Currently on the press warpath in support of his recently released Funeral album, Lil Wayne hit up “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” stage for an energetic performance of “Dreams.” Back by The Roots, the Funeral cut was delivered with some passionate screams from Weezy, dramatic stage lighting and hypnotizing background visuals.
“I had a dream I was broke/ No diamonds and no gold/ Most saddest story ever told, woah/ And I had a dream, I was a fool/ No mansion or no pool/ I woke up and I screamed/ Thank God it was just a dream,” Wayne rhymes in the chorus.
As he yells into the mic and jumps around onstage, it’s clear to see the influence of rock on Funeral, similar to Wayne’s 2009 Rebirth. The legendary rapper spoke about embracing his rockstar persona on “Drink Champs,” crediting Andre 3000’s barrier-breaking style.
“I definitely looked at Andre and what he did… But Dre went all the way there,” he said. “It’s impossible for me to go all the way somewhere when I am who I am, so what I wanted to do is make sure that I go there and I bring Lil Wayne to that.”
This past weekend, the YMCMB boss also appeared on “The Masked Singer,” parading as The Robot and singing Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way.”
“It was unlike any experience I’ve ever had, musically and performance-wise. Choreography—I’ve never done choreography in my life!” he said in a post-show interview.
Although Wayne was the first contestant voted off on Sunday (Feb. 2), and subsequently unmasked, he described the experience as an “unexpected joy.”
“Just not telling anybody what you doin’ and keeping it a secret, that was dope,” he explained. “I was in the studio, like this whole time, and I wanted to practice the song in the studio but I couldn’t tell my engineer, like, ‘Why did you just turn on Lenny Kravitz?’”
Last month, Wayne released his 13th studio album, Funeral. Spanning across 24 tracks, the record features collaborations with O.T. Genasis, XXXTENTACION, Lil Twist, The-Dream, Takeoff, 2 Chainz, Adam Levine, Big Sean, Lil Baby and Jay Rock in the Kobe Bryant-tributing “Bing James.”
See his “Dreams” performance on “The Tonight Show” below.