da drought 3

If we’re being honest, rap music fans are experiencing sample fatigue. Whether it’s an interpolation, instrumentation loop, or vocal modification, most listeners only crave original concepts. However, now sample clearance issues could be keeping one of the classics of the mixtape era from coming to streaming.

Fabian Marasciullo, Lil Wayne’s longtime engineer, started rumors that Lil Wayne‘s Da Drought 3 could be coming to DSPs soon when he uploaded a video to his Instagram Stories with the caption: “A new mix on a classic.” After fans identified the song to be “Ride for My N****s (Sky is the Limit),” which appeared on the project, they were flooded to ask Wayne if he would be taking the Nicki Minaj route by re-releasing the tape for fans to enjoy. Unfortunately, Marasciullo has remained tight-lipped.

Due to the legal headache of getting clearance for the samples used across mixtapes, many might never make it onto a streaming platform’s server. However, thanks to a recently shared clip, a classic from the “Kat Food” rapper could be the exception. So, is Lil Wayne’s Da Drought 3 mixtape coming to streaming?

Da Drought 3, initially released on April 13, 2007, was Wayne’s sixth mixtape overall but the third from the series. Prior to Lil Wayne’s mixtape run, he had already established himself as a consistent hitmaker with Hot Boys on Cash Money Records. However, Mixtape Weezy propelled him to another level of success. But don’t expect any new mixtapes from Lil Wayne. During an interview with The Pivot Podcast on July 11, he told hosts Channing Crowder, Ryan Clark, and Fred Taylor that likely won’t happen again.

“As soon as [the song] drops, those artists call our people, like, ‘Hey, we want that to be a single,’” said Wayne. “They need a [release] date. They’re about to pull that off [of streaming], pay how much you want them to pay for it, and boom, that’s the original new verse. Ain’t no such thing as a remix no more. That’s all that really is, but that’s their new single. We’re about to shoot a video and everything. And that’s what takes the allure of what I was doing with that away from me. Now, I’m approaching it knowing that this might be a single.”

If Da Drought 3 does make it onto streaming, fans old and new will have the chance to revel in Wayne’s lyrical greatest all over again. Take a look at the original tracklist for the two-disc mixtape below.

Disc 1

1. “Intro”
2. “Black Republicans” (feat. Juelz Santana)
3. “Upgrade”
4. “Put Some Keys on That”
5. “Ride 4 My N***** (Sky’s the Limit)”
6. “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” (feat. Nicki Minaj)
7. “We Takin’ Over” (Remix)
8. “Get High, Rule the World”
9. “I Can’t Feel My Face”
10. “Dough Is What I Got”
11. “Seat Down Low”
12. “New Cash Money” (feat. Brisco)
13. “Promise”
14. “Outro”

Disc 2

1. “Intro”
2. “Blooded”
3. “Live from 504”
4. “King Kong”
5. “Dipset”
6. “Forever”
7. “Walk It Out”
8. “Swizzy” (Remix)
9. “Boom” 3:22
10. “N.O. N****”
11. “Back on My Grizzy”
12. “Dipset 2”
13. “President” (feat. Curren$y)
14. “Crazy”
15. “Outro”