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In Defense of Lil Wayne.. On June - 1 - 2010 View Comments |
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Memorial Day Weekend was ground zero for Lil Wayne‘s rock music offensive.
Dropping not 1, but 4 brand new music videos for his rock album, the oft-delayed “Re-Birth” in an attempt to overwhelm the masses, where the album itself upon its release, had underwhelmed the critics. It was brought to my attention on TWiB! by another blogger in his post about “Knockout” featuring Nicki Minaj.
My instinct was to, of course, bash, mock, laugh, taunt, and proverbially shit on Mr. Carter’s attempts at rock. I like rock. I was the strange kid in the middle of the hood that was singing Soundgarden and Pearl Jam (Yes I WAS beaten, how’d you guess?) So I feel like I can properly gauge Wayne in the space of his new genre. It is incredibly easy to shit on Weezy’s rock album. But something strange happened as I listened.
I…kind of…respected him.
I will be the first to rant and spew venom towards Wayne and Young Money for their constant barrage of garbage that seems to fill the Hip Hop radio waves but this morning I had to call bullshit on myself. I hate the mediocrity and recycled nonsense that seems to define urban music now, but when an artist of Wayne’s profile attempts something radically different from what he’s known for, I then shit on THAT too? Thats lunacy. What are artists supposed to do? Either stay in the pre-defined box that we’ve set up for them and watch the sound they helped pioneer become the very sound that marks them as being “yesterday.” Or try something different and possibly fail, and be told they were foolish to even attempt such artistic endeavors.
This is the problem with art and success.
The act of being creative is magic. The act of being creative and strike a chord within the popular culture is damn near BLACK magic (“eye of newt” black, not President Obama Black…) To continually repeat the previous success is virtually impossible (Chappelle Show, Boondocks, the Original Black Star Album.) Yet we, when acting as consumers expect this. There’s a great talk on TED concerning this that you may want to check out.
I made myself stop being a dick for a moment (which really? Terribly hard. It’s like I have a disease or something) and listened and watched the videos. Lo and behold, I found a song I kinda like.
I dig this singer on the hook. I enjoy the juxtaposition of a voice that you might be more at ease hearing sing R & B belting over a guitar…a generic guitar, but a guitar nonetheless. So today, just for a moment, I put down my Hateriffic hat and commend an effort to break the way he’s perceived. Hell, this possibly shakes up the general view of black artists in rock. Yes, “we” know black folk have been a part of rock since it’s inception (cough, CREATED IT, cough) but OTHER folks don’t. I’m all about shifting perceptions.
The other 3 videos are below. You may dig something you weren’t prepared to dig. Don’t be surprised. I actually hope artists attempt to take more risks. Maybe Nicki Minaj will try not to be annoying? WHO KNOWS!?
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Ash Says:
Great post. I had similar feelings about this release (and Lil Wayne).
Posted on June 1st, 2010 at 12:51 pm
dfreelon Says:
As a card-carrying Black Dude Who Likes Rock, I have to say that this is absolutely terrible—generic, overproduced and hook-free. I get what you're saying about supporting efforts by artists to branch out, but c'mon man, you can only give out so many points for effort. And it's not like rappers can't rock out effectively—for a good example check out the Blakroc record that dropped last year.
Posted on June 1st, 2010 at 9:52 pm
A.J. Says:
EXACTLY. Points for effort only go so far. Lil Wayne has made commendable music (there's one song on The Carter III about Katrina that springs to mind), but my main problem with him is his music is uninspired or derivative, regardless of genre.
Posted on June 1st, 2010 at 10:14 pm
elonjames Says:
I'm not claiming this is the equivalent of a Tool album, hell its not a Kill Switch Engage Album. Fact is those who are familiar with Wayne's early rap efforts are all too aware of the fact that he just wasn't that good. But he got better.
And also, lets be honest. Rock music sucks now a days. The bands that are tearing up the charts aren't exactly breaking new ground either. I will not go as far as to say that Wayne's album is “The Truth” but at the same time I wont actively shit on HIM with out acknowledging the fortitude it takes to take risks…
Posted on June 1st, 2010 at 10:45 pm
elonjames Says:
To say one doesn't like the work is one thing. But the overwhelming sentiment to attack and tear apart an artists attempt at growth is what I'm mainly speaking of.
Posted on June 1st, 2010 at 10:48 pm
someguy Says:
this is lil wayne doing a really bad fall out boy impression….really bad…
Posted on June 2nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
Tenicia Brooks Says:
“At least he's trying”. I think he's doing to music what Tyler Perry is doing with movies…he's hooking the people in with the foolishness that is so loved and pervasive these days, and once they become fans of him (because we all know that black people are loyal to their favorite celebrities), he opens their mind a little at a time. Plus it's a brilliant marketing strategy, because once you reach a certain status and have cross genre appeal, not only are you making more money, you can set the trends and get away with anything and everyone will think it's cool. Those of us who never were in the closed minded trap to begin with may not dig it, but it's not really for us, and yes we should commend him for making an effort to produce something…anything….other than the recycled garbage that is killing radio these days. By the way, I kind of liked it.
Posted on June 2nd, 2010 at 11:04 am
someguy Says:
this is lil wayne doing a really bad fall out boy impression….really bad…
Posted on June 2nd, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Tenicia Brooks Says:
“At least he's trying”. I think he's doing to music what Tyler Perry is doing with movies…he's hooking the people in with the foolishness that is so loved and pervasive these days, and once they become fans of him (because we all know that black people are loyal to their favorite celebrities), he opens their mind a little at a time. Plus it's a brilliant marketing strategy, because once you reach a certain status and have cross genre appeal, not only are you making more money, you can set the trends and get away with anything and everyone will think it's cool. Those of us who never were in the closed minded trap to begin with may not dig it, but it's not really for us, and yes we should commend him for making an effort to produce something…anything….other than the recycled garbage that is killing radio these days. By the way, I kind of liked it.
Posted on June 2nd, 2010 at 3:04 pm