Songfacts®:

• This features Jay-Z who contributes a verse in a lyrical slugfest with Lil Wayne. Both rappers actually go by the name of Mr. Carter. Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. is the name by which Lil Wayne's mom knows him, while Jay-Z was christened Shawn Corey Carter.
• In Lil Wayne's opening verse he describes how nature's seasons hate him because they both have similar attributes. ("Winter hatin' on me cuz I'm colder than ya'll").
• DJ Infamous, who is a three-time world champion DJ, produced this together with Andrews "Drew" Correa. Drew told Rhapsody about this song: "I used to be his recording engineer for three years. I did Tha Carter II and Like Father Like Son. Infamous knew Wayne through passing beats to him. We actually met through Wayne. My friend Sha-ron Prescott helped me write the hook and sang the chorus. I sped him up and purposefully made it sound like a sample. We told [Wayne] it was a sample that we found. I think Wayne still thinks it's a sample. Me and Infamous went to the studio and as soon as [Wayne] heard it, he absolutely lost his mind. That's the reason he shouted us out in the beginning because we were right there with him. Jay literally got on the song [in mid May]. 'Mr. Carter' was the last song [on Tha Carter III] to get mixed and mastered."
  Infamous added: "I was talking to everyone I knew who knew Jay-Z to find out what was going on. Finally, he did it last minute and the song was wrapped."
• Rolling Stone magazine asked Lil Wayne how he reacted when Jay Z rapped the line "my heir, Young Carter," on this track: "That line right there was hard! Unbelievable. I didn't even realize it at first. My homie had to tell me 'You know what he said, right?' I didn't even get it. I was like, 'Why is he saying 'air'? Is he just talking about the air?' But I'm smart enough to know that he's smart enough not to just be talking about the air. I felt real dumb, but then I felt so good. It was an incredible compliment."
• The Guardian newspaper August 13 2008 asked Jay-Z whether his line "I took so much change from this rap game It's your go," was passing the baton on to Lil' Wayne as the next big MC? He replied: "I mean that to all upcoming artists. It just happened to be Wayne for that song, but it's for everybody. You know that's what Russell [Simmons] and those guys did for us. They paved the way so that we can get to our goals quicker, if it took Russell ten years then it took me and Puff five years. So hopefully it will take them two and a half. That was really a blanket statement for any upcoming artist. For Lupe, for TI, for everybody."
• Lil Wayne told HipHop.com that this song is his personal favorite from Tha Carter III, "because it was with Jay-Z." He added: "That night there was an amazing moment. Everything else is amazing as well, but that right there? I go to that song first when I put the album on. The song was given to me, I did the song and he and I, we know the same people. Someone played him that song and he said 'I got to have it.' He called me and I said 'No problem.'"