Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V has become the most infamously delayed project in hip-hop since Dr. Dre’s Detox, but if Birdman has his way it may finally be out soon. In a new interview with Rap-Up, the Cash Money boss explicitly promised that the album will drop before the end of 2018. “That’s on Tunechi, whatever he want to do, but I’m guaranteeing you we’ll get that this year,” he said. “I think it’s gonna be the biggest album of 2018, one of them. Without a doubt. It’s gonna be well worth the wait.”
Despite Birdman’s claims, it’s hard to believe that much has changed behind the scenes. Wayne’s $41 million lawsuit with Cash Money remains unresolved nearly four years after it was first initiated, and the New Orleans rapper has previously claimed that he’s more or less holding the album as a bargaining chip in the negotiations. In an August 2017 interview with Wild Wayne of New Orleans' Q93 radio station, Lil Wayne explained that he could release the project at any time, but he doesn’t want fans to get it “the wrong way”:
Of course you’re going to see Tha Carter V. Man, I just don’t want to put it out the wrong way. Honestly, man, I can do what I want honestly at any time. The fans deserve it to be right and that’s how it’s gonna be. I’ma make sure it’s right. I can drop whatever I want to drop. I keep dropping whatever I want to drop. But I’m not gonna give ’em Carter V the wrong way.
For the past few years, Birdman has repeatedly said that the album was on its way without any meaningful update on what’s really going on. “I think it’s just some business going on,” Birdman told Angie Martinez in an infamous 2015 interview. “My perspective is, I’m gonna do whatever [Wayne] wants to do,” he said, seeming to ignore his repeated attempts to block Wayne from leaving the label or releasing the album. He repeated similar claims in an early 2017 interview with Travis Scott, and seemed to echo basically the same talking points in his Rap-Up interview.
Although Lil Wayne hasn’t dropped an official single from Tha Carter V, a handful of songs have leaked online over the past year. Pharma bro Martin Shkreli—who purchased a copy of the album that Wayne accidentally left in a Bugatti he traded in—played several tracks on VidMe live-streams, although the government attempted to seize his copy late last year. Young Money signee Poppy Holden also shared a snippet of “The Life of Mr. Carter” in January 2017, and Mannie Fresh previewed part of “Start This Shit Off Right” in late 2016.
Watch his interview above and read all the currently available lyrics to Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V on Genius now.
