Lil Wayne- The Carter 2 Page

See, everyone had a first safe: the obvious one. The rhymes about what you see—the Cadillac doors swinging up, the diamonds dancing under the strobes, the enemy’s blood on your Timberlands. That was Tha Carter . That paid the bills.

The New Orleans heat sat on the city like a wet wool blanket, thick and patient. Dwayne, known as Weezy to his block and as something else entirely to himself, sat on the stoop of his mother’s shotgun house. Inside, the Carter II notebook wasn't a notebook anymore. It was a map.

The first single, “Hustler Musik,” floated through the air like a ghost. It wasn't a banger; it was a confession over a soft guitar. In it, Dwayne admitted he was a gangsta and a poet. He admitted he was afraid of his own shadow. The streets were confused. Critics were stunned. LIL WAYNE- the carter 2

He stepped out of the car. The heat finally broke. A cold wind rolled off the river. He took the gold chain from around his neck—the one that symbolized the city’s weight—and held it in his palm. He didn't throw it away. He kissed it.

Dwayne closed his eyes. He went into the second safe. See, everyone had a first safe: the obvious one

As the sun threatened to rise, painting the sky the color of a bruise, Dwayne Carter—Lil Wayne—got back in the car. He had a third safe to crack for the next album.

He rapped: “I am the beast / Feed me rappers or feed me beats / I’m hungry.” That paid the bills

Tha Carter II dropped in December. It wasn't an album. It was a hostile takeover.