Only one question has truly set America on fire. One question is on the tip of every tongue. No, not is Ashanti’s career really over?, or would Beyonce and Jay-Z’s baby possess superpowers?, or even who should be the next president of the United States? No, the controversy that’s gripped out country is, is Lil’ Wayne the greatest rapper alive? Well I’m finally going to tell you the answer: I don’t know. It’s not the answer everyone wants to hear, but it’s the right one. After all, the true measure of a rapper is their albums, and all the cameos in the world can’t mask the fact Weezy has yet to drop a truly worthy album. We’ve been forced to wait for the definitive evidence, the much-anticipated Tha Carter III, for over two years, and in the meantime battle lines have been drawn. On one side are ardent supporters who hang on his every insane word, on the other is the inevitable anti-Weezy backlash that’s now calling him “the most overrated rapper alive.” But until Tha Carter III finally hits the shelves, supposedly next month, all the talk is just that…talk.
Weezy knows the crowd is growing restless, so instead of an album Weezy F. Baby’s decided to release a new EP, The Leak. Unlike the carefully guarded Lupe Fiasco, Wayne has no problem when his tracks mysteriously leave his studio and end up on the Internet. Maybe it’s because he apparently writes 20 songs a day, or maybe it’s because he’s so high he literally doesn’t care, but when a solid third of Tha Carter III got released to the public he simply decided to package the leaked tracks and release them independently. It’s a plan that’s so crazy it just might work.
The Leak starts off with a musical collage of famous Wayne lines (tragically there’s no recognition that he essentially invented the phrase “drop it like it’s hot”), before the pulsing beat of I’m Me kicks in and the man jumpstarts his predictably unpredictable flow. I know at this point it’s an overstatement, but it bears repeating; Weezy is out of his goddamn mind. By the time the first verse is over he’s set a world record for f***s in a row (“f*** em, f*** em, f*** em, even if they celibate”), purposefully mispronounced K-Fed’s name (“I’m married to that crazy b****, call me Kevin Fed-er-lynn”), and ruminated on life after death (“better lock my casket tight so I don’t let the devil in”). Love him or hate him, as a rapper he’s impossible to pin down, and it’s that unpredictability that has His Weezyness in the running for the crown. He’s too obscene to be underground, too poetic to be mainstream. He is, in the end, just him.
Wayne releases a lot of material, to put it mildly, and with that kind of output it’s impossible for every verse to be a classic. F. Baby shows his softer side on the appropriately mellow Kush, a track that’s an ode to the man’s favorite substance. Wayne writing an ode to marijuana is like Fat Joe rhyming about tacos, but if anyone can make an original “I get high” song it’s Weezy. Sure enough there’s no shortage of strangely entrancing lines, “I keep a bandana like the ninja turtles,” just to name one, but something about Kush just isn’t right. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but if I had to say (and I do, it’s my job) I’d blame it on the production. It’s not that the beat doesn’t work, it has an appropriately laid-back summertime vibe, it’s that the beat doesn’t quite work for Weezy. His skittering, raspy flow just flat-out sounds better on harder beats. Can you picture him doing a slow jam? Neither can I.
The truly incredible thing about Weezy is that I could write a novel about a five-song EP like The Leak, but at the end of the day it’s still just a five-song EP. We’ve already gone over Kush and I’m Me, Gossip is Wayne is at his best (at times he sounds like he’s teetering on the edge of his sanity), and Love Me or Hate Me and Talkin About It are decent but ultimately forgettable. What’s the verdict? The verdict is a “greatest rapper alive” title can’t bestowed until we hear a full album. Until I have Tha Carter III in my sweaty hands the best I can do is “possibly the greatest rapper alive,” which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Sorry, I don’t make up the rules, I just enforce ‘em. So until then…
Wussup Chilltown...I might be able to agree with you there. Eminem is a BEAST! Lil Wayne right now is the Best rapper alive. Note the words "RIGHT NOW" in front of my sentence. I am on your side with this one Nate...I simply don't know myself if he is the greatest; but I agree that he definitely needs more material (Real Albums) to see where he really stands. This is also the reason why I cannot say that Biggie is as Great as everyone else says. He only gave us about 40 tracks total; which is not enough to judge someone's True Skill. Tupac was a no-brainer because he has over 400 songs; so you get to see all the diversity.
