Some time ago, I came across a list that ranked Lil’ Wayne’s top songs. Among that list, somewhere at the top, was “A Milli.” So, I thought to myself and came up with this hypothesis: “A Milli” was one of Wayne’s worst songs (to me) and nowhere near a “classic track.” Here are a couple of reasons why I feel this way.

First of all, the beat, while creative and innovative, grates on your ears, apologies to Bangladesh. Yes, flowing on this beat showed that Wayne could hop on any track and try to rip it to shreds. That’s commendable as hell. But, hearing “A MILLI” repeated over and over can get a bit annoying. I know where the sample is from, but that still doesn’t change how I feel about it. Because of “A Milli,” we got Beyonce flipping the concept for “Diva.” And to go out on a limb here, I’d say “Diva” is the superior track of the two. “Diva” actually has a point to it beside just spitting punchlines to showcase how “ill” Weezy F. was at the time. And that’s even though both tracks delved into self-congratulatory behaviors.

Secondly, and speaking of, Wayne has punchlines in this one like “tougher than Nigerian hair” and “I’m a venereal disease, like a menstrual, [I] bleed.” If you’re going to point to Wayne being a lyrical genius, please don’t point to this song as your shining example. The track played a lot like an extended Family Guy cutaway gag. Through Wayne saying stuff like “even Gwen Stefani said she couldn’t doubt me,” we’re given tons of references that don’t really impact the story being told. And what is that story exactly?

To be quite honest, any sort of story is, again, pretty non-existent. Outside of saying “oh, holy shit, Wayne can rap about Mike Lowry from Bad Boys and Erykah Badu and compare his haters to Dennis Rodman engaging in acts deemed to be homosexual and therefore ‘bullshit.,” we’re not given much to hang our hats on. Now, I know that every song can’t be “Receipt” or his rapping medical examination, “Dr. Carter.” I wouldn’t want him to put that type of track out every day; that’s not what we come to Wayne for. However, for this song to be held in such regard and feel kind of like a throwaway mixtape track? Eh. The bars are alright when the punchlines aren’t forced, but the song overall feels like something that could’ve been left off the album for a track with a bit more substance, a bit more meat to it other than “witty banter.”

Perhaps that’s why people love it so much. It reminds them of “Mixtape Weezy.” It’s about the moment more than the song in a lot of ways. On a “feels” level, I can’t deny you all that. I can’t say that it sucks because it reminds you of “Classic Wayne.” While I think it’s one of Wayne’s worst tracks, I still enjoy it. When the bass hits, I’ll still chant “A Milli” at the top of my lungs bar for bar (except for omitting the “other F-word”). But, it’s not completely representative of what Lil’ Wayne stands for as an artist nor is it fully representative of what he can do as an artist.

Feel free to set fire to my mentions in three, two…