"Whatever's Good, Weezy's Better: The C2C3 Countdown" is a list of the top 80 tracks that Lil Wayne released between The Carter II and The Carter III. Each week, we'll post between 10 and 15 tracks--with mp3s and reviews--and on the Monday before C3 drops, we'll drop the top 10.

Previously:
C2C3 Countdown, tracks 80 - 71
C2C3 Countdown, tracks 70 - 61
C2C3 Countdown, tracks 60 - 51
C2C3 Countdown, tracks 50 - 41
C2C3 Countdown, tracks 40 - 31
C2C3 Countdown, tracks 30 - 21

20. "Beat Without Bass"
Heard on The Best Rapper Alive Vol. 3 | Download

Yeah, none of this song matters at all except for the part that disses Jay-Z so hard I yelled "oh snap!" the first time I heard it. Seriously, as strong as this track is, that is some cold, deadly, awesome shit right there. And, well, true. Hats off Wayne. -zolmes


Wayne's verse here is sickening--I can barely believe that he was allowed to spit for so long. This is a verse that ranks up there with "Ether." Weezy is cogent, angry and on some crazy numbers shit. We're loving every second of it, but pressing skip when his spot is done. -bw

19. "Sky is the Limit" aka "Ride 4 My Niggaz"
Heard on Da Drought 3 | Download

Wayne loves you, he really does. He loves himself as well, but he loves you for loving him. This is clear to anyone who's ever been to one of his shows, but it's also clear on tracks like these. Because Wayne understands that rap is no longer confined to a small group of regional fans, but that a large majority of his audience are people like me--white kids from white cities. And so his chorus here isn't just a proclamation of his love for his friends and his city, though that's true, but that it extends beyond that, to everyone who listens.


No, maybe I'm just trying to make everything about me, but I don't think Wayne is limiting the sky to only N.O. citizens. He's riding for his city, sure, but that city is global now, that city has been taken around the world, and all of us who work, who believe possibilities--those are who should know the sky is limit.

But enough about half-baked theories--how epic is this track? I love it. I love that it's a movie soundtrack waiting to happen, the four horseman of the apocalypse upon us, and Wayne takes the time to name-drop the Gremlins. -zolmes

18. "It's Time to Give Me Mine"
Heard on The Drought is Over Pt. 4 | Download

Here again we have a track that was destined for C3 and the love of fans everywhere. Leaks, however, are a bitch.


On "It's Time to Give Me Mine," Wayne is at his finest. Every lyric on this track is brilliant. For three verses he tears the beat apart and affirms his position at the top of the game. The subject of the track makes it clear that Wayne had intended it as a major statement for The Carter 3, and the song probably would have showed up early on the disc. It's a reflection of his hard work in rap music, the dues he's paid and the respect he's owed.

The best part of "It's Time to Give Me Mine" comes at the end. Wayne starts with two flawless verses, but then switches his style for the third, delivering one immaculate minute of music that no one can hope to compare to.

Come and get it, anyone can get it
But since I'm the president I'd be a little more politic
I'm chillin' in the clinic
Cuz that's how many nurses I got workin' on my dizick
Snakes in the grass, rats, lizards
But round here snitches don't exist like wizards
Ho this ain't punch, I'm sippin on some syzzurp
I roll a fat junt and do my fingers like scissors

This verse--which continues--is really a thing of beauty. By the end, Wayne sums up the trajectory of his career in music, bringing the song full circle: "So say whatchu wanna say, I need to throw a cup of water in my face: FIRST PLACE!" This song is a fucking celebration. -bw

17. "I Feel Like Dying"
Heard on The Carter III Sessions | Download

Is this track intentional poignant? Sure we're suppose to love getting high during it, but the chorus hits me every time, this unexpected bitterness surrounded by a cloud of smoke. Maybe it's because I original misheard it as "hold my close/the drugs are done/I feel like dying/I feel like dying", but to me it allows for some complications in what otherwise whole-heartedly supports the consumption of as many drugs as possible.


