5 Songs You Didn’t Know Lil Wayne Wrote for Other Artists

Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., also known as Lil Wayne, was already topping the charts when he was just a teenager. First joining the Hot Boyz with rapper B.G., Juvenile, and Turk when he was just 14, the group released their debut, Get It How U Live! in 1997 and charted with their single “We on Fire.” Followed by their breakthrough album, Guerrilla Warfare, Hot Boyz hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 5 on the Billboard 200.

Around the time of Guerrilla Warfare, Lil Wayne was also branching off and released his solo debut, Tha Block Is Hot, in 1999. The album debuted at No. 3 on the 200 chart and sent the rapper on a different trajectory. After Hot Boyz disbanded in 2001, Lil Wayne had already released Lights Out in 2000, followed by another top 10 album 500 Degreez.

Releasing 10 more albums through Funeral in 2020—with the forthcoming Tha Carter VI and I Am Not a Human Being III — Lil Wayne has also collaborated with dozens of artists since the late 1990s, including Drake, Chris Brown, Bruno Mars, Wiz Khalifa, and Imagine Dragons, among other artists.

Here are just five songs Lil Wayne co-wrote for other artists over the years.

1. “Barry Bonds,” Kanye West (2007)
Written by Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Nottz

Kanye West’s third album, Graduation, features a collection of featured guests, including Mos Def, DJ Premier, Dwele, T-Pain, and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Lil Wayne also co-wrote the Graduation track “Barry Bonds” for West, who later contributed to the production of Wayne’s 2008 album, Tha Carter III, which picked up the Grammy for Best Rap Album.

It’s what you all been waiting for, ain’t it?
What people pay paper for, damn it
They can’t stand it, they want something new
So let’s get reacquainted became the hood favorite
I can’t even explain it, I surprise myself too

Life of a Don, lights keep glowing
Coming in the club with that fresh shit on
With something crazy on my arm, uh-uh-hum
And here’s another hit, Barry Bonds

2. “Successful,” Drake, featuring Trey Songz (2009)
Written by Lil Wayne, Drake, Trey Songz, and Noah “40” Shebib 

The second single off Drake’s 2009 mixtape, So Far Gone, “Successful” features co-writers Trey Songz and Lil Wayne, and peaked at No. 2 and 3, respectively, on Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. Trey Songz also added a different version of “Successful” (without Wayne) to his third studio album, Ready.

They be starin’ at the money like it’s unfamiliar
I get it, I live it, to me there’s nothing realer
Just enough to solve your problems, too much’ll kill ya
And when I leave, I always come right back here
The young spitter that everybody in rap fear
A lot of y’all are still sounding like last year
The game need change and I’m the motherfuckin’ cashier
Nickels for my thoughts, dimes in my bed

3. “No Love,” Eminem, featuring Lil Wayne (2010)
Written by Lil Wayne, Eminem, Just Blaze, Tony Hendrik, and Karin Hartmann

Featuring collaborations with P!nk, Rihanna, and Slaughterhouse on his seventh album, Recovery, Eminem also co-wrote his third single “No Love” with Lil Wayne. Produced by co-writer Just Blaze, the song, which sold more than one million digital downloads in the U.S., also features a sampling of Haddaway’s 1993 No. 1 dance hit “What Is Love” in the chorus.

Throw dirt on me and grow a wildflower
But it’s, “Fuck the world”, get a child out her
Yeah, my life a bitch, but you know nothin’ ’bout her
Been to hell and back, I can show you vouchers (love)
I’m rolling Sweets, I’m smokin’ sour
Married to the game but she broke her vows
That’s why my bars are full of broken bottles
And my night stands are full of open Bibles
Uh, I think about more than I forget
But I don’t go around fire expecting not to sweat

4. “Let Me Love You,” Ariana Grande, featuring Lil Wayne (2016)
Written by Lil Wayne, Ariana Grande, Jeremih, Tommy Brown, Victoria McCants, Steven Franks, OB O’Brien, and Markous Roberts

Originally calling her third album Moonlight, Ariana Grande began reconsidering the theme around the songs on the album, she reworked the title to Dangerous Woman and kept “Moonlight” as the opening track. A follow up to her previous two No. 1 albums, Yours Truly in 2013 and her 2014 release, My Everything, Dangerous Woman featured artists like Future, Nicki Minaj, and Macy Gray, while Lil Wayne helped co-write her pop ballad “Let Me Love You.” Wayne also appears on the song. The album peaked at No. 2 for Grande and picked up a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.

I just broke up with my ex
Now I’m out here single, I don’t really know what’s next
But I ain’t even trippin’, I’mma chill and sit back
And I know they will be coming from the right and the left, left, left
I just broke up with my ex and
You’re the one I’m feeling as I’m laying on your chest
Good conversation got me holding my breath
And I don’t normally say this but goddamn, you’re the best, best, best

5. “Lonely,” Demi Lovato (2017)
Written by Lil Wayne,  Lewis Hughes, Nicholas Audino, Dijon Isaiah Mcfarlane, Sarah Aarons, Te Whiti Warbrick

Through Wayne’s lyrics, Demi Lovato opens up about the resulting loneliness she felt in a toxic relationship on “Lonely,” off her sixth album Tell Me You Love Me.

“‘Lonely’ is about the times in our lives when we’ve felt overwhelmingly lonely in a relationship,” said Lovato in 2017. “You know the person you yearn for is toxic, but you’re still desperately trying to get their attention.”

He felt just like you, uh
His arms, his lips, his promises were just as smooth
His grip, it fit, though I admit that
Only you could make me feel the way you do
Though, you know love is blind
And he just caught my eye

You know me and honestly I’m better without ya
Don’t you got me checkin’ on my phone by the hour
Baby, I’m hopin’ and prayin’, my knees weak, I’m shakin’
‘Cause you know that I always needed savin’

Now I’m fuckin’ lonely, and you didn’t want me
Tryin’ to show me that you didn’t own me
But all you do is leave me lost and lonely
Knees on the concrete
Cut up, I’m bleedin’ for no god-damn reason

Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images