What Was Your Favorite Album in High School? — Sophomore Year
2008 was a big year for me. I bought my first pair of skinny jeans and Famous Stars and Straps shirt, my angst had reached peak teenager, I had my first girlfriend, and subsequently my first real breakup. Basically, being 15 was like a dark storm cloud over my life when I look back on my past 25 years. I hated being 15. But there was one shining moment in that year of torture: Tha Carter 3.
Lil Wayne was everywhere from 2007 until he went to jail for gun charges. It felt like every time a new song came out, you could bet on it featuring Lil Wayne. It didn’t matter what the genre was, it was going to feature Wayne and you could bet your life savings that nobody listened to the other artist on the track. All we wanted was Wayne and red skinny jeans.
When you look at the release date for the album, you’ll see it came out on June 10, 2008, which would put me right at summer break. BUT, the album leaked early into my sophomore year. Like almost a year before the actual album came out. When we saw it available on Limewire and Hot New Hip Hop, we blew up each other’s MySpace’s talking about the album and how it was a classic from the second you heard what sounded like a shower curtain on the opening track, “3 Peat.” We loved Da Drought 3, but this album changed EVERYTHING.
“3 Peat” transitioned into “Mr. Carter”, which had Wayne running circles around Jay-Z. Then, it happened… “A Milli.”
“A Milli” was the soundtrack of the year and of the summer and of high school. When you heard “Bangladesh,” it felt like the whole world came to a stand still while Wayne rapped over the deepest bass drops about his Sicilian bitch with long hair. You couldn’t go to a house party without hearing “A Milli.” When it came on, the drunk girls trying to fight each other reached a peace treaty and wrapped their arms around each other to rap together (and often shout the forbidden word). If “A Milli” came on during a game of beer pong, you could almost guarantee you were making every shot. You could stand outside and shoot the pong ball and it’d still land softly in the red solo cup. If you did happen to fist fight during the song, you were gonna cause Avengers levels of destruction because death was literally not possible for the 4 minutes this track was on. “A Milli” was like a real life superpower.
“Let The Beat Build” was my favorite. And then “Phone Home” and “Shoot Me Down.” There was a track that didn’t clear samples that I loved, “Playing With Fire.” If you ever get a chance to listen to that song, do it. It’s peak Wayne.
Today, Wayne is more of a punchline than anything. He hasn’t come close to his production on Tha Carter 3, although he did come close on No Ceilings and I Am Not A Human Being. But that was 8 years ago. Nobody stays at the top of the rap game forever; rap has always been a series of runs. But for 3 years, Wayne was the best rapper alive, and he created the most memorable album of my high school life. I don’t think I’ve been on Hot New Hip Hop since Wayne fell off.
HONORABLE MENTION
American Gangster by Jay Z. This would’ve probably been my favorite album, had Tha Carter 3 not leaked so early. “No Hook” is still a monster to listen to. We really need to appreciate Jay and this album more.
Graduation by Kanye West. Not my favorite Kanye album, but I’d be a damn liar if I said “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” wasn’t just as monumental as Tha Carter 3. Unfortunately, most of the album is skippable for me, I still have no idea what the hell “Barry Bonds” was.
Kala by MIA. “20 Dollar” was ahead of its time. If that comes out today, I think this album would be remembered more for that than “Paper Planes”.
The Real Testament by Plies. YO, this album was close to being my favorite. This was a near perfect album and Plies was just as prevalent as Wayne was. At least, in my memory he was. I’m not going to look it up because I like for my memories to stay in tact even if they aren’t exactly accurate. Just trust me, we fucking loved Plies.
