HIP HOP I IGNORED - A REPRISE
PART V
PART V
I know fuck all about Lil Wayne and have never heard a proper album from him. After that Gangsta Grillz produced mixtape/album Luca Brasi 2 by Kevin Gates I thought it would be good to go down past paths with both Wayne and DJ Drama and his Affiliates. What I did know about Lil Wayne was that he was a really popular and critically acclaimed rap artist in my rap black spot era. I know he had a series of LPs called Carter Volumes I - IV I think, V on its way? Since returning to the rap tabernacle, I've downloaded a few of his tapes to see what all the fuss is/was about. I have since found out he along with 50 Cent (don't know him either) were instrumental in the post-millennial era in making the whole free mixtape/mp3 thing such quality. At the time of his proper album releases Lil Wayne used to say forget about the album, the good stuff is on the mixtapes. That makes him a bit like the rap Martin Scorsese, you know, do a commercial film to finance your next uncompromising film. I just learnt that Lil Wayne has surpassed Elvis in the US charts with the most entries at 109. That's quite remarkable on his part and even more remarkable on my part for probably first hearing him on about his 106th entry YG's My Nigga. He was on that wasn't he? Wayne is one of the most lovable critters in the rap game. Hearing that he's semi- retired because he wants to spend more time on his skateboard only endears him to me even more.
So this is the first in my series of Hip Hop I Ignored to feature a semi-legit recording but the mixtape scene is such an important part of the rap world (ever since the beginning hip hop street parties). Perhaps even more so these days, as a way to break artists before you can get the public to pay for their music. This year one of my favorite rappers Houston's Beatking released his first non free recording. I've probably got like 9 or 10 free downloaded mixtapes of his but now is the only time I've had to fork out the cash for one. If it weren't for those tapes I might not have even been aware of him or checked him out, anyway I'm off track because Weezy (a Lil Wayne alias) was always a star and began doing the tapes after fame.
So here we have Dedication 2 from 2006 that many say is his best mixtape. A handful of others were in contention like No Ceilings, Da Drought 3 and The Suffix. He was only 23 at the time of this tape but was already a hip-hop veteran as he was signed to Cash Money Records at age 9. He makes many a reference to being Cash Money's bread and butter. Funnily enough he's now suing Birdman (Cash Money head honcho) for 8 million dollars. Why do I always choose the long ones? I mean this is way too long, 78 minutes motherfucker. I maintain 40 minutes is the perfect amount of minutes for an album and these long ones are usually bursting with filler. Just give us your gold because time is precious and what your dog engineered at 4 am on Tuesday doesn't need to be heard. Not having ever heard anything by Lil Wayne previously makes this a strange proposition to review. His style here is very casual. Is that his normal style or is he more relaxed on these mixtapes? Quite often in the mixtape game the DJs are lame and repetitive and don't really add much to proceedings, I mean apart from the beats. Actually they usually detract from said proceedings (see my Rich Gang review) and they do a little of that on this tape. Sometimes you just want them to shut the fuck up but hey I guess they're the ones financing these tapes. Are they? I don't know how it all works.