And I'm not hating on drugs by any means, but that nuance is something that I love about this track. Drugs are great, but they aren't without their risks and heartbreak. As enthusiastic as Wayne is for them, he's aware of that as well.

Without the soap-boxing, the dreamlike state of this song is perfect. Wayne may be far too drugged out at times (including, ahem, recent interviews), but the sense of this track may be the perfect soundtrack to being high, the perfect sense of what it's like, of what, perhaps, Wayne is like. -zolmes

"I Feel Like Dying" was Wayne's first true foray into the realm of drug-music. It's unabashed fascination with death and depression opens the audience up to an entirely new side of Weezy. That's what made it so compelling upon first listen. Imagine your favorite rapper dropping something so revealing as this: the title seems weak, and yet by showing us so much Wayne is at his strongest. He's reflective, unapologetic and speaking for an entire generation of kids confronting similar feelings. -bw

16. "Oh Yeah" f. Juelz Santana
Heard on None Higher | Download

"Half a brick strapped to a baby" is an image that always causes me to smile. It's so ridiculous, so perfect. It's gangster, sure, maybe, but it's a note that maybe this gangster thing, maybe it's not something that has to be so much effort. Maybe it's something that can be fun. -zolmes


Wayne has always been a master of setting shit off, and the story is no different here. From the moment his voice drops it's apparent that shit is going to flow. This is one of the most listenable Wayne songs, but beyond simply being smooth, there are a couple unforgettable lines, such as:

Yes, and I be wit Midwest Chubbie
But I'm from the dirty keep it dirty like I'm playin rugby
Bitch ride me like an old-school Huffy
Lemme see you work your mouth like a fuckin' guppie.

Rugby, Huffy's and guppies. Fuck your favorite rapper. -bw

15. "We Come and See About It"
Heard on The Drought is Over Pt. 4 | Download

This song plays like an anthem for the life of a baller. No matter what your hustle, it's not hard to identify with Wayne's endlessly repeated mantra: "They just talkin' bout it, and I'm on the streets wit it!" This is truly a song for get-shit-done people: because where Weezy comes from, you gotta be about it. The verses are almost entirely exercises in self-aggrandizement, slammed in between a chorus that replays Wayne's history while rehashing his philosophy. The second verse finds Weezy at his best, completely controlling the opening bars:

There's been a murder!
Bitch I make a killing
Insurance papers in the safe
Money in the ceiling
I got a pillowcase full of pistols Come thru a nigga house and aim at the pillows

This was clearly a track intended for The Carter III, but unfortunately or not, it leaked to the net months in advance. Bad for Wayne, but great for the listeners. This gem is buried in the Wayne vaults, forgotten among so many other, more popular treasures, like Da Drought 3, for example. Perhaps the biggest tragedy of Wayne's career is that songs like "We Come and See About It" get next to no critical commentary due to the way they were released: lacking a coherent, definitive mixtape, songs like this tend to float in the hip-hop ether, ultimately to be forgotten and ignored.

If a nigga play wit family for that matter
I'ma smoke so many niggas I'ma catch cancer
And if I step up out this Benzo
You know I'm comin' with a gun like a Nintendo
They soft; them niggaz fallin' when the wind blow
And I'm rollin' up my window

In the collective memory of Wayne fans everywhere, "We Come and See About It" rests in a special place, somewhere between The Carter 2 and The Carter 3--not on the cutting room floor, but in a spot reserved for could-have's and should-have's. It's an accidental step-child of a song, but we still love it. -bw

14. "In The Hood" f. Brisco
Heard on Greatest Rapper Alive Vol. 2 | Download

It's no secret that this beat is fire, but Wayne makes sure to keep it gutter, and with a few opening sentences, spells out exactly what's up: "I gets gratefully honored, every second, minute and hour. I am the man of that... Im back!" I always enjoy these little opening vignettes that aren't rap but rather brash boasting set to music--it really sets the tone, and somehow makes verses (like the following) have an even more extreme impact:

I'm butter on a bread like Parkay
And I am all about me like Do-Ray
I'm in the hood in the hood like dope, yay
Nappy ass hair like Buckwheat, "Oh-tay!"


