Lil Wayne 'Like Kobe Bryant' On Carter IV, David Banner Says

Lil Wayne is working on the highly anticipated Tha Carter IV, and according to his pals, he's going for greatness.

David Banner, who put his production touch on Weezy's Carter III cut "La La," recently gave an update to XXL about Wayne's progress on his ninth studio album, and compared the MC's drive to that of one of the NBA's most successful players.

"Wayne is like Kobe Bryant right now," said Banner, who Young Money authority Mack Maine said will contribute to Carter IV. "You know, as Kobe gets older all he cares about is championships. Wayne is in that zone."

Wayne is certainly making up for lost time since his eight-month prison bid. The New Orleans hitmaker has lent his crackly flow to the remix to protégée Nicki Minaj's "Roman's Revenge," appeared in Cash Money boss Birdman's "Fire Flame" remix video and popped up on DJ Khaled's star-packed cut "Welcome to My Hood." Wayne's lead single from the project, "6 Foot 7 Foot," has already been heating up airwaves, and producer Bangladesh — who also crafted his 2008 smash "A Milli" — said the Cory Gunz-assisted record showcases Wayne's lyrical acuity.

"The overall wittiness is everything I was saying about 'A Milli' when it came to be," Bang explained to MTV News in December. "He freestyled 'A Milli,' and before it was big and before we knew what it was gonna do, we all had our opinions of it. A lot of people loved it, but me being the creator of the art, I didn't see the vision that he had. I think he attacked it as a mixtape. And that was the genius of what he did and it became the biggest thing. The way he approached this one, was everything that I wanted him to do on 'A Milli.' I think he's really focusing on every, every line. It's like he's writing. It's different. It's a whole 'nother level of cleverness to it."

What do you think Carter IV will sound like? Sound off in the comments!