"Dedication," the opener on ColleGrove, is a solo 2 Chainz track, and it's a tribute to Lil Wayne, who would go on to feature on 8 of the album's remaining 11 songs. "If it wasn't for Wayne it wouldn't be / A lot of dudes in the game, including me," Chainz begins the song, before going on to detail his early experiences being around Wayne, who brought him into his circle with open arms and encouraged him to pursue his dreams. For the hook, in between his reflections on pivotal moments in the pair's brotherhood, Tity simply raps, "that my dog" over and over, and his appreciation for Tunechi becomes increasingly palpable with each repetition.
Wayne and Chainz recently held a special ColleGrove concert in Atlanta, and after the show, the pair sat down with Rob Markman of Genius to talk about how the album came together.
Apparently Wayne had no idea that Chainz had recorded a tribute track in his honor for their joint LP. "I didn't know he was doing it," said Wayne, with Tity sitting beside him. Weezy then went on to explain that he had been in backseat of a car with a lady friend when he first played the song, and he immediately had to make his driver pull over. He then asked the driver as well as his security guard (sitting shotgun) to get out of the vehicle.
"I had to make them get out after I started listening to what the lyrics was about. Obviously, I already tattooed some [tears] on my face, but that song made a few more drop."
Now that's real music. Watch the full interview, which goes into more detail about many of the song's lyrics, below.