Lollipop is a good meaningless pop song. The problem is that any single released by Lil' Wayne is in no way meaningless. Wayne carries the expectations that come with calling himself the
best rapper alive. Now, if Lollipop were recorded by an up-and-coming pop singer it would be a legit funny feel good song. Seeing as that is not the case, you have to look at what Lollipop means for Lil' Wayne: did the pressure and anticipation of a new Wayne single force him to come out of his lane and release a pop song so that his rapper-status couldn't be questioned? Is it Jordan playing baseball - a star taking a chance on a childhood dream? Was Wayne simply having fun and singing on a track like he did on Crazy and Promise on Drought 3?All I know is it is officially time to worry that the Carter III will not stack up to the first two
installments, I Can't Feel My Face will never come out, and Wayne will fade away. On The Leak, Wayne stands up and says I'm me, who are you?Well Wayne is becoming what he is not - a radio rapper. For the last two years Internet Wayne has been murking radio Wayne - all the mixtapes destroy the random verses Wayne spits on Khaled and R&B singer's shit. Lollipop tells me Wayne ain't afraid to step out of his lane - what worries me is that he might like it enough to stay out of his pocket. The radio turned 50 Cent into Ja Rule - watch Wayne become the new 50. Ain't that a bitch.
5 comments:
A couple things. First of all, the radio didn't turn 50 into Ja Rule. 50 always was Ja Rule, but 50's weaknesses are just more apparent because, let's face it, Ja Rule is a better Ja Rule than 50. I mean, shit, I'll take "Livin' It Up" or "Always On Time" over "Candy Shop" or "21 Questions" any day. Come to think of it, I'll even take "New York" over "In Da Club." That's right-- Ja Rule is better 50 than 50 too. And with that, I've maxed out on the number of times I can use the words "Ja Rule" or the number "50" in a given month, particularly when quotation marks are involved.
That said, I gaze down upon the post-Carter II Lil' Wayne backlash from the lofty perch of pop-rap elitism, shaking my head and saying "I told you so." When you talk about Weezy, remember who you're talking about. This is the goofy, nasal-voiced Cash Money dude sagely imploring you to "what what what what drop it like it's hot" at the end of "Back That Ass Up." A few years later, "The Carter" and "The Carter II" drop, and everyone realizes that what we really have on our hands is a fun, talented, charismatic rapper with an unbelievably liquid flow and a wholly original Southern-fried delivery.
And what happens next? Everyone jumps on the dick. They concede that he is, in fact, the greatest rapper alive--and maybe he really is, but that title ironically gives him the confidence and the exposure to produce several years of the laziest, most amateur-sounding professionally-produced rap music around. And it's not just the bottomless pit of mixtapes, featured verses, and leaked tracks. If he brought his A-game, all that Weezy market saturation would be just fine. It's the fact that outside of his quasi-gangsta rap comfort zone, his flow just doesn't flow. When he gets "out there," his rhythm is stilted and awkward. Rhymes sound forced, and sometimes downright stupid. Punchlines and witty references at the end of couplets that should make everyone in the room go "Ohhhhhhhh!" instead make everyone go, "Wait, what?" Or worse yet, "Hey, that didn't even rhyme."
Ready for this? I really didn't like "Tha Drought 3."
For every song on that mixtape, I found about one line where Weezy really brought it. One line where his cultural reference made sense and was cleverly and successfully incorporated, one line where the rhythm of his flow held up, one line where the rhyme was solid, one line where his delivery was on point. People used to say to me, "Have you heard Da Drought 3? Weezy absolutely kills his verse on [whatever song]." To them I say: really? Have you ever heard what it sounds like when Weezy kills a verse? Listen to the first verse on "Army Gunz" or any verse on "This is the Carter." Listen to the consistency, the natural delivery, the machine gun assault of words that vaguely rhyme in a wonderful way due to his liberally transformative New Orleans drawl. Compare that to any mixtape cut, and to me it sounds like two different rappers. In my mind, the pro would be embarrassed to be associated with his mixtape hack doppelganger.
