Lil Wayne is a lot of things: He’s a bona fide rap legend. He’s perpetually late. He’s eccentric. He’s fun.
He’s also terrible at guitar — yet he still rocks.
Dwayne Carter Jr., a.k.a. Weezy F. Baby and a dozen other nicknames, played the hits to a packed crowd at the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview on Friday night. A security guard told syracuse.com that attendance was just shy of 19,000, well over official capacity for the Syracuse amphitheater.
Lil Wayne took the stage at 10 p.m., nearly an hour after his scheduled start time, and proceeded to play portions of more than 30 different songs from his decades-long career. For half of them, he held a guitar in his hands, occasionally playing a riff or some odd sequences of what could technically be called notes.
For some songs, like “Drop the World” from his much-maligned 2009 rock album “Rebirth” or his new guitar-driven “Tha Carter VI” opener “Welcome to Tha Carter,” it made sense. A brief guitar solo at the end of “Lollipop” even sounded kind of good. For others, the 42-year-old rapper looked like a goofy kid pretending to be a rock star.
Lil Wayne performs during his Tha Carter VI Tour at the Empower FCU Amphitheater Friday, August 8, 2025, in Syracuse, N.Y. Scott Schild | [email protected] Scott Schild | [email protected]
Lil Wayne first started learning how to play guitar in 2006 when he wanted the instrument for his “Leather So Soft” music video with Birdman. It went from a prop to a gimmick to a huge, questionable part of his career. The five-time Grammy Award winner is one of the greatest emcees of all time; he shouldn’t need anything other than a microphone.
But that’s Lil Wayne. He is who he is, and his unique identity has endeared him to both the hip-hop and alternative rock scenes. (At least one attendee was wearing a T-shirt from Weezy’s 2019 tour with Blink-182.)
Even his fashion sense is singular. Lil Wayne wore a Balenciaga basketball jersey with baggy shorts, a gray hoodie, backwards baseball cap, sunglasses and plenty of bling that glittered among the lights, pyrotechnics and skateboard-friendly graffiti visuals.
Backed by a drummer and a DJ, Lil Wayne kept the focus on giving fans a great time. He performed early gems like “Fireman” and “Go DJ”; dropped snippets of collaborations with Jay-Z (“Mr. Carter”), 2 Chainz (“Rich as F—”), Drake (“I’m Goin’ In,” “HYFR”) and Rick Ross (“John”); and had everyone singing along to bangers like “Got Money,” “Uproar,” “6 Foot 7 Foot,” and “Mrs. Officer.”
He’d often end songs abruptly with a quiet “thank you.” Then he’d smile big, take a puff of weed and listen to the crowd roar.
“Y’all are f—in’ amazing,” he told the Syracuse audience.
Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter VI Tour
It’s easy to forget how many big songs Lil Wayne has been a part of. Since appearing on Juvenile’s 1999 club smash “Back That Azz Up,” Weezy has released nearly 300 singles and worked with everyone from Destiny’s Child, Usher, Nicki Minaj and Eminem to Madonna, Limp Bizkit, Ariana Grande, David Guetta and Justin Bieber.
He couldn’t play them all, especially considering his late start meant going past the venue’s 11 p.m. noise curfew. No reason was given for his tardiness — he similarly started an hour late for his 2016 concert at OCC’s SRC Arena.
Officials did not respond to requests for comment, but the Foo Fighters were given permission to play until midnight when the rock band arrived late (at 9:56 p.m.) in 2021. Weezy wrapped up just before 11:30 p.m. with “A Milli.”
Lil Wayne appeared to cut a few songs from his set, but still took time to bring out special guests like Lucifena, Lil Twist, Lil Novi (Lil Wayne’s teen son), Jay Jones, Domiio (aka Drizzy P/Tha Gift) and Belly Gang Kushington. Lucifena, dressed like a ‘90s video vixen, screamed through the rock/metal song “Tyrant” to Wayne’s delight.
Lucifena, right, performs with Lil Wayne at the Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview in Syracuse, N.Y., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (Geoff Herbert | [email protected])Geoff Herbert | [email protected]
The energy dipped when Lil Wayne left the stage as Twist, Novi and Jones performed their own songs, but it returned when Weezy did and they all performed “Hip-Hop” together. A few songs later, Tyga joined him for “BedRock,” injecting the 2009 Young Money anthem with added excitement.
Tyga performed his own 25-minute set opening for Lil Wayne, reminding everyone he’s the driver of sexy club hits like “Ayy Ladies” (Travis Porter), “Faded,” “Deuces” (Chris Brown) and “Taste.” The crowd especially loved his brief performance of Lil Jon’s “Get Low” before rapping “Rack City” and his portion of the Breezy joint “Loyal.”
It was an imperfect, but fun, party. Let’s just leave the guitar at home next time.
Fans enjoy Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter VI Tour at the Empower FCU Amphitheater Friday, August 8, 2025, in Syracuse, N.Y. Scott Schild | [email protected] Scott Schild | [email protected]
