Lil Wayne Favored the Classics Over New 'Funeral' Tracks in Miami

“I really appreciate my day one Lil Wayne fans,” he told the crowd after performing “Can’t Be Broken” off Tha Carter V. “Today I released my thirteenth album. It’s called Funeral. And out of respect of the new album, we going to take it back.” 

And that’s just what he did. 

It was by no means a bad concert. Wayne was enthusiastic, coherent, and thankful to everyone who was there that night, standing in the rain with him. He smiled, rap, sang, screamed, and cheerfully hit a blunt a few times. He gave a shout out to Shannon Sharpe and his daughter, who were both standing behind him, dancing and looking very proud. He even briefly brought out 2 Chainz for some help on “Uproar,” one of the biggest hits from Tha Carter V. (Unfortunately, they did not perform “Know You Know,” their collaboration from Funeral.) 

It’s hard to be mad while watching Wayne perform the hits that have earned him the legendary reputation he still holds today, especially when he’s having so much damn fun doing it. But it was just a little disappointing to not hear him debut his latest work, which is an effort as ambitious and interesting as we’ve seen Wayne in a long time. It kind of felt like your friend picking you up in his old Mercedes even though he just bought a Lamborghini.

The concerts happening in Miami during Super Bowl week include DaBaby, Meek Mill, Lizzo, Cardi B, Migos, Guns N' Roses, Lady Gaga, Gucci Mane and many more serious headliners -- but even among them all Lil Wayne's performance stood out as an important event.

Who knows why Funeral stayed off the setlist. Maybe the songs weren’t ready for a live performance yet or the rain cut the show short. But without them, the concert -- while still a wet, nostalgic blast -- didn’t feel quite as important as it could have been.