I was not sure what to expect when I saw X was in this!
Thanks for sharing, great listen!
“Don’t Cry,” the first song on Tha Carter V, features a chorus from the late XXXTENTACION. This song mainly focuses on Lil Wayne’s emotions as he discusses many difficult situations in his life. There is a smooth transition from the album’s intro, “I Love You Dwayne,” to this song, as we hear Jacida Carter (Lil Wayne’s mother) weeping before X tells her not to cry.
X had no knowledge that he would appear on Tha Carter V because his contributions were added after his passing. X met with Z3N, one of the song’s producers, in February 2018 to record this chorus and other music. Then, in August 2018, Z3N showed some of the music he created with X to LunchMoney Lewis, a Young Money affiliate. Lewis loved the chorus and showed it to Wayne and Republic Records. Wayne loved it and had Ben Billions to put the entire song together.
In an interview after the album’s release, Wayne revealed that he had no idea who X was and that X’s inclusion was Mack Maine’s idea.
That was my big homie Mack’s idea. He came to New Orleans to do something for like a day or two, and he came back and said I have something I want you to hear. That was the first time hearing my mom on the song, so when he played that, then he played the song.
Although X never heard this song, he probably would have approved of it because he often cited Wayne as one of his biggest influences. He revealed that Wayne was one of his favorite rappers in his XXL interview, and he also mentioned that he grew up listening to Wayne in his No Jumper interview and in his interview with 103.5 The Beat.
He also has shouted out Wayne on a song. In the intro to “YuNg BrAtZ,” X says:
She wanna, X wanna You wanna? L-l-lick my dick like a what? Nice! Lick my dick like Lil Wayne lollipop, huh!
Additionally, X’s part appears to be somewhat inspired by X’s “Pain = BESTFRIEND.” He uses some of the same lyrics but sings them in a significantly calmer tone.
