Lil Wayne

When Lil Wayne suddenly changed his image on the cover of Tha Carter, the move amounted to more than a healthy set of dreadlocks. A solid seven years removed from his first Hot Boys verses, the self-proclaimed Young Carter — a mic-passing reference to Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter in the eyes of some — sounded poised for genuine greatness on "Go DJ," his biggest single to date thanks to Mannie Fresh's spare, amp-imploding beats and Wayne's wildly-stylized flow. The eccentric MC hasn't stopped evolving in the years since, either, whether we're talking about a GRAMMY®-nominated dance track with a street-hardened edge ("Soldier"), the wailing sirens and wobbly rhymes of "Fireman," the throwback R&B track of "Hustler Musik," or the regal horn blasts of "Stuntin' Like My Daddy."

That's just the half of it, though. As our Next Steps prove, Lil Wayne has always aimed to change the game.

A collection of post-breakup cuts from the tail-end of the '90s, Let 'Em Burn reveals the Hot Boys for what they were: a promising jump-off point for four of New Orleans' tightest rappers, including Juvenile and a scrappy Lil Wayne. While the pair reunites on a bell tower-ringing version of Juvenile's "Ha" single, our Next Steps focuses on Wayne's restless output — complex wordplay exercises cast against the kaleidoscopic guitar chords of "Sweetest Girl," the creeping synths and arena rock riffs of "Rock Star," the whirring organ and sci-fi sound effects of "I'm a G," and the stuttering soul man samples of "This Is the Carter."

To really appreciate Lil Wayne, though, you have to soak up his myriad cameo appearances, which our Deep Cuts provides in droves.

A quick scan of the top-notch MCs splitting verses with Lil Wayne in the following songs — OutKast, Ja Rule, Jim Jones, T.I., Snoop Dogg, and Juelz Santana to name just a few — is impressive enough, but the beats and basslines behind it all? They're A-game material as well, running the gamut of genre reference points. Don't believe us, though; simply hit random and you'll hear shades of smooth jazz ("Grown Man"), pep rally whistles and chunky drum breaks ("Don't Trip"), hissing loops and Twilight Zone tones ("Hollywood Divorce"), and last but not least — a howling Lil Jon and synths set to a bubbly simmer ("Stand Up").

According to SPIN magazine, Lil Wayne dropped 864 guest verses and songs in 2007 alone. Considering he got his start as the youngest member (a scrappy 18 years old) of the Hot Boys way back in '97, Weezy very well might be the toughest rapper to keep track of these days. That's why we skimmed the finest songs from his catalog for you, including his many collaborations with Birdman (namely the Top 5-crackin' Like Father, Like Son album and numerous 5 * Stunna appearances, including support-slot rhymes dropped amid the rubbery Super Mario sonics of "Pop Bottles" and the cascading piano progressions of "Believe Dat"); the first two installments of the critically acclaimed Carter trilogy (The New Yorker even gushed about Wayne's Ghostface-like skills when it comes to stream-of-consciousness storytelling and dense metaphors); and quite a few of those grandstanding guest verses (see such definitive Dirty South/Cash Money singles as "Back That Azz Up," "Bling Bling," and "Stuntin' Like My Daddy").