In light of Chloe’s recent posting on California-based rapper Blu’s new video, I feel that some minor points of confusion need to be cleared up. In and around my circle of friends there has been much debate regarding Blu’s position as the best rapper in our generation; at least in the 18-25 age range. I believe that this is a fallacy of monumental proportions. It is with great pleasure that I introduce the true holder of the Hip-Hop crown: Dwayne “Lil’ Wayne” Carter. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Lil’ Wayne, affectionately known as “Weezy” is the top MC in the game, at the very least, according to Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Best of Rock” issue. In this, their most recent issue they placed Weezy at the forefront of the rap game as top spitkicker. Again for any of you that may have missed my several affirmations of the God MC: Lil’ Wayne is the best rapper alive. And I am the King of France.
I am the King of France
I am the King of France
I am the King of France
I am the King of France…
The “Lil’ Wayne Theory of Pompous Repetition” states, “If any one individual or collective body perpetuates any absurdity and/or braggadocio about the former, said statement will ultimately be deemed true.” Under this theory, one can only assume that if I continually claim to be the King of France, maybe put out some mixtapes called “The Greatest King of France Alive”, have MTVu flaunt me as the Greatest King of France Alive and hopefully get on the cover of XXL wearing an “I Am The King of France” t-shirt, I will ultimately become the King of France.
“We are all Hip Hop.” At least that’s what the white kids with dunks, book bags and “J Dilla Changed My Life” t-shirts tell me as I laugh at their commodification of a great art form (pause).
Now I do believe, that Lil’ Weezyana deserves some credit. After all, society has done much worse in proclaiming the game’s hottest rapper. Case in point:
“And I’m lockey, lockey, leave you pokey, pokey
No Rice a Roni, that’s the Okey, Dokey”
~ Cam’Ron (To better understand the method to his madness peep this)
“She said you look like you rapper
Where’s your bling-a
And yours clothes is tight but you dont seem gay
I said naw thats dude from NSYNC-a
She wasnt married, kept her ring on her pink-a”
~Dude from the Gap Commericials
For those of you with amnesia, this was hardly Common’s first foray into selling stuff. This might jog your memory.
Or…
“I’m fresher than mother f*****, yup I’m a mother f*****” (Sorry. This one is Wayne but was so excruciatingly ridiculous, it needed to be noted. I mean what is his point. He has sex with moms, or did I just overanalyze an asinine remark…really Wayne…really?)
On a very serious note if you have not heard his opening verse to OutKast’s Hollywood Divorce, you understand that Wayne is not a bad MC. On the contrary, he pensively navigates himself through the deceit of the commodification of Hip-Hop as well as his “Louisiana Home” post-Katrina. Beyond his introspective high notes, he can also playfully and unabashedly string together rhymes so cleverly placed that you may actually consider taking a hit of cocaine.
Ultimately, I do not think that Lil’ Wayne is the “Best Rapper Alive.” That isn’t to say that he is not talented. In fact, I would place him at the top of the commercial game today. That is to say, of those MC’s who gross more than most, he is without a doubt the most talented. Of course, his competition includes the likes of T.I., 50 Cent, Ludacris and…Soulja Boy. What the emergence of Lil’Wayne has shown us is that our standards as consumers of Hip-Hop have gone to such an desperately low point that when a rapper comes around who is actually clever, we immediately want to place him in the elite canon of Hip-Hop History.
Not only does Lil’ Wayne’s success embody the state of the rap game, it unequivocally mirrors the mindset of the current Hip-Hop general body. By this I mean that those who consider themselves fans are looking for something relatively clever, yet accessible.