The joy of listening to Wayne is discovering these lines for oneself, the first time. His words never seem to get old, and each verse seems to get better. The nuance is deep, the pop culture references endless and Wayne's hunger for beats implacable:

Hollygrove, Eagle Street be my damn hood
Where you can get murdered for free like canned goods
I got twelve Barbaros under the Lam' hood
I can bring Kentucky Derby to the damn hood

This is the brilliance of Wayne: he rarely panders to his audience, and like all great artists assumes the intelligence of his listeners--he knows that we're right there with him the whole way. His metaphors and references are often so complex that it would not be strange if someone released an annotated volume of his lyrics. I mean, honestly: Barbaro? It's genius, and it only gets better with each verse:

Man I'm so Hollygrove
Stand strong in the water like a Commodore
Black holes in your white tee, dominoes
Me and Brisco, Cash Money carnivores

In case you don't know, a Commodore is a type of commissioned naval officer--if you didn't know, then you probably thought that verse was trash. Seems to be the common-thread among Wayne haters: lack of a proper education in words. Can't really enjoy what you don't understand, now can you? But hey, educated rappers attract educated fans, even if they are "In The Hood." Wayne's flow is truly out of this world: Weezy, time to phone home.-bw

13. "David Banner"
Heard on Lil Weezy Ana 1 | Download

"David Banner" is a lyrical exercise for Weezy. It's one of those tracks that takes an active listener to disentangle--the complexity of the metaphors and references are mindboggling, but even more impressive is how long Wayne sustains it for. This has always been his forte: like a fuel-efficient vehicle, Wayne just never seems to run out of gas.

Chrome on the monster, leather intestines
With a top model, and the contestants
I'm a rotweiler, yes I'm a rock and roller
It's Weezy Fuckin' Baby, straight up out the stroller
I'm higher than the solar
System oughta twist em
I'm like MacAuly Calkin
I was rich when I was pissin
On myself I'm ballin; you niggaz hate-a-holics
I'm just the recipe, so you can save the garlic

It's really pointless to quote this track, because it goes on and on and on, and only gets better. Wait for the beat to switch, listen, then press rewind. -bw

12. "Pain"
Heard on Carter III Sessions | Download

Let's just all take a moment and pretend that Rick Ross had never done a remix of this song. Because that's all I have on my computer at the moment, and it makes me cringe every time. The first version I heard was just Wayne and it was just aamazing. Not that collaborations never add anything, but that more stripped down version was more driven, more intense, more heart-breaking.


Because this is a hell of a break-up song, and, at least in my estimation it's one of the most passionate ones I can think of. Not that rappers never let down their guards, but the emotions in this song are just so raw as to make one feel voyeuristic for hearing it.

Add that the great sample--a use of a sample rarely seen, where it interacts and builds on the song in a really clear and great way. It adds a bit of playfulness and creativity to an otherwise dense track. -zolmes

11. "Triggaman"
Heard on Lil Weezy Ana 1 | Download

I wish Curren$y was still on Cash Money, because he interacts with Wayne in such a great way. I can't think of a single song they've done together that wasn't a joy to listen to, Triggaman being a great example.

So here we have some great representing of the south, of New Orleans, and of bounce music. And we also have some great slow, a crazy sick beat, and Wayne just going off on everything. Tracks like these made him and while his later work has matured and built on these themes, there's no denying the fun of hearing an earlier track like this, no denying the energy, the musicianship, and the ease in which it all comes across.

And, damn, seriously. That beat. Wayne, for all his ongoing troubles with DJs can really pick a beat to go over. -zolmes

This track is the old and the new together. There's really nothing to say about it: you simply must listen. -bw

Grab all the tracks from this edition of the C2C3 countdown in one zip pack.

Check back in another two days for the end of our countdown--and more importantly--the release of Lil Wayne's The Carter III. It's an exciting time in rap music. The alien, Weezy F. Baby is set for takeover.