Disputes over career paths caused friction in the Sqad Up camp with Birdman, and the group went their separate ways. Songs like “So Many Places” showed the growth, an artist that could combine lyrical skill with story-telling. Capitalizing on his buzz, Wayne dropped several solo mixtapes, releasing the first two installments of Da Drought series. Freestyles were the groups forte, and Wayne’s “Best of Me” freestyle helped to change listeners perspective on his lyrical skill.įrom the summer of 2002 until the release of The Carter in summer 2004, Wayne and Sqad Up hit the mixtape market with a fervor. While the entire SqadUp was talented, Wayne out shined his peers on many occasions. As computers became more affordable, sites like Datpiff were created to download and stream mix tapes worldwide. The collective dropped a series of Sqad Up tapes, SQ1-SQ6 which garnered buzz throughout the south. Many of these artists like Gudda Gudda, Kidd Kidd, and Kevin Gates would go on to achieve success on their own. Cash Money co-founder Bryan “Birdman” Williams understood the importance of Wayne attacking the mix tape lane in order to reflect his more mature image.įormed in 1999, Sqad Up was a group of New Orleans emcees with Wayne being the front man. Artists like 50 Cent and Cam’ron were using the mix tape platform to develop there fanbases in New York. The mix tape world was still an underground phenomenon at the time, with majority of mainstream artists relying on radio spins and albums for notoriety. From his lyrical content to image, it was clear that Wayne was out of place on the PG-13 radio hit. This was never more apparent than his 2001 appearance on the Hardball soundtrack title track with Lil Zane, Lil Bow Wow and Sammie.
Once seen as a sidekick to his more acclaimed allies, Wayne was now thrust into the star role.ĭespite being 20 years old, Wayne was still in the shadow of his peers, defined by his “Lil” moniker. The Hot Boyz were Cash Money’s breadwinners, and now they had disbanded, with B.G and Juvenile severing ties and Turk battling legal issues. The album’s title was seen as a shot at former Cash Money artist Juvenile’s classic 400 Degreez album. The year was 2002, and Cash Money artist Lil Wayne had just scored another Gold plaque with his third album 500 Degreez.
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