“Mahogany” by Lil Wayne

The title of this song is derived primarily from its chorus in which Lil Wayne refers to his “mahogany dashboard” and his “mahogany gun”. Mahogany, as you likely already know, is a color. So the latter item would be a reference to the rapper’s car, which is meant to be symbolic of his overall wealth. And the latter, in a wider sense, alludes not only to his possession of a firearm but also his willingness to use it. 

And the gimmick of this track, if you will, is that in the second verse especially Wayne goes on to mention a number of mahogany-colored items he possesses. At the end of the day, all these things are intended to for the most part point back to money, women or violence – i.e. the standard tropes of rap music. And whereas Wayne apparently had quite a few helpers in penning this tune, ultimately what makes “Mahogany” stand out, even though it wasn’t released as a single, is that the wordplay is indeed clever as only Weezy can do. For instance, he is perhaps the only rapper who would think of namedropping “NASA” in connection to the “space” he has in his mansions – a metaphor which once again is meant to imply that he’s wealthy. 

So basically what we have here is a case of a rap song whose subject matter is the norm – money, women, guns – but whose lyricist is one of a kind.

Facts about “Mahogany”

Lil Wayne had help writing this song in the form of the following writers:

• Jeremy Fedryk
• David Jackson
• Eryn Allen Kane
• Mannie Fresh (who is Lil Wayne’s longtime homey)

Mannie also produced the tune alongside Sarcastic Sounds.

Young Money Entertainment dropped this song on 31 January 2020. The label dropped it as part of Wayne’s 2020 “Funeral” album.