T-Wayne lives. The collaboration between rappers Lil Wayne and T-Pain had rumors circulating for almost a decade with no music to show for it. Finally, the mixtape's existence was proven on Thursday, when it was suddenly released for all to hear. Just a day earlier, T-Pain asked fans on Twitter if he should release the mixtape, which almost felt like a cruel joke. It was no joke, though, and now it's free for the whole world to hear.
Welcome to T-Wayne
The T-Wayne collaboration was released on T-Pain's SoundCloud account on Thursday in a bit of a "Throwback Thursday" moment.
There are eight tracks on the mixtape, some emblematic of the time and some eerily similar to the music of today. For instance, "Snap Ya Fangas" follows a well-known T-Pain mentality of the late 2000s. "DAMN DAMN DAMN," on the other hand, would draw immediate comparisons from title alone with Kendrick Lamar's recent album.
There are other interesting Easter eggs on the T-Wayne mixtape. "Breath" has the same beat and style as "Did It on 'Em," a Nicki Minaj track released in 2010; maybe labelmate Lil Wayne gave it to her after the album went into hiding. The first song on the track list, "He Rap He Sang," appears to reference the idea that Lil Wayne and T-Pain needed to stay in their respective lanes.
Guess they didn't really need to listen to their haters.
Excitement for T-Wayne
On Twitter, the excitement for the release of the T-Wayne collaboration was in overdrive. Writer Tyler Conway called it the "most important thing" in his life. Aaron Dodson of The Undefeated published a gif of someone fainting. Others tweeted in celebration of finally hearing some music from T-Pain and Lil Wayne once more.
Indeed, that has to be considered part of the appeal of T-Wayne: it comes at a time when both of the musicians have slipped from the musical mainstream. Lil Wayne has been in a protracted legal battle with his one-time mentor, Birdman, about the release of "Tha Carter V." At the moment, it doesn't seem like that release is any closer to happening than it was a couple of years ago.
Meanwhile, T-Pain hasn't released a studio album since 2011's "Revolver." Perhaps the positive reception to this long-awaited joint venture will inspire the two artists to do whatever it takes to move back into the forefront of the rap game, where their presence has been sorely missed, while a new generation attempts to seize their throne.
