As Dwayne Michael Carter, better known as Lil Wayne, hit the HomeAway stage on Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, he immediately evoked a powerful sense of nostalgia among the crowd.

Story by Thomas Galindo

To start off just as the sun set, Wayne played an introductory song titled “Mr. Carter” from his 2008 album Tha Carter III. The beginning of a set that was tailored to appeal to anyone who has ever listened to Wayne in his established career. He ranged from songs off his first rendition of Tha Carter series with “Go DJ,” to new songs off this year’s Tha Carter V. Among his new releases, he performed “Dedicate,” a reminder to the new generation of rappers to recognize their true influence.

Also from his recently released album, Wayne sang a tribute to the late XXXTentacion in “Don’t Cry.” As the crowd chanted the sorrowful chorus and waived their cell phone flashlights, Wayne truly put his heart into this song and didn’t skip a verse.

Halfway through the performance, Wayne made a quick transition into what he referred to as “Mixtape Weezy” and captured the crowd with the performance of “Rollin” off his Sorry 4 The Wait mixtape. He made it a point to balance the diversity in his music catalog and play most of his hits including “Believe Me” featuring Drake, “John” featuring Rick Ross and “Love Me” featuring Drake and Future.

Wayne came with a good mix of songs from throughout his career and each fan at ACL had a chance to experience a song they committed to memory in their music listening history.