OT: Will Lil Wayne's Career Have Legs?
by Jonny Pops on May 18, 2009 5:52 PM EDT
38 comments
Lil Wayne has enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music over the course of the past year and earlier. His recent album Tha Carter III has produced numerous hit singles and all the while he has appeared as a guest vocalist on numerous other artists' tracks both inside and outside the realm of hip hop and R&B. He'll even be releasing be releasing a Rock album in June (he claims one of his favorite bands from his youth was Nirvana).
Although I like a lot of Lil Wayne's music I've often dismissed him as being so styilzed - particularly with his signature, and much copied, use of a vocoder on his vocals - that he will not be able to extend his shelf life as an artist too far into the future, becoming too emblematic (as many hip hop and R&B artists do) of a particular point in time that will soon come to pass. But now I'm not so sure. There seem to be so many hits and good tracks that come out of this guy that perhaps his career will have legs after all.
So I want to get the community reaction, particularly form those of you into music, and specificaly hip hop and R&B. Will Lil Wayne become an Andre 3000 or is he simply a passing fad? Have at it in the poll and comments....
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Will John Gibbons manage the Orioles?
Jioe Flaacco, Hon!!! "He’s like a live JUGS machine."
by dayzd toe on May 18, 2009 7:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I would say his career already HAS legs since he's been rapping successfully for 10 years...
by O'sFan21 on May 18, 2009 11:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If you say so....
I can honestly say I haven’t heard one of his songs in 10 years.
Matt Wieters took batting practice this morning. There were no survivors.
by duck on May 19, 2009 6:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You probably have...
…and don’t know it. “Lollipop” for example used to be played at Camden Yards before certain player’s (can’t remember who) At Bats.
by Jonny Pops on May 19, 2009 9:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Adam Jones
I like some of his music, but I had no idea he’s been around for 10 years. I don’t like his stuff enough to buy any of it though.
I’m smart, not a dummy. ~Adam Jones
by Stacey on May 19, 2009 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I didn't know he'd been around that long either...
…although I hadn’t listened to the radio regularly (didn’t drive in NYC) for the last 10 years which is where I usually keep up with hip hop and r&b.
by Jonny Pops on May 19, 2009 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You don't know...
how far I go out of my way to avoid most rap made since about 1990.
Matt Wieters took batting practice this morning. There were no survivors.
by duck on May 19, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Far enough...
…to miss Adam Jones ABs?
Also, “rap” is kind of over. There are still some rappers of course in hip hop music, but what’s taken over the marketplace if sort of an amalgam of actual singing, some rapping, production etc. I’m not sure if there’s a term for it yet – but what people think of traditionally as “rap” is becoming rarer and rarer. Black urban music has become much more melodic, much more musical than the Hip Hop of yesterday. Which is a good thing in my view, because there was a period there in the 90’s when it got really fucking bad.
by Jonny Pops on May 19, 2009 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
1993
Well, I consider around the mid-90’s to be the high water mark in rap/hip-hop. Digable Planets, Black Moon, Smif-n-Wesson, Heltah Skeltah, The Wu, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Del, Das Efx, Cyprus Hill, Snoop & Dre, Biggie, Gang Starr, the Beasties… That’s a helluva list, imo, and all stuff that I enjoyed.
Add some of the stuff put out up until 95-96 and you’ve got The Roots, Mobb Deep, Nas, Big-L, Outcast, Pharcyde, 2-Pac, Goodie Mob, Kool Keith, Redman…
Hell, Craig Mack and Channel Live weren’t that bad either.
So, the 90’s was pretty damned good and for me ended my hip-hop infatuation. I’m always on the lookout for new stuff, but what passes for mainstream hip-hop these days does not interest me. Lil Wayne included.
by brooksflow on May 19, 2009 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Your dates are a little off...
…the early 90’s was a good time for hip hop. You had Tribe Called Quest’s Low End Theory in 1991. Cypress Hill’s debut in 1991. De La Soul is Dead in 1991. Pharcyde’s debut in 1992. Dre and Snoop in 1992 & 1993 were decent, not amazing, but memorable.
But the mid to late 90’s were were pretty shitty. Biggie Smalls sucked. I don’t care what anyone says, or if the guy got shot or not. Those tracks were garbage as was most if not all of the Puff Daddy produced/released bullshit. Tupac in my book was not much better. Overall there were years there in the mid to late 90’s that hip hop was a very forgettable experience. Plus there was much more exciting stuff going on then in electronic music, if you were after a good groove, good beats and great production (as I was).
Outkast was obviously the most interesting thing to happen to Hip Hop in years and they also – or at least Andre – really influenced a lot of what’s happening now with expanding hip hop into a much wider genre. But although they had been around, I didn’t get into them until Stankonia in 2000.
I’ve been encouraged by hip hop recently though. You should give it another shot.
by Jonny Pops on May 19, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Biggie Smalls sucked. I don’t care what anyone says, or if the guy got shot or not.
Well, he didn’t suck. I don’t care what anyone says, and the guy getting shot for (frankly) being an idiot (just like 2Pac) has nothing to do with that. Biggie went to lyrical places that the other tough guy rappers did not, which I think set him apart. A lot of the beats haven’t aged well, but then neither have a lot of The Bomb Squad’s.
