In the summer of 2008, Lil Wayne’s then-new single “A Milli” was practically inescapable, as it played nonstop in radio and music video rotations and numerous rappers including the likes of Jay-Z, Fabolous, Jadakiss, Lil Mama, LL Cool J, and more took on freestyled iterations of it that proliferated on blogs like to the point it was hard to find anyone who didn’t have a version of it somewhere in their catalog. It’s safe to say it was the biggest hit of Lil Wayne’s career — in terms of impact, if not numerically — and has left a lasting impression on the rap landscape ever since.
Yesterday, Lil Wayne got to celebrate the track reaching a milestone that may be somewhat ironic in context, posting a photo to Instagram declaiming the track reaching a billion streams on Spotify. “A Billi A Billi A Billi,” he wrote in the caption, evoking the song’s original hook. “Shoutout @spotify and @rapcaviar. And most importantly shoutout every last one of y’all that listened, streamed, and still bump it till this day!”
The track, which was the second single from his game-changing album Tha Carter III, has consistently appeared on lists of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time since its release, including this one from BBC, this one from Rolling Stone, and this one from Complex.
Congrats to Lil Wayne, and here’s to another milli, billi, and who knows, maybe even a trilli in the future.