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2023 Essence Festival Of Culture

Source: Erika Goldring / Getty

This current generation of Hip-Hoppers may not remember the reign of Lil Wayne in the mid 2000s, but us older heads do, so when Weezy took the stage at the 2023 ESPYS to open up the night with a classic hit, y’all know we was all in our retro feelings.

Before the awards were handed out last night and numerous athletes got their well-deserved flowers, Lil Wayne opened up the festivities with a rendition of his classic 2008 hit, “A Milli.” Needless to say, the audience got hype and turnt up as they traveled back in time and bounced to the beat the same way they did when they wore baggy clothes and Bape sneakers to boot. Tiffany Haddish throwing her arms up with excitement pretty much summed up how everyone over 30 years old was feeling in that moment.

Aside from the dope performance, the night was filled with numerous moments that had social media buzzing including statements from your favorite athletes about their future plans and others just having some fun at the events.

Stereo Gum reports:

There were plenty of news stories coming out of last night’s ESPYs: LeBron James announcing that he’s not retiring, Patrick Mahomes showing up looking like Riff Raff. But the only thing that really makes sense for this website — another H.E.R. performance on another awards show doesn’t count — was Wayne bringing back his 2008 smash “A Milli,” giving it slight lyrical tweaks to reflect the occasion: “I want my NIL, so I’m going back to college/ Tattoos on my face, you could call me Dennis Rodman.” He also threw in a line about “Damar Hamlin doin’ fine.”

Check out Lil Wayne take everyone back to 2008 below, and let us know if you felt that retro vibe during his performance in the comments section below.