You goin’ over niggas’ heads Lu (Dumb it down)
They tellin’ me that they don’t feel you (Dumb it down)
We ain’t graduate from school nigga (Dumb it down)
Them big words ain’t cool nigga (Dumb it down)
Yeah I heard Mean And Vicious nigga (Dumb it down)
Make a song for the bitches nigga (Dumb it down)
We don’t care about the weather nigga (Dumb it down)
You’ll sell more records if you (Dumb it down)
~Lupe Fiasco, Dumb It Down
“I dumb down for my audience
And double my dollars
They criticize me for it
Yet they all yell “Holla”
If skills sold truth be told
I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli
Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
(But I did five Mil)
I ain’t been rhymin like Common since…”
~Jay-Z, Moment of Clarity
What some people fail to realize is that we created Lil’ Wayne, for better or for worse – you, me and everybody else that is Hip-Hop. Like any movement, change comes from the ground up. Why is Mos Def, on the outskirts of mainstream lyricists? People don’t buy his albums. Why must The Roots tour 4230493085029809 days out of the year? Because people just starting buying their albums after Game Theory. When do people start buying albums? When MC’s hire Kanye West to produce 9 out of 11 tracks of their “classic” album. Yes, I’m talking about Common’s Grammy Award-winning Be. Now Common does Oprah, Gap commercials, and sings about sunshine and butterflies. Now I like Be, however I am curious as to where everyone was at when Like Water for Chocolate dropped in 2000.
“Paul, stop being a hater…I love Common…The Light was sooo good!”
So, before you or anyone else attacks Weezy, Dipset or anyone else that is “commercial,” understand why they are truly the “best.” None of these artists deserve the self-righteous castigation regularly doled out by the fair-weather, backpacking, J Dilla-riding, wanna b-boys, De La Souled Out, Hip-Hop elitists. These artists do whatever it takes to sell records. They have situated themselves as rappers, shameless self-promoters and businessmen and they do so very effectively. So I say to you all: run out and go by the Blu album and parade him about as the best MC alive – because maybe if we supported the artists we liked a bit more, they too would be on the cover of Rolling Stone…next to me of course, the next King of France.
Top five (kings), dead or alive.
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ni99a shut up… you always got something to say
Comment by m3 April 20, 2008 @ 12:21 pmlmao at “lil waynes theory of pompous reptition”
far as common he had to go get kanye after he dropped electric circus that joint was hot garbage.
last id be surprised if even lil wayne thinks hes the best rapper alive. controversy sells records this just the new version of beef.
Comment by TNS April 20, 2008 @ 3:59 pmElectric Circus– hot garbage?
People always hate when an artist explodes boundaries and decides not to drop new shit in the same vein of what has worked well for them in the past (re: Mos & “New Danger”).
Comment by c April 20, 2008 @ 4:26 pmWhat I did not elaborate on in my post is Common’s Electric Circus which you referred to as “hot garbage”. Personally Electric Circus is one of my favorite albums period. But both of are opinions are irrelevant, insomuch as they should not reflect the artistic merit. By that I mean people like to call Electric Circus “hot garbage” because they didn’t like it. Cool. However, artistically, looking at the production of J Dilla and Questlove, the album is ahead of its time. When people say its “hot garbage” you mean you didn’t like it. The problem is such gross generalizations and misguided swipes lead to artists making “safe” albums such as Be and stop exploring new musical directions.
Also I didn’t mean to present the picture that Lil’ Wayne actually believes he is the best rapper alive. Instead I consider him a brilliant business man who knows how to market himself well. Sounds like dude took some consumer psychology courses.
p.s. New Danger is also one of my favorites…I also like The Root’s Game Theory, so I believe the new age/electric/rock/hip hop fusion is something I dig.
Comment by Paul April 20, 2008 @ 8:56 pmI agree with you that the general hip hop audience and has changed their preferences as far as the content that appeals to them. Unfortunately, its been a change for the worse in certain instances.
Comment by JusticeinZimbabwe April 22, 2008 @ 10:20 amAnd I find problems with your theory of pompous repetition for the reason that it has no facts to back it up. Duwayne Carter is probably selling more music,ring tones, etc than any other rap/hip hop artist out there. Does that make him the best rapper in the game, no? But it does give him claim to say that he is the best MC in the game.
