mixtape maestro (2.0)

It’s amazing that for all his omnipresence over the past year-plus, a Lil’ Wayne feature tag still triggers such an instant must-hear response. Yeah, you may groan over the fact that he’s on YET ANOTHER SONG but you still initiate the download, the fear of missing out on what could be another golden WTF lyrical moment from him completely overriding that annoyance.

On this one, Wayne is found mixing it up with a Californian collective known as the Surf Club. Who!?!, you might ask? They’re a quartet of artists, songwriters and producers who crafted material for the likes of Flo Rida, Tiffany Evans and Pussycat Dolls in ’08, but don’t act like you even care that you haven’t heard of them, cause you’re going to snatch up the track anyway.

Thankfully, “I Can’t Miss” ends up a keeper, not only because hearing Wayne simply clear his throat (as he does at the beginning of his verse) is so entertaining, but just as much for it’s occasionally clever sex rap banter (“Shawty, shawty/ You can get speared like Britney/…literally”; “Your pussy glistenin’ like you got on some dolphin lotion”) and a chorus that casts Weezy as some celestial being seamlessly weaving together old hooks from his own “Lollipop” and The-Dream’s “Shawty Is The Shit” (“I don’t need no hook for this shit…”). Plus, you can’t help but get lost in it’s dream-esque backbeat, a hypnotizing loop of spooky synth bedazzle that carries enough of a summery twinge to temporarily distract us from the bristling winter cold that lurks beyond the toasty comforts of our respective abodes.

DL: “I Can’t Miss” (alt)