LISTEN: Every Snippet from Lil Wayne’s ‘Tha Carter V’

Getty Lil Wayne performs onstage.

Lil Wayne’s long-awaited album Tha Carter V is almost here. After years of legal red tape and delays, the final chapter in the Carter series will hit shelves on Friday, September 21.

Given that Wayne has been working on the album since 2013, it makes sense that there’s tons of songs that have made their way online. Wayne himself has stated that the album has gone through several changes and tracklist adjustments since its original form. We’ve collected all the album snippets and leaks below.


‘Start This Sh*t Off Right’ featuring Mannie Fresh

Mannie Fresh, who produced on earlier Wayne albums like 500 Degreez and Tha Block Is Hot, premiered this track on a 2014 episode of Da Takeover Podcast.

He said the song was tentatively included on the album’s original tracklist, but has since been scrapped. Nevertheless, Fresh is expected to have producer credits on the album alongside Vinylz, DJ Mustard and Mike WiLL Made-It.


‘Life of Mr. Carter’

In 2017, Martin Shkreli told DJ Akademiks he had obtained a copy of Tha Carter V with the purchase of a vehicle that Wayne owned. The New Orleans rapper reached out to Shkreli and asked him not to leak anything online, but Shkreli ignored his request and previewed two tracks, with the first being “Life of Mr. Carter.”

During the interview, Shkreli said that Tha Carter V will be a double album, but that his copy will likely to differ from the final product.

“Nobody can say until Lil Wayne says, ‘This is Tha Carter V. He’s controlling it,” Shkreli said. “If he says, ‘You know what? That two-CD thing that Martin has? I’m gonna add some stuff. I’m gonna take a track off and put in five more.’ If he says that’s Tha Carter V, then that’s Tha Carter V, it’s his call. Not my call.”


‘Mona Lisa’ featuring Kendrick Lamar

The other track that Shkreli previewed online was titled “Mona Lisa.” He referred to it as “the best song of the damn thing,” and said that Kendrick Lamar was the listed feature.

This aligns with an earlier interview given by Lamar, who said that he had linked up with Wayne on a couple of Carter V sessions. It’s unclear whether “Mona Lisa,” or some reworked version of it, will appear on the album’s final tracklist.


‘Velvet’

The briefest of the Wayne snippets, this was leaked online with a batch of eight other tracks. Of the batch, however, only “Velvet” was said to be from Tha Carter V sessions.

At ten seconds, its tough to get a feel for the track, but the lyrics definitely falls in line with Wayne’s past work.


‘Just Chill’ featuring Justin Bieber & French Montana

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn3qvvPn2tI/?hl=en&tagged=freec5

This leaked track is said to be titled “Just Chill,” and features verses by Justin Bieber and French Montana. The song has been teased since 2014, and a leaked version was recently put online. It is not, however, available on YouTube.


‘Kidnap Cupid’

“Kidnap Cupid” leaked online in early 2017. Zale, who produced the track alongside Megaman, tweeted out earlier this year, saying that the leak hurt its chances of landing on an official album.

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“Me and @MegamanMusic did this years ago for @liltunchi, and someone leaked it as a snippet and that killed the record,” he wrote. “Still blessed to have gotten to hear wayne on it.”


‘Mute’ featuring Big Sean

On March 7 2017, a snippet of “Mute” was played during a Lil Wayne concert set. The track, which features Detroit spitter Big Sean, can be heard briefly over the sounds of the crowd.

The track has appeared on several different tracklists and snippet collections, though its current status remains unknown. The video cuts off before Sean’s verse can be heard.


‘Open Safe’

Another quick snippet, “Open Safe” is the first glimpse we got of the Wayne and DJ Mustard sessions. Mustard told MTV News that at least one of his beats were expected to make the final Carter V tracklist, though it remains to be seen whether this is it.


‘Famous’ featuring Reginae Carter

Wayne previewed “Famous” on Instagram Live, and the track quickly gained attention for being a collaboration between him and his daughter Reginae Carter. Her voice can be heard at the beginning of the video.

There isn’t much to hear beyond the instrumental, but the somber mood of the track suggests that Wayne could take a more reflective approach than normal.