Finally I don’t think we should attack common because he’s done Gap commercials. After all it didn’t change his style of rap or his beliefs. Gap ,btw, contributes a portion of their profits to aids prevention in Africa via their RED campaign. For all we know that could have been the reason he did the tv commerical in the first place. You talk about Mos Def as not subjecting himself to the commercialism of hip hop when Blackstar, Talib Kweli and KRS one have done Levis, Ecko and Adidas ads respectively. At the end of the day, these artist have jobs and need to provide for themselves.
What facts could possibly back up the theory of pompous repetition? All that it says is that if you say something over and over again, it eventually becomes true. It’s hard to disagree with the fact that lil wayne constantly refers to himself as the best in one capacity or another.
Comment by Eric April 22, 2008 @ 7:36 pmSo basically the entire idea of this “theory” is pretty facetious…I am honored you took me that seriously. First off the King of France, as you may or may not know, does not and hasn’t existed for some time. This directly parallels the fact that the idea of being the “best rapper alive” is also as absurdly ridiculous (what does that even mean…you rhyme the best?…it’s completely subjective). As far as sells giving you a claim to the top spot…well I mean yea so does spitting 16 bars in your mom’s basement…I never actually debated that. He can posture himself however he wants, even though I don’t believe that he even thinks that he is the best but is using it as a clever marketing gimmick (I Declare War Concert between Jay and NaS, 50 v. Kanye, etc.) So again there’s really no argument there friend…let’s not get all sensitive when it comes to poking fun at Common, I mean dude was talking about Mary J’s “cat” and The Bitch In Yoo and now he sells Lincolns and v-neck sweaters…furthermore have you seen him in concert lately, dude stands on stage for fifteen minutes talking about ppl who are “misunderstood”…Assata… misunderstood…Martin Luther King… misunderstood…Lauryn Hill (really?!?!) …misunderstood…Ronald McDonald… misunderstood (sorry but dude acts like a clown at this point…harry belafonte voice overs in between sets…come on now?) I mean listen he is a shell of his old self. It’s actually quite funny to me. Yes, you can sell things as all of the other people did…as I said in my post you skimmed…I understand they have to make a buck because clearly people don’t support their albums. It’s just humorous that my man from the South Side now drives through it in a Navigator pointing his “hood” like he’s at the zoo. Furthermore let’s not get all sanctimonious and talk about Common making a social statement by selling thing’s for a cause…pause think about it and reevaluate your point…we’re all complex individuals folks…he’s not static and nobody expects him to be such…however, if your “evolution” is more of an adaption to the climate…I’m just saying it looks a little suspect…either way not that serious…just a pointing out a obvious change.
p.s. as far as Common changing his rap…well I believe “bling-a” speaks for itself
Comment by Paul April 22, 2008 @ 10:38 pmDamn Paul, it was just chidi. no need to come with the ether treatment.
Comment by Eric April 22, 2008 @ 11:03 pmHey man don’t walk in my line of fire…might get clapped up…Chidi: Welcome to the Terrordome!
Comment by Paul April 24, 2008 @ 10:05 pmCome on now, are we really gonna accuse common of going “commercial” and “mainstream?” Is Common going commercial because he debuted at #1 on the billoard charts? No. Is a real lyricist, a real hip hop artist finally getting the recognition he’s deserved his whole career? Yes. What about Finding Forever is commercial? Kanye West producing? So now Kanye can’t produce tracks just cause he’s blown up? The Finding Forever album is a musical masterpiece, from the way one song flows into the next to the lyricism to the overall vibe. That is hip-hop, hip-hop doesn’t have anything to do with how many people are listening or buying your records, hip-hop is about the music. Is Common’s music commercialized because he acts and does commercials? That’s ridiculous.
