It's also where Wayne crossed over to the music nerd audience, which meant that it got a lot of play in people's dorm rooms during Mario Kart games my freshman year of college.

Much of the reason Wayne got so much recognition on this tape (besides perhaps literally giving a speech on why he was the best rapper alive) was because there he was, demolishing every popular beat and lots of not-so-popular ones, crossing you up while rapping about, like, watching Sportscenter. Here, he tackles a Notorious B.I.G. beat, and, lest you question whether he was fit to handle it, consider this argument: "I been ready since '81 and I was born in '82." He also quips, "Money, money, money, money / I'm true to those things, bitch," which is pretty funny and a good example of how good Wayne is at bending your expectations of what a rap bar can be. There are deeper and more polished songs on this tape, but for pure bars and flow this one is as good as anything he's done ever. Lawrence, what made you pick it?

Lawrence: "My hand bling, my wrist bling, my neck bling, my ear bling. Super Bowl ring bitch / Cash Money, Young Money. Super Bowl team bitch." Like you said, Wayne has plenty of much more conceptual songs but for the sake of just bars, up to this point, he didn't have a lot of rivals to this. Taking the mess that him and Birdman have going right now, especially noting that Wayne is considering leaving rap, this line leaves a sour taste. An integral part of a Wayne freestyle or mixtape cut back then was in some way declaring his allegiance to Cash Money, and those days look to be dead.

The imagery here is great, too. It's mostly the different places where blood can splatter: sofas, posters, shoulders, strollers, Rover, chauffeur, loafers, etc, etc. Funniest of all though, is blood getting all over his Hovas—those ugly ass S. Carter Reeboks. I remember calling my cousin and friends immediately after I heard that "I been ready since '81 and I was born in '82," line, too. Lines like that contribute to statements he'd make later like, of course, not being a human being. Because, him being ready to dominate or take over rap a whole year before he was even born, reminds me of something on Dragonball Z where they'd show villains looking at Earth from a distance, preparing to come dominate. So, in a way, Wayne confessed his otherworldliness back in 06.