Iconic hip-hop artist plays the hits in front of enthusiastic Kansas City crowd
Mr. Carter. Lil Tunechi. Weezy. The Fireman. Whatever you call Lil Wayne, he gave fans a reminder of why some also refer to him as “the best rapper alive” during a 90-minute set in Kansas City.
The hip-hop icon born Dwayne Carter Jr., with guitar in one hand and a joint in the other, serenaded a packed T-Mobile Center on Tuesday, Aug. 26, taking those in attendance down memory lane for some of his biggest hits and giving them a preview of the future of Young Money, the record label he founded in 2005.
Other stops on the artist’s Tha Carter VI Tour saw him take the stage nearly an hour late, and his show Aug. 11 in Toronto was canceled due to an “unforeseen illness.” Fans in attendance in Kansas City fared better, only experiencing a 30-minute delay from his original scheduled show time of 9:15 p.m.
Opening act and fellow Young Money label artist Tyga’s set also started 30 minutes after it was scheduled. Still, neither delay impacted the artists’ ability to hold the crowd in the palm of their hands throughout the night.
The 42-year-old artist even found the time to congratulate Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on his engagement to superstar singer Taylor Swift. Wayne was last in Kansas City as the headliner for Kelce Jam, the athlete’s music festival, in 2024.
“Shoutout to my man Travis and my girl Taylor,” Wayne said. “Traylor, that’s what we call them. Congratulations.”
One of New Orleans’ most famous showcased why he’s in many “best hip-hop artist” lists and a fan favorite 28 years after debuting.
Discovering Lil Wayne
After a near-three decade career and numerous accolades, it’s no surprise Lil Wayne drew in fans of all ages to his show in Kansas City. From fans who remembered his rise during the “Mixtape Weezy” days in the mid-2000s to fans who were born after the first of six Tha Carter albums released in 2004 were all inside the arena for one thing: to see him live.
Levi and Torrie Ashmore of Iola, Kansas, two hours southwest of Kansas City, were some of the fans who recalled discovering Lil Wayne in high school. Instead of taking typing tests in computer class, Levi Ashmore was pulling up the artist’s music videos on YouTube and trying his best to hide it from the teacher, and later using “Rich as F---” as his alarm when he was on Emporia State University’s baseball team.
Tori Ashmore said she’d put many viruses on the family computer by downloading Wayne’s songs, such as “Lollipop,” from Limewire, a free peer-to-peer file-sharing application once available on many computer systems.
Both of these songs were played, causing many in the building to pull out their phones and record the first verse and hook of each one. Wayne seemed to only play these parts in songs he created and the verses he took part in on songs he was featured on, like “EveryGirl In The World,” “I’m Goin In,” “HYFR,” and “The Motto.”
Wayne performed one song in full: “A Milli,” the hit from 2008’s “Tha Carter III.” It was a special moment for him, as he traded verses from the song with his son and Young Money artist, Neal Carter, who performs under the name Lil Novi.
Playing the hits
The legend’s discography was also a part of Ethan Thomas’ upbringing, as the 20-year-old from Arkansas, who now lives with partner Morgan Cross in Springfield, said his mom would play Wayne’s music around him. It led to him discovering more on his own, and now he ranks Lil Wayne in his top three favorite hip-hop artists alongside Drake and Nas.
“He’s been making good music since the early 2000s,” Thomas said. “He’s still standing strong. He’s a dog.”
Wayne opted to stay as much in the 2000s and early 2010s as possible, and it proved to be a good decision. Fans were more familiar with his takes on “Wasted” by Gucci Mane and “Swag Surfin’” by F.L.Y. from his “No Ceilings Dedication” mixtape than “Hip-Hop” from his latest album, “Tha Carter VI.”
They recited his verses from “6 Foot 7 Foot,” “Mrs. Officer,” “Go DJ” and “Fireman” back to him with enthusiasm.
“Every time the crowd screams and it hurts, that’s what I’m talking about,” Wayne said on stage.
The opportunity to hear these and other popular tracks are what drew Kansas City’s Michelle Sims to the show. She recalled discovering Lil Wayne during his Hot Boys days with B.G., Juvenile and Turk in the late 1990s from her daughter and said this was a bucket list show, previously passing on the opportunity to see him at Kelce Jam.
After the show, concertgoers exited T-Mobile Center to smell a strong odor of marijuana, as presumably many of Lil Wayne’s fans partook in his habit of Blunt Blowin’.