It all starts with a DJ scratch and Weezy saying he's doing it for the love not the money. He's just being Lil Weezy. Get Em's next and his flow is just the coolest thing you ever heard since, I dunno, Q-Tip. This one's all about puttin out cockroaches in ashtrays, guns, clips, Ferraris and being a god. He says he's on fire give him something else on They Still like Me. 'The niggas tryin hate me/bitches tryin to have me.' Best rapper alive is just that Weezy realising he's the best rapper alive but he doesn't think he's better than anyone personally or better than anybody 'in any way or form or fashion' As far as this rap thing goes though he is better than everybody. Maybe he was back in 2006. It's refreshing to hear someone really funny. Cannon's all guns and money. Choice lyric "I'll Helen Keller you niggers". Then of course he's bragging about his big dick comparing it to, well, a cannon. Workin Em's about being superfly, pimpin them hoes and gettin from A to B in comfort and style. Sportscenter has like a tennis ball and a groaning tennis player as a beat. He's servin trap like Stephie Graf, havin a Benjamin bath, he's from New Orleans and he's got some guns. Welcome To The Concrete Jungle has a killer beat. Spitter's got blood everywhere, bling, money, more bling and "this is New Orleans bitch murder dope fiend shit!" South Muzik is dedicated to all those who died in Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. "After the after party is the basket party" one can only imagine what that's like. At one stage he raps "My interior tie dye" like that's a good thing. This What I Call Her is one of those rap tunes where they pretty much rip off an entire old soul tune wholesale. Here it works great. The tune's 1979's One Night Affair by The Stylistics via Lovin It by Little brother. This is a sex jam with talk of sex in stairwells, sex revolutions, he goes down like the stock exchange and drinks it up, slips in her inkwell and leaves her soaking wet from the ankles up. Dedication 2's title track has a sample of Nancy Sinatra's Bang Bang. They're "Ridin The Streets his pop died in" (whether or not he died in Katrina is unclear) with an AK in the backseat. At one stage he says 'God damn the hurricane!' Then there's kind of a halfway interlude where Weezy talks about retiring and wanting to be known for something else apart from being a rapper when he dies. Well he's pretty well known as a wasted skateboarder who doesn't give a fuck about anything. I don't think that's what he means though. Perhaps he would like to be known for something more noble than that, I dunno, a millionaire wasted skateboarder sounds pretty cool to me.
Poppin Them Bottles has Weezy on perfect flow again. He mentions purp but that can either mean lean or a high grade pot. Whichever way you look at it it's a tune dedicated to getting wasted with pistols. Then he comes out with a classic lyric "If it's that time of the month baby, girl, I need some skull." Wow. The backing track's got a sweet Blaxploiatation sample from Willie Hutch via Triple Six Mafia's Poppin My Collar. What U Kno's sees Lil Wayne back being a New Orleans gangsta after the storm and it cost him about 3 million to rebuild his home. He's back in his defence, back in his zone. Then he pays tribute to 90s Memphis devil shyt in his rap "I eat rappers and go in my yard and bury their bones!" Where Da Cash At is all about paper and pussy. Little Wayne's rapping is so cool on this one. Weezy's got a bitch in the back, a hoe in the front. He got 'purp in the dutch and purp in the cup.' Ridin With The AK features Curren$y and Mack Maine. They're ridin through The Crescent City with a gun in the trunk with 'a barrel big enough to spend a hundred midgets.' Followed by references to being the chosen one, murdering for fun and being Birdman's son. Then Wayne in a short interlude laments the dead of the New Orleans flood again. Walk It Off has Weezy claiming he's a good looking rapper and he 'ain't lying'. Then he states that he's 'tougher than leather, smoother than suede, always never broke because he always get paid.' He progresses to getting his dick sucked, ridden and bounced on. Apparently his dick is so big that his bitch can wrap it around her waist like a belt. Gee these rappers have got big dicks haven't they? Hustlin's got a great rhyme 'How about that exhaust and my Funky Cold Medina, I make that hoe tiptoe like a ballerina' I can't work out if he's singing about his Maserati or a woman. Then he does a funny clunky line referring to his lady as 'Miss without Drawers' and then refers to himself at the bank as 'Mr Withdraws'. Gettin Some Head is pretty self explanatory with a feature from Pharrell that really doesn't cut it. Some of Lil Wayne's best lyrics are here though. 'I'm a fly ass nigga take a look at me bitch!' Then he recycles Three Six Mafia once again 'So she slobbed on my knob like a corn on the cob.' No Other is Wayne's most aggressive rap on the tape. It's all done over Jay Z's Intro from The Dynasty. I have a vague recollection of a bit of a feud between the two or at least a healthy rivalry. It's now 2015 and The South is on top in the rap world, followed by California and Chicago with barely a peep out of New York these days. Strange really because hip hop culture emanated from the mean streets of NY back in the day.
Georgia... Bush & Weezy's Ambitionz is seen by many as the centrepiece of this tape. It's a big fuck you to George Bush and his administration and they're handling of Hurricane Katrina ('shoulda called it Bush') before during and after. Lil Wayne's friends died in the flood. The survivors didn't know what to do they were just trying to eat. Cops shot people in the street. I mean we all know what happened and the systematic racism involved. It's all set to Field Mob's beat which contains a sample of Ray Charles Georgia. Then the second part is Weezy masterfully flowing freestylee ('and with no pen I'm sorta like a bomb. Boom!') over a totally different beat. He's back to bragging about money, diamonds, purple weed, purple drink and how he's the best rapper in the game.
