Illustration by Michael Alcantara
Day 291: "Whip Game Proper" feat. Lil Wayne – Twista, Adrenaline Rush 2007, 2007In addition to rapping over Twista beats, Lil Wayne also made a song with Twista—over a beat that sampled Lil Wayne's own vocals—called "Whip Game Proper" on Twista's 2007 album Adrenaline Rush 2007 (a riff on his hit 1997 album of the same name). "I was like 'oh shit, well what would be dope is if I could actually get him on the song.' And I hit him up, sent him the track, and the homie looked out," Twista explained to me earlier this week, when I called him up to ask about his latest album, Crook County.He gave a few thoughts on Lil Wayne in general, too, explaining that Wayne used to come out to his shows back in the 90s. "In New Orleans, yeah, if I would go down to Louisiana and had a show, Lil Wayne would literally walk up to the show by himself and watch me perform." In 1999, Twista went down to film a video with the rap group Kane & Abel—the song was called "Straight Thuggin'," and the video is peak late 90s rap excess, with a plot that would make the Oceans Eleven crew proud—and Wayne, he said, came out to the shoot. Naturally, as it tends to be among rappers with such long histories and such elevated levels of talent, the respect is mutual. Twista explained his impression of Wayne, too."He's just one of our pioneers," he told me. "I definitely think when you talk about artists like JAY-Z, Eminem, Kanye West, you know, Kendrick Lamar—when you talk about these artists you have to put Lil Wayne in that category." In the pantheon, he added, Wayne is in the "top ten important figures out there, man. He's in that top ten." But don't just take Twista's word for it; listen to his song. It's pure rappin'-ass rappin' from two of the very best in that department at their respective mid-2000s peaks. There's an instant favorite Lil Wayne line, too: "I get high / I'm twisted like a bag of rope."Follow Kyle Kramer on Twitter.