“‘Hello, how you doing tonight?” Lil Wayne asks while walking back and forth on stage as his track “Mr. Carter” plays in the background. He then begins performing the record opening his “Welcome To Tha Carter Tour” to dedicated day one fans on Wednesday, April 26, at The Factory located in Chesterfield’s The District entertainment plaza.
The 52,000 square foot venue opened its doors in July 2021, and was the perfect location for Lil Wayne’s stop in St. Louis. The Factory’s floor is general admission with standing room only on a first come, first serve basis. Balcony seating is also available. Think of The Pageant, but a bigger version of it.
Lil Wayne shouted out the city’s own Nelly for taking him under his wing as a teenager during the early stages of his career.
The venue offered an intimate up close and personal live experience for the often crowned “Best Rapper Alive.” The controversy that’s swirled around him over the last six years has more to do with his statements about race, than whether or not he’s that talented. When asked in a Nightline interview in 2016 with Linsey Davis about the Black Lives Matter movement he famously responded, “I don’t feel connected to a damn thing that ain’t got nothin’ to do with me.”
With an extensive catalog boasting 13 studio albums, one collaborative album, three compilation albums, five EPs, and a whopping 29 mixtapes, and feature after feature one might question how Lil Wayne can fit everything he’s done into an hour set.
He didn’t disappoint with the variety and range of everything real Lil Wayne fans would expect to hear. He performed about half of the songs from his five-part Tha Carter album series including Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, Tha Carter III, Tha Carter IV, and Tha Carter V.
Crowd favorites from the series were: “Let The Beat Build,” “BM J.R.,” “Blunt Blowin,” “La La,” “She Will,” “Lollipop,” which earned him his first Diamond certified record, “Mrs. Officer,” “Hustler Musik,” “Fireman,” and “Money On My Mind,” “She Will,” “How To Love,” and “Go DJ,” when Lil Wayne showered his DJ T. Lewis with praise. The crowd went especially crazy when he performed “6 Foot 7 Foot,” but what would’ve really brought it together was if Cory Gunz had been live for his verse.
Of course he did songs from “I Am Not A Human Being,” which was a prelude to Tha Carter IV. He had the fans rocking to “Drop The World,” “Right Above It,” and “I’m Single.” He also did songs from “I Am Not A Human Being II.”
The Mixtape King gave the people what they wanted not limiting himself to just one project but he made sure to span out across No Ceilings, Da Drought 3, The Leak, Dedication 2, Dedication 3 and Sorry 4 The Wait, which featured Watch My Shoes, Ice Cream Paint Job, Wasted, I’m Me, No Worries, etc.
What’s a Lil Wayne show without Young Money? The founder of his own label imprint made sure to incorporate music from the label and former artists in his set from “Steady Mobbin,” to “Every Girl,” to his features on Drake’s “HYFR,” “I’m Goin In,” and “The Motto.”
Lil Twist, from the original Young Money artists roster which formed in 2007 and released the first collaboration album in 2009 joined Lil Wayne for a performance of “Ball Hard,” and Twist’s new song “Best Friend.”
Young Money’s new generation of artists Yaj Kader, Allan Cubas, and Jay Jones each performed their own individual sets. While it was cool to be introduced to YM’s younger acts, it would’ve been iconic for the original members to perform; Jae Millz, Shanell, Gudda Gudda, Lil Chuckee. Imagine how epic it would’ve been to see Millz, Gudda Gudda and Twist do YM Salute.
Lil Wayne shouted out the city’s own Nelly for taking him under his wing as a teenager during the early stages of his career.
“I wanna shout out my big big bro,” Lil Wayne said. “He brought me down here when I was a teenager. He took me in. I did like 1,000 tours with this man, his family and his crew. So shout out to Nelly, my brother for real for real.”
Lil Wayne has cemented himself as a multi-hyphenate rap icon selling 100 million records worldwide, touring and performing on mega stages including The Grammys, BET Awards, and winning a collection of awards from those institutions along with others.
It was refreshing to see someone of his stature with a more than 20-year successful career maintain humility and appreciation for his fans.
He thanked his supporters after every song and complimented them, calling them beautiful and awesome.
He wrapped up his grand performance with the timeless hit, “A Milli.”
“I want to let you know three important things about myself,” he said before exiting the stage. “Number one is I know that we all ain’t [expletive] without the Lord from above. Number two is I know that I ain’t [expletive] without you, ya dig. Number three is a very important one if you don’t remember [expletive] about tonight please remember number three. Number three is I ain’t [expletive] without you, you dig?”
The Welcome To Tha Carter Tour is presented by LiveNation, Rolling Loud and Young Money.
