Rock Weezy appreciators like myself are enjoying a fine meal this morning, as Lil Wayne has again tapped into Weezerdom on a new song off the just-released Tha Carter VI.
The album, available now on Complex Shop, finds the aptly named “Island Holiday” sequenced roughly halfway through its hour-plus runtime. Through gravelly Auto-Tune, Weezy F. Baby gives fans his own take on Weezer’s 2001 hit and longtime live set staple “Island in the Sun.” As Weezheads are well aware, the track, which boasts two official videos (including one helmed by Spike Jonze), has long been discussed as damn near not making the cut for the Rivers Cuomo-led band’s self-titled 2001 album, a.k.a. The Green Album.
“Island Holiday” opens with Weezy going a cappella with Rivers’ original “Island in the Sun” chorus, albeit with some slight melodic tweaks. Subsequent choruses find him leaning further into the interpolation approach, with lyrical updates including a change from “When you’re on a holiday, you can’t find the words to say” to “Every day’s a holiday, feel like I just beat a case,” and more.
While credits weren’t available on Apple Music or Spotify as of this writing, YouTube Music, expectedly, lists Cuomo as a composer and lyricist of the track. However, it wasn’t immediately clear whether Cuomo himself actually plays on the song.
This isn’t the first Weezy-Weezer crossover moment. That distinction goes to “Can’t Stop Partying,” a song off Weezer’s 2009 album Raditude that later featured Chamillionaire in a live iteration.
Weezy’s affinity for rock is well-documented, with his 2010 album Rebirth, though extremely divisive upon its initial release, arguably going on to influence both the sound and aesthetics of younger artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Playboi Carti. He has frequently collaborated with Travis Barker, alongside whom he appeared on the cover of Complex back in 2006.
During the Matt Skiba era of blink-182 in 2019, Weezy and the band shared a mashup of “What’s My Age Again?” and “A Milli,” as well as hit the road together on a co-headlining tour. In the first verse of “Island Holiday,” Wayne appears to nod to blink’s “What’s My Age Again,” like so: “Just got an actin’ coach to help me act my age.”
Listen to Tha Carter VI in full here. For vinyl and other physical formats, Complex Shop is where you need to be.