Furthermore you write like ur a hip-hop elitist…”Now I like Be, however I am curious as to where everyone was at when Like Water for Chocolate dropped in 2000″ people get put on to the game at different times man, is someone who doesn’t have Like Water for Chocolate not a real common fan? Is someone who downloads his discography automatically a Common fan cause they have all of his material? Common’s style has evolved as the game has evolved, but that doesn’t mean he’s gone commercial. Youa’re a Jay-Z fan right? What about Big Daddy Kane? Are you not a Jay-Z fan if you aren’t a fan of the people who inspired him, of the people who layed the ground work for his flow? Where does it end? Speaking of Jay-Z, is he commercial? I’m guessing you would say yes. But his commercialization didn’t start with Kingdom Come, no it started with Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life. With the one “crossover” track that he needed to catapult him into the mainstream but you have no problem quoting lines from The Black Album and touting them as real hip-hop. The point is that just cause u go platinum or make movies doesn’t mean u are going mainstream or commercial. That’s something that a lot of artists do, but it’s also something that the fans have a lot of control over. If we as fans decide to buy Common albums we are making him mainstream, it isn’t necesarily because he has change or is making an effort to appease us. Last time I checked “The People” didn’t sound like 95% of what’s played on the radio…
Comment by Ed June 23, 2008 @ 1:41 pmThe one thing I can agree with is that u cant make a sweeping statement about who the best rapper alive is, its all subjective. However, let’s be clear that Lil Wayne has said that he believes he is the best rapper alive, and that’s all that matters to him. The reason why he calls himself the best rapper alive is because he believes that in order to be successful you have to approach what you do as if you’re the best at it. And if you don’t you’re not living up to your full potential.
I had this long winded response written with lots of witty retorts and clever analogies going point by point with your argument…but it’s just not worth it. This happens in literally every single post I write. People see what they want and find the negative instead of actually engaging the post. You’re probably a Common fan and saw the couple jokes about dude and got offended, thereby missing the entire point of the piece. It’s not big deal…I do it like everyone else when I see someone who writes something in a scathing or sharp-witted way. We see something we don’t like and jump on that one thing because someone goes extra hard on it. I suppose that’s what I should expect when I write with a sharp pen…people take the language to heart and don’t actually read what I am saying. If you had you would understand the fact that I joke about the whole Common thing, as I joke about literally everything in my posts. I am a huge Common fan and like to poke fun at how he has completely switched up his entire presentation and thusly won over a huge fan base. Are they not Common fans…maybe…maybe not. It’s a little suspect to call yourself a fan if you only know one album. I didn’t jump in from the beginning so trust me that wasn’t my point. Either way the post wasn’t about Common it was about Wayne, more importantly a much bigger topic on hip-hop, which you apparently missed.
I’m sure people think I hate Wayne too…simply not the case…I critique things by presenting valid points…hating is when you just clown just because. Nothing is perfect: Me, Wayne or Common Sense.
And commercial just means you sell products and records…well…which Common now loves to do…so what?…every “commercial” rapper, “those MC’s who gross more than most”, I am a fan of… withstanding Soulja Boy. If you want to make “commercial” a negative that’s fine…but I don’t.
Again I could probably retort each of you’re points as well as you retorted mine…however, considering I wrote the post, I believe I have a leg up having understood the argument.
Comment by Paul June 23, 2008 @ 2:05 pmyea on second thought i guess i did take a kinda pointed approach with that one. Didn’t mean to attack u for ur jokes or whatever im just sayin i personally dont take commercial to mean the literal definition of selling records, when i hear someone say someones gone commercial i take it more as someone is selling out, or completely 180′ing there style so they can get into the main stream and sell records. Or being lyrically gifted but dumbing it down to sell records. All in all i like the blog man, it makes for a good read. Keep doin ur thing my dude
Comment by Ed June 25, 2008 @ 10:19 amOne thing I will say tho is I like T.I, I don’t know if you were joking when u said look at weezys competition but T.I can spit
Comment by Ed June 25, 2008 @ 10:20 amNo No…I def feel you on that but I do think Common switched it up…I don’t think it’s bad…just a bit comical. It’s great to see Common get the love he deserved…I just wish he could have gotten it for something as groundbreaking as Electric Circus instead of the safer Be (which I am a big fan of as well)…and yea outside of “T.I. vs T.I.P”….I do have a lot of respect for the Rubberband Man.
Comment by Paul June 25, 2008 @ 10:24 am