“Don’t Cry” by Lil Wayne (featuring XXXTentacion)

“Don’t Cry” is a track by the noted American rapper Lil Wayne and the late American rapper/singer XXXTentacion. The very emotional lyrics of this track see Wayne reflecting deeply on a number of things in his life, most notably the difficult problems he has had to deal with.

Some of the many issues Wayne raps about in the song’s verses include death, the problems of life, money and heaven.

“I am not number one, it’s true
I’m number 9-27-82”

The lines above (from verse 1), see Wayne talking about not being number one but rather number 9-27-82. The latter number is in reference to Wayne’s month, day and year of birth. FYI: Lil Wayne was born on September 27, 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Talking about his place of birth, Wayne uses the following lines to let the world know of how much he would love to be buried in his hometown in the event of his sudden death.

“So if I die young, blame the juice
Bury me in New Orleans”

He concludes the song’s first verse by rapping about wanting a longer afterlife in heaven if “heaven’s as good as advertised”.

In the second verse, among other things, he shares some words of wisdom with his listeners. He talks about talent being a blessing from God. He therefore goes on to entreat listeners to be grateful if they happen to be blessed with a talent.

Wayne concludes the song’s final verse telling the world he allows the good Lord to control the events in his life that he has no control over.

The Chorus

The song’s chorus is handled mainly by XXXTentacion. In the chorus,  the late late rapper/singer addresses a love interest of his. He begs her not to cry nor go because he loves her so much. It’s not clear if the lyrics of the chorus are autobiographical or not. But the passion with which X sings them makes us believe they meant a lot to him.

The subsequent choruses are sung by X and Wayne. On his part, Wayne sings the phrase “triple extension on my [expletive] afterlife“. The “triple extension” phrase Wayne mentions in the song is his way of paying tribute to the late XXXTentacion. X was fatally shot on June 18, 2018 in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was only 20 years old when he met his tragic death.

Facts about “Don’t Cry”

• “Don’t Cry” was co-written by Lil Wayne and XXXTentacion. In addition to these two, three other songwriters contributed to the writing of this song. They are: Ben Billions, Z3N and Gamal Lewis (also known as LunchMoney Lewis).
• Billions and Z3N (who co-wrote the song) handled its production.
• “Don’t Cry” was released September 28, 2018. It is officially the second track on the highly anticipated twelfth studio album of Lil Wayne titled Tha Carter V.
• In addition to the song “Falling Down“, “Don’t Cry” is one of the prominent posthumous releases of XXXTentacion.

Prior to this track, had X ever collaborated with Lil Wayne?

No. “Don’t Cry” is the first collaboration between the two artists. It is important to mention that while X was alive, he mentioned on a number of occasions being influenced by Wayne’s music.

Is there an official music video for “Don’t Cry”?

Yes. The video, which was directed by Jay & Georgio Rodriguez, was published on January 22, 2018. It pays tribute to X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkLLeOCOQ3w

Did X physically work together with Lil Wayne on this track?

No. The pair actually never met in person to create this track. As a matter of fact, X never knew he was going to be featured on Wayne’s album. Simply put, he died without ever knowing his vocals would be used by Wayne. This was revealed to TMZ by the song’s co-producer and co-writer Z3n.