As for 2Pac, he was a singles artist. He never made a great album (though they were all pretty solid).
You’ve really been encouraged by hip-hop recently? Like, by what? I’m not being condescending, I just actually want to know. I think it’s been a pretty weak couple of years past Ghostface (whose last album was kinda weak anyway) and a few others. The Roots keep pumping out quality stuff, for instance.
Plus there was much more exciting stuff going on then in electronic music, if you were after a good groove, good beats and great production (as I was).
Yeah, but say I’m more about what people are saying, y’know? That music wasn’t exactly exciting for me.
Cypress Hill were/are terrible.
by SC on May 19, 2009 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If you want great poetry...
read a book. I listen to music for music. Now vocal music can tie into that sure, and lyrics can be interesting, and once in a while thought provoking. But the format is generally too limiting for them to be that good. Sorry, but that’s the truth. I care about the way it sounds. Not about some guy bitching about his girlfriend, or saying how much he wants to get laid, or bragging about this or that, or pissed off because somebody left him – and these trifling sorts of topics are 90% of what popular lyrics are about.
Biggie Smalls sucked. Flat. Out. Sucked.
Cypress Hill kicked ass. Loved that shit. Still do.
As for what’s good right now, there’s a lot of stuff. I like Lil Wayne just fine. Andre 3000 is great. That Stanky Leg song is pretty good by whoever the fuck does that. Birthday Sex is good. But more importantly, the format has grown a lot from where it was in the late 90’s. It’s broken out of what was becoming the standard for cranking out hits, which frankly was set by Puff Daddy during his success with Biggie. Take a tired ass sample from a hit song of 2 decades ago and straight out recycle it, then throw on some raps about getting laid and getting paid. That shit was terrible and I am very happy it is gone. Black music has almost always been innovative, but for a period there it really stagnated as people pushed that formula. Now it’’s back to business with people trying new shit.
by Jonny Pops on May 19, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
RAP FIGHT!
Just don’t shoot each other, okay?
But post the mix tapes you make about each other…
Matt Wieters took batting practice this morning. There were no survivors.
by duck on May 19, 2009 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Take a tired ass sample from a hit song of 2 decades ago and straight out recycle it, then throw on some raps about getting laid and getting paid.
That was every song so long as you were only watching MTV or listening to Hot FM the hottest joints of hot urban streetness Funkmaster Flex flex flex flex
I care about the way it sounds. Not about some guy bitching about his girlfriend, or saying how much he wants to get laid, or bragging about this or that, or pissed off because somebody left him – and these trifling sorts of topics are 90% of what popular lyrics are about.
Music is expression to me, not just sound, and frankly far more expression than sound. Lyricists intrigue me, yet I never liked much by the way of proper poetry. And what is a topic worth discussion if everything is so trifling? Lil’ Wayne? The Orioles? Not stopping ’til you get enough? Fires?
Biggie Smalls sucked. Flat. Out. Sucked.
Cypress Hill kicked ass. Loved that shit. Still do.
This is seriously curious. Biggie Smalls was a better MC than B-Real and Sen Dog combined and it’s not even close. How much do you love the wacko tobacco? Their “murky” production always bores me, partly because you can hear the exact same shit on a House of Pain album but sometimes there’d be a bagpipe squeal there. What on earth is the actual appeal of Cypress Hill? There wasn’t anything interesting going on sonically, really, and they about have the market cornered on “trifling” topics. Fuckin’ Fu-Schnickens were better than Cypress Hill.
by SC on May 20, 2009 7:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
re:
That was every song so long as you were only watching MTV or listening to Hot FM the hottest joints of hot urban streetness Funkmaster Flex flex flex flex
Or listening to a Biggie Smalls song, which btw were always on MTV and Hot FM. What are you defending here exactly? I once liked Love & Rockets, now I realize they sucked ass. Move on.
Oh and Cypress Hill still rocked.
by Jonny Pops on May 20, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Biggie…wasn’t really what I’d categorize as the late 90s. I understand you have a massive hard-on for Biggie, and it’s also not like I’d put him in my top 20 MCs or anything.
But B-Real wouldn’t be in my top 100 and Sen Dog probably would be among the seven worst of any real merit. MC Paul Barman is better.
by SC on May 20, 2009 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
About Biggie:
I think his first album is really, really good. I think his second album is eehhhhh???
Had he continued on he probably would have made some real turds. Maybe done an awful album with Method Man. Maybe not though. Maybe he would’ve gotten a real producer.
See the thing about our argument over Biggie is I think I’ve made it more an argument than we really need to have. You think he sucked, I think he was good. Both of us would be shouted down by the “heads” that believe Biggie and 2Pac are the greatest MCs of all-time. 2Pac on pure flow would be up there for me (20-30), and occasionally he actually had something to say, and Biggie was unique enough that he’d go somewhere in my top 40(ish?) if I were just hazarding a guess, but that’s about it. It’s not like either of them were Ice Cube (1988-1993) or anything.
by SC on May 20, 2009 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I have no hard-on for Biggie.