Yeah he is a fuckin cool rapper and this is good shit but the beats aren't always that great. Hey this is an off the cuff thing though, it's meant to be rough and not all commercial dance floor hits. I suppose that leaves you with more time to concentrate on the lyrics. I guess I'm used to rap's current great mixtapes which are more like albums, many not featuring screaming DJs at all. Hey I might check out Lil Wayne's legitimate records now. Some of those Carter ones I think.
So this is the first in my series of Hip Hop I Ignored to feature a semi-legit recording but the mixtape scene is such an important part of the rap world (ever since the beginning hip hop street parties). Perhaps even more so these days, as a way to break artists before you can get the public to pay for their music. This year one of my favorite rappers Houston's Beatking released his first non free recording. I've probably got like 9 or 10 free downloaded mixtapes of his but now is the only time I've had to fork out the cash for one. If it weren't for those tapes I might not have even been aware of him or checked him out, anyway I'm off track because Weezy (a Lil Wayne alias) was always a star and began doing the tapes after fame.
So here we have Dedication 2 from 2006 that many say is his best mixtape. A handful of others were in contention like No Ceilings, Da Drought 3 and The Suffix. He was only 23 at the time of this tape but was already a hip-hop veteran as he was signed to Cash Money Records at age 9. He makes many a reference to being Cash Money's bread and butter. Funnily enough he's now suing Birdman (Cash Money head honcho) for 8 million dollars. Why do I always choose the long ones? I mean this is way too long, 78 minutes motherfucker. I maintain 40 minutes is the perfect amount of minutes for an album and these long ones are usually bursting with filler. Just give us your gold because time is precious and what your dog engineered at 4 am on Tuesday doesn't need to be heard. Not having ever heard anything by Lil Wayne previously makes this a strange proposition to review. His style here is very casual. Is that his normal style or is he more relaxed on these mixtapes? Quite often in the mixtape game the DJs are lame and repetitive and don't really add much to proceedings, I mean apart from the beats. Actually they usually detract from said proceedings (see my Rich Gang review) and they do a little of that on this tape. Sometimes you just want them to shut the fuck up but hey I guess they're the ones financing these tapes. Are they? I don't know how it all works.
It all starts with a DJ scratch and Weezy saying he's doing it for the love not the money. He's just being Lil Weezy. Get Em's next and his flow is just the coolest thing you ever heard since, I dunno, Q-Tip. This one's all about puttin out cockroaches in ashtrays, guns, clips, Ferraris and being a god. He says he's on fire give him something else on They Still like Me. 'The niggas tryin hate me/bitches tryin to have me.' Best rapper alive is just that Weezy realising he's the best rapper alive but he doesn't think he's better than anyone personally or better than anybody 'in any way or form or fashion' As far as this rap thing goes though he is better than everybody. Maybe he was back in 2006. It's refreshing to hear someone really funny. Cannon's all guns and money. Choice lyric "I'll Helen Keller you niggers". Then of course he's bragging about his big dick comparing it to, well, a cannon. Workin Em's about being superfly, pimpin them hoes and gettin from A to B in comfort and style. Sportscenter has like a tennis ball and a groaning tennis player as a beat. He's servin trap like Stephie Graf, havin a Benjamin bath, he's from New Orleans and he's got some guns. Welcome To The Concrete Jungle has a killer beat. Spitter's got blood everywhere, bling, money, more bling and "this is New Orleans bitch murder dope fiend shit!" South Muzik is dedicated to all those who died in Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. "After the after party is the basket party" one can only imagine what that's like. At one stage he raps "My interior tie dye" like that's a good thing. This What I Call Her is one of those rap tunes where they pretty much rip off an entire old soul tune wholesale. Here it works great. The tune's 1979's One Night Affair by The Stylistics via Lovin It by Little brother. This is a sex jam with talk of sex in stairwells, sex revolutions, he goes down like the stock exchange and drinks it up, slips in her inkwell and leaves her soaking wet from the ankles up. Dedication 2's title track has a sample of Nancy Sinatra's Bang Bang. They're "Ridin The Streets his pop died in" (whether or not he died in Katrina is unclear) with an AK in the backseat. At one stage he says 'God damn the hurricane!' Then there's kind of a halfway interlude where Weezy talks about retiring and wanting to be known for something else apart from being a rapper when he dies. Well he's pretty well known as a wasted skateboarder who doesn't give a fuck about anything. I don't think that's what he means though. Perhaps he would like to be known for something more noble than that, I dunno, a millionaire wasted skateboarder sounds pretty cool to me.
