A Milli

"A Milli"
Single by Lil Wayne
from the album Tha Carter III
Released February 13, 2008 (radio)
April 23, 2008 (digital)
Format CD, digital download
Genre Hip hop
Length 3:41
Label Cash Money, Universal Motown
Writer(s) Dwayne Carter, Jr.
Producer(s) Bangladesh
Certification 2× Platinum (RIAA)
Lil Wayne singles chronology
"Lollipop"
(2008)		 "A Milli"
(2008)		 "Love in This Club, Part II"
(2008)

"A Milli", abbreviated occasionally as "Milli", is a song by American hip hop recording artist Lil Wayne. The song was released February 13, 2008 as the second official single from his highly acclaimed sixth album Tha Carter III. [1]

Background

The original version leaked early on several mixtapes. Then, a second version, with the first two verses from the original version, a verse from Cory Gunz and the final verse from the album version, was released prior to the album version. "A Milli" was played several times when sampling the record before its release,[2][3] and was originally slated to appear on Tha Carter III in multiple versions as "skit-like" tracks, featuring artists such as Tyga, Cory Gunz, Hurricane Chris, and Lil Mama[4] though the tracks never made the final cut. They were rumored to appear on the re-release of Tha Carter III, until Wayne revealed that the aforementioned album would be a rap rock album called Rebirth with no connection to Tha Carter III.[5] "A Milli" was ranked the #1 Hip-Hop song of 2008 by MTV.[6] The song samples "Death & Destiny" by Switch Tha Weirdoo and "Don't Burn Down the Bridge" by Gladys Knight & the Pips.

Music video

The music video was shot on June 23, 2008, in Los Angeles, California, (the same day as the video for "Got Money").[7]

The video premiered on 106 & Park July 2, 2008. It consists of Lil Wayne preparing for the shoot of his following single "Got Money". The video, which was directed by Dayo Harewood, Dwayne Carter (Lil Wayne himself) & Jeff Panzer,[8] features appearances by Birdman (giving Wayne his brand new car for his record sales), Lil Twist, T-Streets, Gudda Gudda, Kidd Kidd and Brisco.

Critical reception

The song won the Best Rap Solo Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.[9][10]

Blender ranked this the #1 song of 2008.[11]

Rolling Stone named it the 10th best song of 2008,[12] and the 63rd best song of the 2000s.[13]

Time critic Josh Tyrangiel named this the #4 song of 2008.[14]

The song was also ranked as the number one of 2008 in the MTV News Bigger Than the Sound poll.[15]

Complex magazine ranked this the #31 greatest Hip Hop beat of all time[16]

Remix

The official remix, dubbed "A Milli Freemix", was made by Wayne to thank his fans, celebrating his first week sale of one million copies of Tha Carter III. In the remix, Wayne also hinted at the production of 'Tha Carter IV'.[17]

Chart performance

"A Milli" has peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Lil Wayne's second top ten and second highest peaking song on the chart as a lead artist at the time. It has reached #1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making it his second number one song on that chart. It was also able to top the Hot Rap Tracks as his previous single "Lollipop". To date A Milli sold 2,053,000 digital copies.[18]

Track listing

  1. "A Milli" (Clean)
  2. "A Milli" (Explicit)
  3. "A Milli" (Instrumental)
  4. "A Milli" (Acapella)

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
scope="row"Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[19] 54
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[20] 163
scope="row"US Billboard Hot 100[21] 6
scope="row"US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[22] 1
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[23] 34
scope="row"US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[24] 1

References

  1. ↑ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rmhWyUXv1k&feature=related> "YouTube:Lil Wayne - A Milli - Dj Flam (BOUYON VERSION)"]. YouTube:Reketeng music. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  2. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (2008-06-03). "Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III Preview: Does The Year's Most Anticipated Hip-Hop LP Live Up To The Hype?". MTV News. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  3. ↑ Paul W Arnold (March 6, 2008). DX-clusive: Jae Millz speaks on deal with Lil Wayne. HipHopDX. Accessed March 7, 2008.
  4. ↑ Shaheem Reid (April 29, 2008).. MTV. Accessed May 2, 2008.
  5. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (2008-10-21). "Lil Wayne Wants A Carter III Do-Over - News Story". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
  6. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (2008-12-15). "Lil Wayne's 'A Milli' And More Top Hip-Hop Songs Of 2008; 50 Cent Pledges Loyalty To Eminem: Mixtape Monday - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
  7. ↑ "Update: Lil Wayne Shooting 'Got Money' Video". Rap-up.com. 2008-06-22. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
  8. ↑ Steven Gottlieb (July 24, 2008). WATCH IT: Lil Wayne "A Milli" Video Static
  9. ↑ "The 51st Annual Grammy Award Winners List". Grammy.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-11. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
  10. ↑ MTV News Staff (2009-02-08). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "Readers' Rock List: Best Songs of 2008". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "Rolling Stone: 100 Best Songs of the Decade (2000-2009): 51-100". Rock On The Net. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
  14. ↑ Time, December 22, 2008, pages 47-8.
  15. ↑ "The Best Songs Of 2008, In Bigger Than The Sound - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
  16. ↑ http://www.complex.com/music/2012/11/the-100-greatest-hip-hop-beats-of-all-time/lil-wayne-a-milli
  17. ↑ Lil Wayne - A Milli (Free-Mix)
  18. ↑ Grein, Paul (2011-05-04). "Week Ending May 1, 2011. Songs: Even Divas Struggle | Chart Watch - Yahoo! Music". New.music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
  19. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Lil Wayne. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  20. ↑ Zywietz, Tobias (February 6, 1997). "Chart Log UK: DJ Steve L – LZ Love". Zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Lil Wayne. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Lil Wayne. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Lil Wayne > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rap Songs for Lil Wayne. Retrieved November 19, 2011.

See also

External links

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