The Leak album is a decent mixtape type of album. I am happy that this wasn't the real Carter 3 album because it would have fallen short of the Carter 2's Greatness; and it would have also fell short of the Drought 3 (when I think he was at his peak, but he might still be there). I hope his next album is hotter than this; but this is acceptable and better than most people's real album. I like the Leak better than American Gangster by far and also better than the Lupe The Cool. Never-the-less...It is a creative mixtape and he is just a creative dude that doesn't care what people think about him or his flow and he just comes out with what is on his mind regardless of the type of publicity or backlash that it might create. I give him major props for this and I hope he gives us another SMASH success on the Carter 3. (This gets a 3.5 from me as well, but we only have whole number stars, so I'll give him a 4...)
I think Eminem was the greatest rapper, but his topic range went from funny to "this guy has serious problems..."
Good point DJ Blaze on Biggie. He didn't live long enough for us to see his topic range.
No one else claims to be the greatest, so weezy might as well claim it till someone says otherwise.
Until someone else claims it, weezy's the best! But someone should def challenge him, cause I don't think weezy compares to Talib or what Mos Def used to do...
my personal opinion on lil wayne? rips like a madman on guest appearances, but solo efforts? lack staying power. i very much doubt in 10 years kids will know the words to songs "like i'm me" or "gossip"... but i know kids like 13 who know all the words to "nuthin but a g thang". doe's lil wayne have staying power? i say no.
Just got announced that THE OFFICIAL FIRST SINGLE from Tha Carter III is called 'SHOWTIME,' which has been on djbooth for a month. It's gonna be a different version though cutting out Boo & Mack Mane. He is shooting a video for it this week....This song is gonna BLOW UP! Remember You heard it here first DJ BOOTH.NET!
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1579291/20080108/lil_wayne.jhtml
HANDS DOWN EMINEM IS BETTER 50 CENT THE GAME AND LIL WAYNE SUCKS IN MY OPINION IS ALRIGHT BUT NOT NOTHIG ESPECIAL HE CAN;T EVEN RHYME. TUPAC IS THE BEST OF ALL TIME AND I THINK BIGGIE IS THE BEST OF NYC. TUPAC FOREVER
I think LiL Wayne is keeping his word,he will be around a minute.It looks like he in proves him self more and more day by day.Being lil wayne of coarse have some haters,but haters are people whom hate themselves.Body image,body language,even their movement have an negative vibe.My comment to you is keep making them haters cry,and depressed.If they have enough wisdom and strengh to hate because their not trying to be nothing more but an hater.LET THEM HATE and laugh at them.
ok i was not even going to write anything but i have to. you have to be out of you fucking mind if you think lil wayne is the greatest rapper alive how can you say that i dont need to hear this cd to tell you this ive heard all his cds there ok but none of them are like OMG that was so fucking sweet there all just desect really if u think about hes a one way rapper that only raps about money he dont expand hes lyrics beyond that and he never will even if he did that he still wouldint be the greatest rapper alive maybe the greatest rapper under 5 feet tall and thats only a maybe
like ive been saying lil wayne RARELY comes out with quality songs he just has an abundance of them, i hate the fact that all he does on his mixtapes is TALK he doesnt even rap i mean yeah the lines are nice but its just boring plus he dont even write his own shit, the only song on this that i think is even worth listening to is "Im Me" cause he isnt talking its just flowing nicely.
