Lil Wayne performs at the Masonic in San Francisco on May 12, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — Rapper Lil Wayne brought his Welcome to Tha Carter tour to the Masonic on Friday. The iconic rapper born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. could have played arenas, but chose much more intimate venues for this outing.

Taking the stage significantly later than advertised, Wayne came out to a Rocky-esque boxer entrance and ran to the center of the stage with his hair up, rapping the intro to “Mr. Carter.”

The rapper sported a black beanie with large white Gucci sunglasses and a Celine jersey under a tan military-style coat. He pranced across the stage, jumping on each beat and squatting while rapping. His dreads were flying as fog machines sent flumes flying into the crowd during “Kant Nobody,” Wayne’s most recent collaboration with the late DMX.

Lil Wayne performs at the Masonic in San Francisco on May 12, 2023.

Juvenile’s “Back Dat Azz Up” transitioned to the vocals of Swizz Beatz collab “Uproar.” As the beat dropped, Lil Wayne’s band played a great complementary instrumental without overpowering his vocals. He also showed off his footwork, dancing to the chiming beat. Wayne and the band performed Ye-produced track “Let The Beat Build,” enhancing the 808-composed track with live guitar and percussion.

During the middle of his set, the five-time Grammy winner thanked God and his fans, saying he wouldn’t have been successful without both over the last two decades. He also gave a shout-out to the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry.

Lil Wayne brought the intensity up a notch on hits like “Lollipop,” “Hustler Musik” and “Mrs. Officer.” Attendees held up their phones to film what was the soundtrack of the early 2000s for many in the room. The New Orleans legend also performed crowd favorites like “Rich As Fuck,” “Love Me” and teary anthem “How To Love.” When Weezy rapped “6 Foot 7 Foot,” the audience grew louder in its a cappella chants every time he pointed the mic outward.

Lil Wayne performs at the Masonic in San Francisco on May 12, 2023.

He then took a break, and a few labelmates from Cash Money Records took turns working the room. The first artist to set the stage was Lil Twist, who performed “Ball Hard,” his Lil Wayne collab from 2020 album Funeral. Yaj Kader followed with “BLOKK IS HOT,” Allan Cubas with “Cameras” and Jay Jones with “The Zoo.”

Lil Wayne returned, hyping up the crowd for the final segment of the show with bright yellow strobe lights and loud drum snares, beginning with crowd favorites like Drake collabs “HYFR” and “The Motto,” dedicated to Mac Dre, and “We Steady Mobbin,” a classic collaboration with Gucci Mane.

He closed out his set with mega hit “A Milli” (to which most in the room appeared to be chanting along) before the lights dimmed, Wayne took a bow and then handed out red roses to those in the front while Whitney Houston’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You” played.

Follow photographer Matt Pang at Twitter.com/mattpangs.