Quite the opposite actually, both figuratively and literally.
by Jonny Pops on May 21, 2009 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oh...
…and The Bomb Squad’s beats still kick ass. Please do not use The Bomb Squad even on the same page as that fucking shit they laid over those Biggie Smalls rhymes. That’s like comparing Miles Davis to Kenny G.
by Jonny Pops on May 19, 2009 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The Bomb Squad have a lot of dated-ass sounding beats. I’m not going to pretend everything they did was great.
by SC on May 20, 2009 7:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
As far as production is concerned.....
let me interrupt your rap beef to say
RICK RUBIN is doing the next Slayer CD!
Greatness awaits.
Matt Wieters took batting practice this morning. There were no survivors.
by duck on May 20, 2009 7:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Rubin made his bones producing hip-hop, so it’s fairly relevant. But yeah I’m psyched about that. The only stuff he’s done recently that wasn’t any good was Weezer and there’s no saving them anymore.
by SC on May 20, 2009 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Rubin produced the 2nd best metal CD ever
before he started with rap, in Slayer’s Reign In Blood (1986). Did it before (or perhaps concurrently) to BB’s “License to Ill.” I’ve always thought of him as a metal producer moonlighting in rap. Between the last Metallica and the new Slayer, he’s finally come back home. :)
Matt Wieters took batting practice this morning. There were no survivors.
by duck on May 20, 2009 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He did LL Cool J’s Radio (1985), Beasties’ Licensed to Ill (1986) and Run-DMC’s Raising Hell before Reign in Blood.
by SC on May 20, 2009 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Radio was before Reign in Blood
Licensed and Raising Hell and Reign in Blood were all in the same year. Reign’s later release was over the cover art and distribution problems arising from it.
Yeah, I know Rick’s a rap/hip-hop guy. But I still like to think of him as a metal producer who just took a really, really long time between projects. :)
Matt Wieters took batting practice this morning. There were no survivors.
by duck on May 20, 2009 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I realized the dates were loose
But my endpoint was 95-96. That’s mid 90’s, no? I didn’t list specific albums for that reason. Tribe’s Midnight Marauders (better than Low End, imo) was 1993, Cypruss Hill’s Black Sunday was 1993, De La’s Buhloone Mindstate was 1993, Doggystyle was 1993, The Chronic was December 1992. Sorry you didn’t like Biggie and 2Pac. Neither were my faves, but I would never say that they were garbage. And electronic music sucks if you’re talking about that raver shit. My friends would make me listen to Rabbit in the Moon and some other BS and it mostly sucked. I liked Portishead, though, if that counts.
To me the late 90’s might as well be early 2000’s. Nothing remarkable. Though I dig MF Doom, Blackalicious, The Coup, and a few others. Admittedly remarkable, I still never really liked Eminem.
by brooksflow on May 19, 2009 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just not my thing
In the 90’s, the beasts got so thin and dance-oriented it lost me forever. Old-school PE I loved, because The Bomb Squad hit you over the head sonically. That’s my thing. When people like Dr. Dre and Eminem and Tupac became about dance beats, that’s when I left the party.
Matt Wieters took batting practice this morning. There were no survivors.
by duck on May 19, 2009 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Only went to 1 game last year
and didn’t notice it.
Matt Wieters took batting practice this morning. There were no survivors.
by duck on May 19, 2009 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Rapper Dolla
just had a career ending injury.
Don't let the sunshine fool ya. - Townes Van Zandt
by BPinOK on May 19, 2009 10:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Lil Wayne wouldn't have become this popular without getting his start with Cash Money Millionaires
With people like Birdman, Juvenile, and Mannie Fresh. I like their style, they are goofy, and they don’t give a shit. It’s hilarious and cool.
by Timmy L. on May 19, 2009 6:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I'm a lyrical gangster... (murderer!)
"Your wife told you to play in New York.
Well, my wife told me you look like a dork." Boo Teixeira guys.
by birdman on May 20, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
that's right
so lil’ wayne owes his success to you!!!
by Timmy L. on May 20, 2009 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Lil Wayne is terrible
There’s hip hop I like, hip hop I get why people like, and then there’s shit like Lil Wayne that I just don’t understand. I really wanted to like Lil Wayne, and I’ve listened to his stuff a lot, but for the life of me, I just don’t get it. He’s like Marmite, except I like Marmite.
"In a couple of weeks or a month, I'll be excited about this team," Dawkins said. "I've got to get used to saying that -- I'm a Bronco." Then he paused. "I'll tell you one thing -- I'll always be an Eagle."
by exitfare on May 20, 2009 7:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I disagree.
I like his stuff…it just really runs the risk of becoming very, very dated very, very quick in my opinion if he’s not careful. But I’m starting to think he might escape all that. He seems to be able to perform a number of styles well and sell them well, while not falling into previous formulas. He can sing, he can rap, he does that vocoder shit. Some of it is pretty interesting stuff and he may very well prove to be a lasting success. Most people on here think so at least.
by Jonny Pops on May 21, 2009 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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