As far as showtime being his first single i think its a good choice i like wayne with the voicebox and me liking wayne in any song is rare lol but i wouldnt like if they took the other 2 out of the song i think they do the track justice
Wow. Lil Wayne's writing for Dr. Dre? This album is actually pretty solid. "I'm Me", "Gossip", "Talkin' About It" & "Love Or Hate Me" stick out. I like "Showtime" too. That's pretty sick stuff. Waiting for Tha Carter III now. That will be Lil Wayne's turning point. With all this hype and everyone crowning him already, this album will have to be amazing. No one will take less now.
i hate when people like "ishiphopdead" say shit like tupac is the best rapper(which he is) but this kid says it without even knowing what the f*ck hes talking about. an weezy does pretty ill and hes definetly the best alive, if not id say immortal technique
CHEK DIS OUT MY DUDE LIL WAYNE IS NOT DA GREATEST RAPPER ALIVE BECAUSE DERS ALWAYS SOMEBODY BETTA DAN SOMEBODY REAL TLK BUT HE IS STANDIN ON DA PEAK OF DA RAP GAME RITE NOW LOOKIN OVER DEEZ WACK RAPPAZ SUCH AS SOULJA BOY FLO RIDA UMM LIL FLIP AND ALL DEM LAME ASS DUDES ON DEY LEVEL ALONG WIT SANTANA AND TIP AND CASSIDY AND SOON TA B THE GAME DEY A BASICALLY NEIGHBORS AT DA TOP BUT LIL WAYNE TA ME GOTTA A LIL MO HEIGHT DAN ALL OF DEM (LYRICALY) LIL WAYNE DA BEST PERIOD. BUT HE GONE HAVE TA FIGHT TA KEP DAT TITLE AS LONG ASS DUDES LIKE JUELZ AND THE GAME AND CASSIDY IN DA GAME
Although this isnt as good as some of his mixtapes (namely Da Drought is over 2) there are three songs on this EP that are better than the best songs on most living rappers' albums.I'm MeGossipTalkin' About ItBest Rapper Alive? If he's not, then i dont know who is.
yo chilltown and blaze, yall is wack. eminem is not the best rapper alive. hes good, but cant compare to jay-z or lil wayne. not even close to biggie smalls. wtf you talkin bout
wat i think is that lil wayne is so good that ppl raise the bar for him specifically so no matter wat he does he will always be slightly below wat we expect because he is so good we expect nigh-impossible levels of greatness. OUT
Eminem is a good rapper but his music is nothing like lil waynes his lyrics are strong... Eminems lyrics are good and mixed with some tight beats but lil waynes got eminems number when it comes down to RAPPING, Tupac was the best his lyrics were amazing but he didnt throw that club beat, thats what slim does he is more about making club banggers than telling a story... Staright up I feel like dieing by lil wayne is straight up one of the best raps/ songs ever... Eminems done alot and has proved to the world he can rap... But i think his style his to clean and not enough street or passion the great rappers have amazing passion when they write a song you can hear it in there voices and the story in there songs..
he doesnt even bother tryin to make sense of wut hes sayin.
he jus finds rhyming words and trys to connect them and he dont even go on flow. the only good track on here is "im Me" but otherwise he needs to work on that.
With a name like Verce, you sort of
expect a bunch of lyrics over a unground beat. What you get is
so much better. Brown Paper Bag Money is one of those
Anthems that you can't help but sing. After one chorus
I found myself singing, Brown Paper Bag,
Brown Brown, Paper Bag Money. This is a Hip Hop banger
that makes you forget about snap music and runs with it as if the
last two decades never happened.
It's a really smooth track from Verce hott Mixtape
"Isufficient Funds". Nice lyric and the cool rapping
shows off Verce Swagg. It’s really simple but it has a
nice mellow pace, catchy punch lines and the production
is really good ensuring Verce's single is a smash hit.
Let’s be honest with each other, readers. It’s just a
good upbeat athem that every can relate to. There’s no point
in trying to intellectualise it or pontificate. Verce
is making great Hip Hop music. Instant classic. Thumbs up.
Posted on Apr 17, 2008
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