''Dedication 4'' is the eleventh

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

by American rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

. The mixtape, hosted by

DJ Drama Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978), known professionally as DJ Drama, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record executive and music promoter. He initially gained recognition as the DJ for Atlanta-based rapper T.I., and continued to gai ...

, was originally supposed to be released on August 15, 2012, but got delayed several times and was released on September 3, 2012. It is the fourth installment of

's ''Dedication'' series, following its predecessors '' The Dedication'', '' Dedication 2'' and '' Dedication 3''. It's also the fourth installment of

's "Gangsta Grillz" series.

Background

On July 15, 2012, Wayne announced that the mixtape will be released some time in August, 2012 stating "''Dedikation 4 coming next month.''"

revealed to MTV that Cortez Bryant told him that Wayne "''had been mentioning it and was gearing up''", and during a stop of

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

's Club Paradise Tour Bryant told him "''it was a 100% go".'' On August 1, 2012, Lil Wayne confirmed the release date of the mixtape when he called into DJ Drama's Hot 107.9 radio show. Wayne then also named three instrumentals ("Cashin Out", "I Don't Like" and "Burn") that he had already rapped over. On August 15, 2012, Mack Maine wrote that the release date of the mixtape got pushed back to a then unknown date. Maine also said that

would announce the new release date, and "''something special''" (which later turned out to be the track "No Lie") by stating "''Announcement and something special will be delivered by @LilTunechi today....#stayTUNEd''". Lil Wayne later explained he didn't release ''Dedication 4'' on August 15, because his friend and fellow rapper

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

released his debut album '' Based on a T.R.U. Story'' on August 14, and he wanted all the attention on 2 Chainz. The official artwork was released through Wayne's Facebook page on August 16, 2012. On August 17, 2012,

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

confirmed that she features on the mixtape. On August 24, 2012, Lil Wayne announced the mixtape would be released on August 30, 2012 by stating "''D4 aug-30''", however on August 30 it was confirmed by

that the mixtape would be pushed back to September 3, 2012. The mixtape got pushed back again because Cortez Bryant wanted DJ Drama to properly set it up. On September 3, 2012, the mixtape was released for free download on multiple mixtape websites at 12:00PM EST which then got pushed back to 4:00PM EST and was finally release at 4:30PM EST. On February 4, 2025, the mixtape was re-released on streaming services.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Dedication 4'' was met with mixed reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 60, which indicates "mixed or average reviews" based on 7 reviews. Kevin Jones of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' said, "Wayne's current stylistic tack of relying entirely on rap metaphors, along with a thematic scope limited almost exclusively to sex and periodic sprinkles of king-of-the-hill braggadocio, leaves listeners awash in an endless streams of exhausting wordplay, with relatively few moments of genuine, smirk-inducing entertainment." William Ketchum III of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

said, "''Dedication 4'' won’t have the iconic, game-changing longevity that the series’ first two did, but it's still a snack-sized offering that offers glimpses of the New Orleans youngster who proclaimed himself as the "Best Rapper Alive" Regardless, seeing ''Dedication'' in the title will likely inspire listeners to turn up previous classics like "Cannon," "Georgia…Bush" and "Motivation." Jody Rosen of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' said, "This summer, Lil Wayne told a radio station that rap had become "boring," and that he prefers to spend time on his skateboard. Yet on much of this mixtape, he sounds less bored than he has in years, drawling filthy, funny rhymes over beats borrowed from Rick Ross, 2 Chainz and more." Jayson Greene of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

said, "The worst I can say about ''Dedication 4'' is that there isn't one moment where I wouldn't rather be listening to the often mediocre originals. There are a dozen or so good punch lines scattered on D4, enough to make it fun enough for one listen "

Track listing

All tracks were arranged by DJ Drama.

References

{{Authority control 2012 mixtape albums Lil Wayne mixtape albums DJ Drama mixtape albums Sequel albums Young Money Entertainment mixtape albums