Lil Wayne

Lifted

can someone please explain to me why this man is being praised as such a creative innovator of the hip hop genre? what is he doing that is gaining him praise by critics and artists alike? his voice is terrible, he uses auto-tuning on just about every song, and his beats sound like every other terrible southern rap act.

here's a quote from a reviewer about lil wayne's latest album...

"He breaks language down into building blocks for new metaphors, exploiting every possible semantic and phonetic loophole for humour and yanking pop culture references into startling new contexts."

here's some lyrics...
Shawty say she wanna lick the wrapper
And she gonna lick the rapper
And I just wanna act like a porno flicking actor
I Anita Bake her now she caught up in a rapture
I got so much chips
I swear they call me Hewlett Packard
I got so much chips
You can have a bag if you're a snacker
Greedy motha fudge cake
Now tell me how that fudge taste
I do it for bloods sake
Suwoop, thinks its VooDoo
How the roof do do dissipate
Your girl want to participate
She so so so-phisticate
Cause he brains is off tha chain
And then my diamonds are in choir
Because they sangin from off my chain
And my Nina just joined the gang because
All she do is bang
Like Ricky Martin
Wayne and Kanye pick your poison
If that woman wanna cut
Then tell her I am Mr. Ointment
Tell her make an appointment with Mr.
I can't make an appointment
Take my lollipop and enjoy it
Remix!

do people really take this stuff seriously?

Its Evolution Baby

I'll first start out saying I think he sucks. SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS.

My roommate whos into rap said he gained his respect in the 90's when he was apart of Cash Money, but then he kept his respect due to reasons unknown to man.

I'm still waiting for someone like JayZ or Eminem to come out and battle rap him so everyone can see he has no chance against someone with real mic skills.

redmosquito10

its pretty easy to take a song from anyone that was written purely to be a club single and make fun of the lyrics. Im not a big fan of wayne, and think the best rapper alive talk is pretty overblown, but you cant judge his lyrical skills based on lollipop. if you want better examples from his last album, look at dr. carter, tie my hands,etc.

moses-i

Its Evolution Baby wrote:

I'll first start out saying I think he sucks. SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS.

I'm still waiting for someone like JayZ or Eminem to come out and battle rap him so everyone can see he has no chance against someone with real mic skills.

ummm he battled BOTH of them already. And really, you're talking about how bad he is and using the two most overrated rappers of the past decade?

Tiki Barber wrote:

can someone please explain to me why this man is being praised as such a creative innovator of the hip hop genre? what is he doing that is gaining him praise by critics and artists alike? his voice is terrible, he uses auto-tuning on just about every song, and his beats sound like every other terrible southern rap act.

Carter III was arguably a masterpiece (aside from a couple missteps). And I'm a CONVERT, I was sick of hearing the kids I teach rave about the guy. But then one day I looked at my girlfriend and she looked at me and we both said with a sigh "Umm I hate to say this, but this record is SOO GOOD!" And Lollipop is by far one of the worst songs ever written...i always skip it.

Now in terms of his lyrics, he has some examples of very clever word play:

"Like a silk wife beater, and a wave cap,or the wave pool at Blue Bayou. And I waved , fool, as I blew by you"

"And she know I get high!! A-bove the law
And she know I'm raw, she
know it from the street
And all she want me to do is fuck the police"

" Blind eyes could look at me and see the truth
Wonder if Stevie do? "

"Man, I got Summer hatin' on me cause
I'm hotter then the Sun
Got Spring hatin' on me cause I ain't never sprung
Winter hatin' on me cause I'm colder than ya'll
And I would never, I would never, I would never fall
I'm being hated by the seasons
So fuck ya'll who hatin' for no reason "

And it isn't only party songs with Lil Wayne. He has some shit to say as well. Tie My Hands is an eloquent and moving response to Hurricane Katrina's rampage in New Orleans. Take a look at the image he offers at the close of this verse:

Some say tragedy's hard to get over
But sometimes that tragedy means it's over
Soldier, from the academy league of rollers
I deny being down though they seem to hold us
My, shoulders are strong I prove 'em wrong
I ain't doing nothing but moving on
Let the truth be known
But they talked that freedom at us
And didn't even leave a ladder, damn

Also check out his ode to drug abuse "I feel like Dying" and his "Dr. Carter" when he talks about the state of rap.

Finally I personally think he has a very unique delivery and it is NOT the same old Dirty South hip hop. Maybe the stuff he did when he was younger was dirty south, but his newer output is decidedly NOT dirty south. I mean, this is not Bubba Sparxx, Lil Jon and Ying Yang twins. And there's a reason you still hear about Wayne but not those cats.

Get_Right

well
I appreciate good rap

but I cant stand his voice and all the effects

give to me straight lil dude

Indian Summer

he's about the most interesting thing in rap/hip-hop since Outkast split.

fife

Lil wayne has some very good songs and some great songs and some bad songs, just like eveyone else. hell Pearl jam did write, record and release Spin the black circle whose lyrics are simple.

gecko

I freaking adore this guy.
New song from upcoming EP:

http://www.djsemtex.com/blog/2010/08/05/lil-wayne-feat-drake-right-above-it-cdq/

South of Seattle

I'm a lil' wayne fan.

Is he the best? No. But he is in the upper echelon. His wordplay and delivery are very clever.

As for up and comers, keep an eye out for Freddie Gibbs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egf2j73UmBA

scottstappsucks

I also appreciate good rap. Was jamming LL Cool J "Mama Said Knock You Out" the other day and I really like NWA and other good rap acts. Lil Wayne sucks. Fucker just doesn't sound good, he sucks.