Lil Wayne Solidifies Living Legend Status During Tha Carter VI Tour Launch at New York’s MSG: 6 Best Moments

Lil Wayne affirmed living legend status on Friday (June 6) night when he took New York’s Madison Square Garden stage for the first time as a solo headlining act.

The show doubled as a victory lap for Wayne, who dropped Tha Carter VI hours earlier, and kicked off his Tha Carter VI Tour in grand fashion.

While there was plenty to critique of Wayne’s latest offering, he was surrounded by a blanket of love as the 13,000-plus fans serenaded their hero and gave Weezy his flowers throughout the night.

The New Orleans icon kicked off the show around 10:15 p.m. ET and ripped through about 36 cuts from his decorated catalog, mixing in a handful of C6 track debuts with his timeless anthems for the 70-minute set running the gauntlet of his greatest hits.

For the most part, it was Wayne holding his guitar while backed by a DJ and live band, but he had a couple of surprises in store when New York legend LL COOL J and Young Money’s Cory Gunz briefly made cameos.

There was plenty of gratitude filling the World’s Most Famous Arena with Wayne running through his signature “I ain’t s—t without you,” and he took time to thank his fans for sticking with him on this arduous journey over the last three decades, as well as his collaborators for contributing to Tha Carter VI.

Fans seemed to recognize the importance of a night like this — how many more installments of Tha Carter or arena tours are there in the future for Wayne? But perhaps like Baby Boomers and Generation X getting to see their favorite rock bands turn old and grey on tour, maybe rap icons will be able to age gracefully and continue taking the stage even as grandparents.

Weezy appeared to be soaking in the moment as well, with plenty of family and close friends cheering him on from inside MSG. Tha Carter VI Tour will take a hiatus for a few weeks before resuming later in June.

Here are our six best moments from Friday night’s show.