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Here's a Perfect Lil Wayne Song to Play at Your Barbecues

What says "I'm about to grill for 8 hours with my shirt off" better than the duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh synths on "Shine"?

Day 251: "Shine (Video Version)" feat. Mack 10, Mikkey, and Big Tymers – Lights Out, 2000

There is no greater hell than trying to Google a one-word Lil Wayne song title for a song from 17 years ago and for which at minimum three versions exist. So I can't tell you the full story behind "Shine," the Lights Out single originally featuring the Hot Boys but later the combination of Mack 10 and Mikkey (later known as Mikkey Halsted) in the video. The change was presumably because Juvenile and shine originator B.G. had left Cash Money between the album release and the video release, but really who knows the deeper story other than, like, Mannie Fresh himself. Nonetheless, Lil Wayne is already wearing SQ7 gear (soooooo baggy!) in the video, so we can imagine some time passed between the making of the two.

Regardless, what we ended up with is the paragon of rap videos circa the year 2000, with mansions, fancy cars, women in bikinis, and an inexplicable light ice room that every member of the video goes into to rap their verse. Seriously, the early 2000s were boom years for makers of studio sets that looked like rooms made out of ice and/or spaceship interiors. This is one of the less discussed tragedies of Diddy and Missy Elliott largely stepping away from music in the mid-2000s—those guys must have all gone out of business. At least they got a bit of money from noted payers of bills Cash Money for this one.

Anyway, OK, let's talk about this ice that Wayne's carrying. All these karats like he's some kind of vegetarian. That's a good line, and really none of the verses here disappoint. But if you want to know really why you should play this song for your Memorial Day barbecue, well, let's talk about Mannie Fresh. I'd maintain that this is one of Mannie Fresh's best beats, and I'd bet everyone else involved would agree, since they gave him the hook. It's bouncy, bright, fresh, and fun. It's a child's nursery rhyme made with lasers. It's a song to ride to made for Hot Wheels cars—cartoonish and badass at the same time. I promise you will never get the melody out of your head. But that's OK because what says "I'm about to grill for 8 hours with my shirt off" better than those duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh synths?

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