After years of waiting, Lil Wayne finally released Tha Carter V on September 28, 2018. The album had become one of hip-hop’s most talked-about unreleased projects, with delays and a public dispute between Wayne and Cash Money Records leaving fans unsure when they would ever hear it. When it finally arrived, the wait was over—and Wayne had plenty to say.

Spanning 23 tracks, Tha Carter V brings together different sides of the rapper. There are sharp punchlines, personal reflections, emotional records and the kind of confident delivery that made the Carter series a major part of his legacy. The guest list is just as impressive, with appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Snoop Dogg, XXXTentacion, Ashanti, Nivea, Sosamann and others.

Some songs immediately caught listeners’ attention. Mona Lisa, featuring Kendrick Lamar, became one of the album’s biggest talking points, while Uproar brought back the energetic side of Wayne that fans have always enjoyed. The closing track, Let It All Work Out, took a more personal direction and gave the album an especially memorable ending.

Commercially, the release was a major success. Tha Carter V debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, giving Lil Wayne his fourth chart-topping album in the United States. It also delivered one of the biggest first-week streaming performances recorded at the time.

In this Aswehiphop guide, we revisit Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V with its complete tracklist, featured artists, standout songs, production details, first-week sales and critical reception. Whether you’re returning to the album or discovering it for the first time, here’s what makes this chapter of the Carter series worth hearing.

For a look at the album’s original chart performance, The FADER’s report on its Billboard 200 debut covers the numbers behind Wayne’s long-awaited release.

Tha Carter V Tracklist: All 23 Songs

The standard edition of Tha Carter V contains 23 tracks, beginning with the personal introduction I Love You Dwayne and ending with Let It All Work Out. Between those two songs, Lil Wayne moves through different subjects and styles, from hard-hitting rap performances to collaborations and more reflective moments.

Here is the complete standard tracklist, including the credited guest appearances:

1. I Love You Dwayne
2. Don’t Cry (feat. XXXTentacion)
3. Dedicate
4. Uproar (feat. Swizz Beatz)
5. Let It Fly (feat. Travis Scott)
6. Can’t Be Broken
7. Dark Side of the Moon (feat. Nicki Minaj)
8. Mona Lisa (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
9. What About Me (feat. Sosamann)
10. Open Letter
11. Famous (feat. Reginae Carter)
12. Problems
13. Dope N****z (feat. Snoop Dogg)
14. Hittas
15. Took His Time
16. Open Safe
17. Start This Shit Off Right (feat. Ashanti and Mack Maine)
18. Demon
19. Mess
20. Dope New Gospel (feat. Nivea)
21. Perfect Strangers
22. Used 2
23. Let It All Work Out

You can also check the official Apple Music listing for Tha Carter V to view the album and its track credits.

Why Tha Carter V Took So Long to Release

Few album releases in Lil Wayne’s career attracted as much uncertainty as Tha Carter V. The project was discussed years before it finally reached streaming services, but fans repeatedly watched its expected release come and go without the album arriving.

The delay was closely connected to Wayne’s dispute with Cash Money Records and its leadership. The rapper publicly expressed frustration over the situation, while the disagreement became a major story across hip-hop media. For fans who had followed the Carter series from its earlier chapters, the uncertainty surrounding the fifth installment was difficult to ignore.

That changed in 2018, when Wayne’s legal dispute reached a settlement and the album was finally released. The timing made the arrival feel bigger than a regular Friday release. It was the return of a major album series, and listeners were finally able to hear the music they had been waiting years for.

Rather than trying to make the entire project about the controversy, Wayne delivered a lengthy collection that touched on his career, family, experiences and personal struggles. The album’s opening track, I Love You Dwayne, features a message from his mother, Jacida Carter, immediately giving the project a personal introduction.

Featured Artists on Tha Carter V

Guest appearances play an important role on Tha Carter V, but the album still feels like a Lil Wayne project. The collaborations bring different sounds and personalities into the tracklist, giving the rapper opportunities to work with artists from different generations and styles.

Kendrick Lamar joins Wayne on Mona Lisa, delivering one of the album’s most memorable collaborations. Nicki Minaj appears on Dark Side of the Moon, while Travis Scott brings his melodic style to Let It Fly.

The album also features XXXTentacion on the opening song, Don’t Cry, and Snoop Dogg on Dope N****z. Other credited appearances include Sosamann, Reginae Carter, Ashanti, Mack Maine and Nivea.

One detail worth mentioning is Uproar, which features Swizz Beatz. His contribution adds to the song’s energetic feel and connects with the record’s sample-driven production.

Best Songs on Tha Carter V

With 23 tracks, Tha Carter V gives listeners plenty of material to choose from. Some songs stand out because of their guest appearances, while others are memorable for Wayne’s storytelling and personal lyrics. These are some of the album’s key moments.

Mona Lisa (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

Mona Lisa is one of the most talked-about songs on Tha Carter V. Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar use the track to tell a detailed story, with both rappers building their verses around deception and a relationship gone wrong.

The collaboration works because neither artist simply delivers a standard guest verse. Their performances help move the story forward, making the song feel more like a conversation between two skilled storytellers. It is one of the strongest lyrical moments on the album and a natural highlight for fans of both rappers.

Uproar (feat. Swizz Beatz)

Uproar brings back the energetic, punchline-heavy Lil Wayne that longtime listeners know so well. Produced by Swizz Beatz and Avenue, the record is built around a reinterpretation of G-Dep’s Special Delivery, giving it a familiar New York hip-hop connection.