To cite another example, "I Feel Like Dying" is probably the worst shit I've ever heard in my life, the absolute epitome of lazy songwriting masquerading as avant-garde and revelatory. When someone says they like that song, I try to respect their difference of insight and opinion, but a big part of feels like they must not know what the fuck they're talking about. To me, that song as a whole is a far worse offender than the vocoder on the "Dey Know" remix.
Far be it from me to tell an artist "Know your place!" and "Don't experiment!" But for Lil' Wayne, stepping out of the comfort zone has definitely been his downfall. It was better when his remarkable talent was a welcome surprise in his subgenre, not a demanded expectation and a harbinger of half-assed lyrical experimentation. Keep it tight, keep it consistent, and keep it gangsta.
Shit, I referred to "Da Drought 3" as "Tha Drought 3." That's a good way to kill my credibility right off the bat. Consider this my editorial page correction, as if anyone is really paying that close attention.
Couple of things. First of all, 50 vs Ja Rule, you are right, aint even worth discussing (both=garbage at this point). Second of all, Da Drought 3.
Yes, Da Drought 3 is not This is the Carter but that is not the point of the Da Drought 3. His mixtape verses, i always thought, are supposed to be very loose free flowing word association rhymes about nothing. Just simply fun. Whereas This is the Carter, and cd verses, are more often than not supposed to be tightly woven pieces that are about something and can stand on their own. Too often, though, and this is my biggest critique of wayne, he raps about nothing and that is why he will never be the greatest rapper alive.
But this is the disconnect - internet mixtape free for all vs cd/radio verses - that is going to be waynes downfall because it divides him and is seemingly now, with lollipop, pushing him towards the latter, which has the potential to stifle all of his playful free range rhymes he spits on drought 3 and lead to more lollipops and i feel like dyings.
i honestly feel like people telling him he isnt a songwriter is getting to him and resulting in his desire to be like fuck you i can be a pop superstar.
I dont know. I agree with you that it isnt really anyones place to tell somebody not to experiment, but I actually feel like wayne needs a reality check - just a point blank, this works, this doesnt, now stop being lazy.
just put him in a room, play this is the carter, and be like you wrote this, remember?
Yeah, agreed. As far as Da Drought 3 goes, I guess Lil' Wayne's very loose style on that album speaks to some people. For me, I know how good he sounds when his delivery is tight, and that sort of change-up just doesn't hit my ear right; it sounds lazy and amateurish. I'm not saying I'm right. On the contrary, I'm in the vast minority of serious hip-hop fans. I just don't get it.
However, I don't think it's an issue of content. Content rarely matters much to me in rap, and with Lil' Wayne, it matters even less. Case in point: "This Is The Carter," one of my favorite Weezy songs and lyrical performances. As far as I know, that song is about nothing, unless I'm missing some deep subtext in "My charm starburst, my watch skittles, I'm hot sizzle, what up hot bizzle."
Also, I'm not going to defend or denounce "Lollipop," but while you seem to put it in the same category as "I Feel Like Dying," to me those songs are absolute polar opposites. Before making "Lollipop," Lil' Wayne said, "Let's make an uninteresting standard pop hip-hop song to blow up on rap/r&b radio." Before making "I Feel Like Dying", he said "Let's make the weirdest, most dischordant shit imagniable while simultaneously putting in the least amount of effort imaginable. And wouldn't it be hilarious if they actually played this on the radio?"
Basically, while I said I'm not going to defend "Lollipop," I'd rather see Weezy go in the direction of "Lollipop" than "I Feel Like Dying." It's a swing and a miss, but at least he's standing at home plate. With "I Feel Like Dying," Weezy is standing in line at the concession stand high as shit, swinging a bat wildly at floaters in his field of vision and coming dangerously close to decapitating a Jimmy Fund kid on make-a-wish day.
"My charm starburst, my watch skittles, I'm hot sizzle, what up hot bizzle."
realest shit he ever wrote
Post a Comment