“Dedicate” by Lil Wayne
“Dedicate” is a song recorded as well as performed by rapper Lil Wayne. The track sees Wayne dropping lines that touch on a number of things, most notably the significant influence he’s having in the hip hop industry.
It is also important to mention that in certain parts of the lyrics of “Delicate”, Wayne appears to be taking shots at Birdman. Everyone who knows Wayne and Birdman knows that there has been some really bad blood between them. Their misunderstanding began when Wayne’s former record label Cash Money Records co-founded by Birdman refused releasing Wayne’s album Tha Carter V in 2014. This led to Wayne dissing Birdman on multiple occasions and eventually suing him and his record label for an amount of $51 million.
Barack Obama is “featured” in “Dedicate”
One of the highlights of this track is the fact that it “features” the former U.S. President Barack Obama.
Wayne used a sample of a 2009 speech President Obama made at the 100th anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In the speech, among other things, Obama said every child can’t aspire to be the “next LeBron or Lil Wayne”.
He encouraged African American kids to not only aspire to be rappers or basketball players but also aspire to be professionals such as doctors, engineers, scientists, etc.
Wayne used a sample of the speech above in the song’s outro. It is noteworthy to mention that during Obama’s tenure as President of the United States, he referenced Wayne on multiple occasions during his public addresses.
Facts about “Dedicate”
- “Dedicate” was written by a number of prominent songwriters aside Lil Wayne. These include 2 Chainz and Grammy Award winning hip hop record producer Mike Dean.
- A total of three hip hop music producers handled the production of this track. The producers are Roc N Mayne, Manny Galvez and Louie Haze.
- On September 28, 2018, “Dedicate” was officially released to the public for the first time. It is the third song from Wayne’s long-delayed 12th studio album entitled Tha Carter V. Other prominent songs from this album include “Mona Lisa” and “Don’t Cry“. The latter features the late rapper and singer XXXTentacion on vocals.
- Despite the fact that rapper 2 Chainz sings the song’s chorus, the only credit he receives on this track is a songwriting credit.
Does this track sample any other tracks?
Yes, it does! It samples the 2016 song “Dedication” by 2 Chainz. It is for this reason that both 2 Chainz and Mike Dean receive songwriting credits on the track.
Before “Dedicate” has Lil Wayne collaborated with 2 Chainz in the past?
Yes. Prior to this track, the pair had collaborated on multiple tracks. For example, the pair collaborated in the Grammy Award nominated 2017 song “No Problem”. That song was released by Chance the Rapper and features both Wayne and 2 Chainz.