The song became one of the most recognisable records from Tha Carter V. Its lively production and Wayne’s rapid delivery made it a natural choice for playlists, performances and the album’s promotional run.

Don’t Cry (feat. XXXTentacion)

Placed near the beginning of the album, Don’t Cry brings Lil Wayne and XXXTentacion together for an emotional record. Its melodic direction creates a different atmosphere from the harder rap songs that follow.

Because XXXTentacion died before the album’s release, his appearance also carries an added emotional weight. The song became one of the most discussed collaborations on the project, introducing listeners to a posthumous performance from the young rapper alongside one of his musical influences.

Let It Fly (feat. Travis Scott)

Let It Fly pairs Lil Wayne with Travis Scott over a hard-hitting instrumental. Travis brings his recognisable melodic delivery, while Wayne handles the verses with the confidence and wordplay that have defined much of his career.

The collaboration makes sense because both artists have different approaches to rap, yet their performances fit comfortably together. It is one of the album’s more energetic guest appearances.

Dark Side of the Moon (feat. Nicki Minaj)

Dark Side of the Moon reunites Lil Wayne with Nicki Minaj, an artist whose career is closely connected to Young Money. The song takes a more melodic approach, giving the two rappers room to explore a different mood from the album’s harder records.

Their collaboration is also a reminder of the musical relationship that helped make Young Money one of the most recognisable rap collectives of its era.

Let It All Work Out

Let It All Work Out closes the standard album on a deeply personal note. Instead of ending with a high-energy record, Wayne reflects on his childhood and an extremely difficult moment in his life.

In the song, he discusses the childhood gunshot incident that he has described publicly as a suicide attempt. The subject gives the closing track a serious emotional weight, making it one of the most revealing performances on Tha Carter V.

It is a powerful way to end an album that spends much of its runtime looking back at Wayne’s life and career.

Production and Sound of Tha Carter V

The production on Tha Carter V brings together a wide range of beatmakers, each contributing to a different part of the album’s sound. Rather than relying on one production style, the project moves between modern trap, sample-based hip-hop, melodic records and the Southern rap sound that helped shape Wayne’s early career.

Some of the producers involved include Swizz Beatz, Mannie Fresh, Metro Boomin, Zaytoven, Sevn Thomas, Ben Billions, Infamous, Cool & Dre, Avenue, Thomas Troelsen and DJ Mustard.

Swizz Beatz and Avenue handle Uproar, while Mannie Fresh contributes to Start This Shit Off Right and Perfect Strangers. Metro Boomin is among the producers behind Used 2, and Zaytoven produced Problems.

The variety gives the album room to change direction without losing its connection to Lil Wayne’s style. Some beats leave plenty of space for his punchlines, while others allow him to slow down and deliver more personal performances.

For readers interested in the people behind the sound, Complex’s breakdown of the Tha Carter V production credits provides a closer look at the album’s contributors.

Tha Carter V First-Week Sales and Billboard Performance

The commercial response to Tha Carter V showed just how much interest had built up during its long delay. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with approximately 480,000 equivalent album units in its first week in the United States.

That total included around 141,000 traditional album sales. The project also generated approximately 433 million on-demand audio streams during its opening week, giving it the second-biggest streaming week for an album at that time, behind Drake’s Scorpion.

The chart debut gave Lil Wayne his fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. It was another major achievement for an artist whose previous Carter releases had already helped establish him as one of rap’s most successful album acts.

For a closer look at the figures, The FADER reported on the album’s No. 1 debut and streaming performance shortly after the chart results were announced.

Critical Reception and Legacy

Critics generally responded positively to Tha Carter V, particularly praising Wayne’s lyrical ability, the personal moments and the strength of several collaborations. Not every review considered the lengthy tracklist equally consistent, but the album was widely recognised as an important release after years of delays.

On Metacritic, the album holds a score of 72 out of 100, based on 14 professional reviews. That places it in the site’s generally favourable category. You can explore the individual reviews through Metacritic’s Tha Carter V review page.

Over time, the album has remained an important part of Lil Wayne’s catalogue. Mona Lisa continues to attract attention for its Kendrick Lamar collaboration, Uproar remains one of the project’s most recognisable records, and Let It All Work Out is often remembered for its personal subject matter.

Its biggest achievement may be the way it finally brought an important chapter of Wayne’s career to listeners. After years of uncertainty, Tha Carter V arrived as a full-length album that reminded fans why the series had become such a significant part of his legacy.

Stream Tha Carter V by Lil Wayne

If you want to hear the complete project, Tha Carter V is available on major music streaming platforms. The Spotify link below takes you to the album page, where you can listen to its 23 tracks.

Listen to Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V on Spotify.

Final Thoughts: Why Tha Carter V Still Matters

Tha Carter V had a lot to live up to. The earlier albums had already established the series as one of the most important parts of Lil Wayne’s career, and the long delay only increased expectations. When the fifth instalment finally arrived, Wayne gave fans a project that moved between lyrical performances, major collaborations and personal storytelling.

It is a long album, and not every listener will agree on which songs are the strongest. But records like Mona Lisa, Uproar, Don’t Cry and Let It All Work Out give the project moments that are difficult to overlook.

For Lil Wayne fans, Tha Carter V is more than the next chapter in a successful album series. It is the record that finally arrived after years of waiting, giving listeners another look at the rapper’s creativity, history and staying power.