Poppin Them Bottles has Weezy on perfect flow again. He mentions purp but that can either mean lean or a high grade pot. Whichever way you look at it it's a tune dedicated to getting wasted with pistols. Then he comes out with a classic lyric "If it's that time of the month baby, girl, I need some skull." Wow. The backing track's got a sweet Blaxploiatation sample from Willie Hutch via Triple Six Mafia's Poppin My Collar. What U Kno's sees Lil Wayne back being a New Orleans gangsta after the storm and it cost him about 3 million to rebuild his home. He's back in his defence, back in his zone. Then he pays tribute to 90s Memphis devil shyt in his rap "I eat rappers and go in my yard and bury their bones!" Where Da Cash At is all about paper and pussy. Little Wayne's rapping is so cool on this one. Weezy's got a bitch in the back, a hoe in the front. He got 'purp in the dutch and purp in the cup.' Ridin With The AK features Curren$y and Mack Maine. They're ridin through The Crescent City with a gun in the trunk with 'a barrel big enough to spend a hundred midgets.' Followed by references to being the chosen one, murdering for fun and being Birdman's son. Then Wayne in a short interlude laments the dead of the New Orleans flood again. Walk It Off has Weezy claiming he's a good looking rapper and he 'ain't lying'. Then he states that he's 'tougher than leather, smoother than suede, always never broke because he always get paid.' He progresses to getting his dick sucked, ridden and bounced on. Apparently his dick is so big that his bitch can wrap it around her waist like a belt. Gee these rappers have got big dicks haven't they? Hustlin's got a great rhyme 'How about that exhaust and my Funky Cold Medina, I make that hoe tiptoe like a ballerina' I can't work out if he's singing about his Maserati or a woman. Then he does a funny clunky line referring to his lady as 'Miss without Drawers' and then refers to himself at the bank as 'Mr Withdraws'. Gettin Some Head is pretty self explanatory with a feature from Pharrell that really doesn't cut it. Some of Lil Wayne's best lyrics are here though. 'I'm a fly ass nigga take a look at me bitch!' Then he recycles Three Six Mafia once again 'So she slobbed on my knob like a corn on the cob.' No Other is Wayne's most aggressive rap on the tape. It's all done over Jay Z's Intro from The Dynasty. I have a vague recollection of a bit of a feud between the two or at least a healthy rivalry. It's now 2015 and The South is on top in the rap world, followed by California and Chicago with barely a peep out of New York these days. Strange really because hip hop culture emanated from the mean streets of NY back in the day.
Georgia... Bush & Weezy's Ambitionz is seen by many as the centrepiece of this tape. It's a big fuck you to George Bush and his administration and they're handling of Hurricane Katrina ('shoulda called it Bush') before during and after. Lil Wayne's friends died in the flood. The survivors didn't know what to do they were just trying to eat. Cops shot people in the street. I mean we all know what happened and the systematic racism involved. It's all set to Field Mob's beat which contains a sample of Ray Charles Georgia. Then the second part is Weezy masterfully flowing freestylee ('and with no pen I'm sorta like a bomb. Boom!') over a totally different beat. He's back to bragging about money, diamonds, purple weed, purple drink and how he's the best rapper in the game.
Yeah he is a fuckin cool rapper and this is good shit but the beats aren't always that great. Hey this is an off the cuff thing though, it's meant to be rough and not all commercial dance floor hits. I suppose that leaves you with more time to concentrate on the lyrics. I guess I'm used to rap's current great mixtapes which are more like albums, many not featuring screaming DJs at all. Hey I might check out Lil Wayne's legitimate records now. Some of those Carter ones I think.
