Thursday 21 August 2014

Lil Wayne Renews His Claim To Greatness

When Lil Wayne used to say that he was the best rapper alive, did not really matter if he was serious. It was as the title comes with a championship belt. It was as the title was even real.

At best, it is a fleeting show of respect; at worst, the debate end of a nerd rap. There is never a consensus. For every Biggie, Pac exists. For every Jay Z, Nas. For every Wu-Tang, A Tribe Called Quest.

But every time Wayne said he was forcing himself into the conversation, no matter who was having it. Whether he was parachuted into the songs with Kelly Rowland and Enrique Igelsias or putting on gloves with Outkast or Jay Z, did you consider your worth. And then he took himself out of the conversation completely.



Think about it: When was the last time you said that Wayne was the best rapper alive? It feels like a lifetime ago.

Since then, a revolving door of characters seized the attention span of pop-rap, Kendrick Lamar and 2 Chainz. If you were not the best - it's hard to find someone who does not swear "Good Kid in Lamar, Maad City" was a contemporary "Illmatic" - they were the most active. 2 Chainz basically spent years filling his absurdly comic verse where Wayne used to be.

And then there's Drake. One of the reasons Wayne faded into the background was allowed Drake to get to the forefront. The vas youngest star, signed with Wayne Young Money label, might otherwise be unable to get out of the shadow of his benefactor.

Actually, he never joined. Long before Drake continued his scorched-earth career, Wayne made it seem as if the idea of rapping made him yawn. Not even two months after "Tha Carter 3" sold a million copies in the first day, fell Wayne mixtape track, "Dedication 3" and then essentially said he was taking a vacation. In "Magic," a throwaway song on a mixtape throwaway, hit him, "I do not even have to rhyme / I just made a hundred [expletive] million."

And that explains almost everything he did thereafter: the strange rock albums dives, skateboarding, the arbitrary but entertaining beefs with NBA players.

The rap was not his main concern most. Now there were two different Waynes: the one before "Tha Carter 3," and the one after.

It felt weird. Usually, the person wearing the yellow jacket rap she renounces it out of boredom. They SPAZZ out at award shows and then go underground, like Kanye. They make a debut album that hijacks the attention of all, and then not agree with him, as 50 Cent. They get their lead singles taken for Jay Z album as Jeezy. They get caught buying guns in parking lots of strip malls, as TI die in their prime, like Biggie and Tupac. But simply rarely get bored.

During a long stretch after "Tha Carter 3," Wayne sounded like he had before. After nearly two decades, four albums "Carter" five tapes of "Dedication" and three tapes "drought", one could argue that actually had.

Meanwhile, the last world blurred. Upstarts like 2 Chainz and Young Thug Wayne took pieces of aesthetic and ran with it. Kanye redeemed himself with virtually flawless "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", petitioning Wayne "Best Rapper Alive" messianic heights. Rick Ross became a legendary Miami drug lord, a team of subordinates who helped her master both the streets and the radio.

And Drake was accumulating platinum and becoming entirely too pervasive. You cannot deny his influence on the genre; Kanye, Jay, and even Wayne admitted. Two months ago, Drake released "O 100 / The Catch Up" for free on the Internet, and you could hear his deference to Wayne die.

"They say that the shoe is always consistent, no matter which foot is in / these days, I feel I'm squeezin 'in' em / the wearing 'em before was not thinking big enough."

But in the last year, has begun to look as if someone moved smelling salts in front of Wayne's face. He tweeted apologies to the fans. It is lined in a fifth installment "Carter", scheduled for October 18 and is co-headlining a tour-themed battle with Drake (which stops at Boston on Monday), with little seed of truth in professed rivalry make the trick work.

Above all, as springing "Dedication 5" out of nowhere to fans last summer, Wayne sounds genuinely interested in rapping again. A series of mixtapes initially thought to show the dedication that would climb the rungs of the ladder one by one rap was re: "This is dedicated to all those who forgot."

Quietly, Wayne had turned back into a conversation he walked away from years ago.