Lil Wayne's "Gossip" Defined His Hunger For GOAT Status

BYAron A.17.0K Views
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Lil Wayne declared himself as the living, breathing definition of hip-hop on "Gossip."

Lil Wayne will forever be one of the greatest to ever do it. Although the past decade has found the rapper making some questionable musical decisions, the rapper was one of the most important artists in an era where music was slowly transitioning from physical copies to digital. The mixtape era and his mixtape run is still one of the most pivotal moments in the past two decades of hip-hop.

The mixtape run, however, occurred during a time when it was damn-near impossible to release an album without it leaking online first. In response to songs off of The Carter III leaking online, he came through with his five-track EP, The Leak which included "Gossip." Even before reaching megastardom, Lil Wayne took the Streetrunner production and continued to apply pressure on the rap game with that he's the living, breathing definition of hip-hop.

"Wider wrappers, why do rappers/ Lie to fans, lie to rappers/ Lot of rappers lie like actor, cut the mothafuckin' cameras/ Cut the check, n***a, fuck your prop/ And make it out to Mr. Hip Hop," he declares by the end of the song.

Quotable Lyrics
It rains a lot in my city because my city's crying
Because my city's dying
Still I emerge from all of that, I am a living pion-eer
Near Zion
Fear God, not them, steer my Robin coupe, 
Through the streets of the Boot, and Su-Woop
And I leak blood in the booth, I leave a blood bath
Sorry, there's a tub in the booth, now where the drugs at?


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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