Lil Wayne’s Dedication 2 Headed to Streaming Platforms This Year

According to DJ Drama, Lil Wayne‘s 2006 mixtape, Dedication 2, is coming to streaming platforms this year.

On March 16, DJ Drama joined the Rap Radar podcast to discuss his storied career from his humble beginnings pushing mixtapes, to winning a Grammy Award with Tyler, The Creator and everything in between. At one point during the hour-long conversation, the Generation Now exec discussed his current wish list of artists he’d like to add to his impressive decades-long run of Gangsta Grillz mixtapes.

While speaking on aspirations of collabs with the likes of Black Thought and De La Soul, DJ Drama revealed that one of his most renowned projects, Lil Wayne‘s Dedication 2, will be made universally available on digital streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify. Not only that but according to Dram, the upcoming rerelease will also include some new songs from the New Orleans icon.

During a discussion about releasing mixtapes that feature songs with original production versus the more traditional approach, which entails rappers hopping on other artists’ established beats, DJ Drama unleashed the good news regarding Dedication 2.

“Speaking of that, we are dropping Dedication 2 on streaming platforms this year,” DJ Drama told Rap Radar hosts Elliott Wilson and B. Dot. around the 57:00-mark in the video below. “It’s going to have some new music along with it so that’s pretty exciting.”

Despite not announcing an exact date for when Dedication 2 will hit streaming services, Drama elaborated on the topic by explaining what is required of him when looking to rerelease mixtapes that contain production from other tracks. For the Gangsta Grillz mastermind, it’s more than worth it to put in the work to get the proper song clearances, especially as it pertains to artists of Lil Wayne‘s caliber.

“If it’s Wayne, absolutely,” said DJ Drama regarding getting rights for “Dedication-style” mixtapes cleared. “It’s hella fun for him to get on the hottest beats and, you know, go crazy and what have you. But it’s just like for me, definitely, I would just want it to touch as many people as possible. By doing that, it means going to the DSPs [Digital Streaming Platforms].”

In the case of Lil Wayne‘s Dedication 2, the original 2006 version of which finds Weezy rhyming over beats from major hits like Rick Ross’ “Hustlin’” and Tupac Shakur’s “Ambitionz Az a Ridah,” DJ Drama‘s approach to getting song rights cleared ahead of hitting streaming services is particularly notable.

When Wayne’s equally revered 2009 mixtape No Ceilings hit major platforms back in 2020, many fans were left heavily disappointed that nearly half of the tape’s original tracks were omitted, presumably due to the same clearance issues DJ Drama refers to on Rap Radar.

It’s no surprise that DJ Drama and Lil Wayne aim to make Dedication 2 widely available to the masses this year. The original version of the 2006 mixtape had a successful sales run with both physical copies and on iTunes. Dedication 2 also spent a total of 49 weeks on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and reached a peak position of No. 69.

Watch DJ Drama Tell Rap Radar That Lil Wayne‘s Dedication 2 Mixtape is Headed to Streaming Platforms Below

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