Lil Wayne’s mixtape series Dedication has an art style you can spot from a mile away. This series now has seven installments within it (six main tapes and one reloaded edition), and to this day it never feels like it gets old. Some of those tapes are coming up on some hallmark anniversaries as well, with Dedication 3 turning 15 in December of 2023, and Dedication 5 having turned 10 in September of 2023.
Rob Petrozzo was the cover designer of the first two in the series, and talked about the art in further depth with his interview with The Fader. Its design has become the insignia of the series, and with time it was bound to be reinterpreted. Here, we’ll be looking at some new artists providing their takes on the historic series.
Goonie – This Thing of Ours Vol. 2
In November of 2020, Slayworld member Goonie had released an EP featuring his own flip of the classic Wayne art. The tracklist is short at a mere eight tracks, but features some now iconic tracks like “Zaza” featuring Kankan & Yeat (this track went onto be Kankan’s EP B4 AMGs & SRTs without the Yeat feature). Goonie might not be the most famous member of Slayworld, but this release maintains amongst some of his best.
Stream on Apple Music
ICEBIRDS – Dedication
A plugg rapper from Dallas, Texas, ICEBIRDS kept namesake for his flip of the Dedication series. The art features him in a Supreme tee along with his chain being a play off of the classic Cash Money Millionaires logo, substituting Cash Money for IceWater. While Goonie’s provided proper songs, IceBirds takes direct inspiration from Wayne doing true freestyles over other people’s beats. On this project he goes over beats from the likes of Lil Yachty (Pardon Me), Yung Bans (Different Colors), Rich the Kid (Plug), and more. Over each beat, he provides a refreshing interpretation of each track.
Stream on Soundcloud
Slimesito – Dedication
Atlanta rapper Slimesito got a proper DJ treatment for his take on the Dedication series. Teaming up with DJ Phat for the tags and hosting, Slimesito raps over a wide variety of beats. These beats have been tweaked to his style, but you can hear famous samples such as The Game’s “One Blood” and Gucci Mane’s “Lemonade.” Another eight track release, but feels endlessly entertaining.
Stream on Soundcloud
UnoTheActivist – Deadication
Another Atlanta rapper UnoTheActivist did a slight switch to the namesake of the series, renaming it to Deadication. While there have been three installments into his series, the first one is the only one to keep the iconic Lil Wayne art style. Some beats on the project are a product of their time, “Old Town Road” was unavoidable the year this project was released, but some of the tracks he takes up are some his best work.
Stream on Spotify
Robb Bank$ – DVD COUTURE PRESENTS: THA SETTICATION VOL 1. (PREQUEL)
At the time of writing this is the newest of the bunch, but its just as strong as the other releases. Florida rapper Robb Bank$ brought his own meaning to the series calling it THA SETTICATION. Against the backdrops of some classic samples like Dipset/Juelz Santana’s “Who I Am,” Robb Bank$ cuts through each beat on this short release with occasional tags from DVD COUTURE. To further embrace the mixtape experience, Robb had released this project exclusively through Soundcloud. Considering the name of this release, it’ll be far from his last one.