Make no mistake about it. Lil' Tunechi was not going to waste any time after being released from Rikers earlier. Rather than do a comeback song, or a 'sorry' song, like some rappers we know, Wayne came right out with a song that's supposedly going to be on The Carter IV. The best part is that he dropped it off with Funk Flex almost immediately. I guess he was writing more than letters to fans. No it's not some great revelation track, where Wayne finds Allah or stops cursing. It's Wayne at his best: being Wayne. The track is produced by Bangladesh and features Cory Gunz in a less than stellar verse. So much for showing up Wayne on wax again *replays Cory Gunz' A Milli verse* Whatever the case, it's a nice welcome back for the self-proclaimed 'best rapper alive'...
BURRR!!! BURRR!!! BURRR!!! You know what that is, Gucci?? BURRR!!! That's the sound of all the cold, hard cash that you lost by going to jail for 6 months. Yes, you said it yourself, that your incarceration came at probably the worst time possible for you. Yes, you served your time like a good rapper with good lawyers sense. Yes, you even spoke like you had a left brain upon your release. However, it goes without saying that we have to get on you about jail. Do you realize how idiotic the charge was that you got knocked over? All you had to do was stay sober! There are so, so, soooo many things that you could have done besides smoke and drink. You could have been playing Scrabble, or teaching Waka Flocka how to read, or finding new and innovative ways to peddle rocks with a rap career as a front. Hell, you could've been in a Wale video instead of an afterthought on a t-shirt. Gucci, it's not that I enjoy making fun of your incarceration, it's just that I find the situations you get into hysterical. Whether its leaving dead bodies behind middle schools or violating parole by not showing up for community service, you tend not to make the best decisions with your legal affairs. Not even I could have predicted you going back to jail after this PSA. Maybe you're just a good actor...
(cue The Price is Right music) TI and Shyne!! Come on down!!! You guys are the next rappers to come out of jail and release sub-par tracks!!! (end The Price is Right Music) No, seriously guys. Congratulations on both of your releases from prison for charges both deserved (TIP, you know you were wrong for that one) and undeserved (truth be told, Diddy ought to be locked up). I hope your rehabilitation is going well and that both of you are in good spirits. That said, good spirits, the love of family, friends and fans, and infinite press releases can never hide what an MP3 doesn't. By releasing 'Messiah' and 'I'm Back' both of you have placed yourselves back in the ever-widening pool of MCs that now populate hip-hop. Both of you have pretty well known names in the game, so both tracks got a listen. Unfortunately, neither track got the ultimate honor by being downloaded into my iTunes. It's not that I'm not a fan of either of you guys. It's just that the tracks... well... they sucked. Shyne, you aren't the Messiah of hip-hop, no matter how much you want to claim you get villified. And TIP, entitling a song 'I'm Back' and essentially talking about nothing in the track sets you up to not be back for long.
You see, the big pitfall of being a 'gangsta' (ugh, I hate that word) rapper, is that while you can perpetuate that lifestyle, the minute you're in the hands of Johnny Law, all that goes out the window. You can't claim to tote guns 2 weeks after getting out of the pen!! That's like putting your own fingerprints in booking! As a matter of fact, I'd be hard pressed to find any songs that you can write without putting your name out there in a negative light. Not that either of you wouldn't be able to; it's just harder to make a mark like that. It's even harder considering the way hip-hop is going: from Berettas to blogs, from Pyrex to press releases, from pushing white to page views on Wordpress. Hip-hop is getting less hood by the day, though most rappers would claim otherwise. Guys, don't take my word for it, though. Go out and do you. Enjoy the free man's life and become the studio rats that you once were. Hopefully both of you get back to form. As a matter of fact, I hope the same thing for your friend Weezy F. Baby. Lord knows he might have to change his tune after his time at Rikers...
Eventually, the Rolling Stone cover line “Lil Wayne Goes to Jail” will be correct, but not today. On Tuesday a court spokesman in Manhattan told The Associated Press that sentencing for the rapper Lil Wayne had been postponed because of a basement fire at a courthouse.
Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, was to be sentenced in State Supreme Court on charges stemming from a July 2007 incident in which a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun was found on his tour bus. (He pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in October.) The hip-hop star was originally scheduled to be sentenced in February, but received a postponement so he could undergo a dental procedure. A new sentencing date was not immediately given.
Greetings from Manhattan, New York City, where Lil' Wayne is living up to his namesake as the 'Fireman'. Today, Weezy F. Baby aka Dwayne Carter was supposed to be sentenced for felony gun possession. However, around 10:45 or so, the courthouse was set on fire. Now, I know this is somewhat fishy, but I'm gonna give Wayne the benefit of the doubt. That's not to say that he had nothing to do with the incident, but stranger things have happened (OJ Simpson should know). At this point, it goes without saying that maybe Wayne will never go to jail. First it was dental surgery, then it was the snowy weather in NYC, and now it's a fire. I shudder to think about what the next delay will be caused by. Then again, I definitely want to see how long this man can go without going to jail. After a while, wouldn't you want to just get it over with, though???
Young Money has long been the butt of hip-hop jokes because of their lack of star power behind Lil' Wayne, Drake and Nicki Lewinski. Yet, it's looking like they're going to have to rely on that star power when Weezy F. Baby goes to Club Fed Riker's Island next month. Hip-hop comedy blog, ItsTheReal delves into whether the 2nd, 3rd and so forth in command of Young Money can hold the fort down until their Daddy (you know someone in YM has to call him that, at this point) comes home. Check the video, because, trust, you've been thinking the same thing for a minute...
Okay Wayne, this was about to be the funniest, most cynical, most indirectly disparaging letter EVER, until last week when I watched your 'The Carter' documentary with AKZionz and Devin. The documentary gave me a much more clear perspective on your ways, your musical approach and your outlook on life. While I can't agree with the content of much of your lifestyle, the documentary put your unbelievable work ethic and general wisdom in plain view. I must say I'm impressed. That said, I still think it's hilarious that you're going to jail. In fact, I think it's hilarious that most of Young Money is saying things like 'this shit is wack' or 'how can they take his freedom.' It's not like you were caught with automatic guns and hefty amounts of mary jane... TWICE. Even in lieu of that I can't even be mad...
Video director David Rousseau said he and the Cash Money team might need to check the Guinness Book of World Records: He and his company Creativeseen may be the new record-holders for most music videos shot in 48 hours. Lil' Wayne was expected to begin serving his one-year sentence on a weapons-possession charge on Tuesday (February 9), and while that sentencing was postponed until March 2, the MC has spent recent weeks manically recording music and videos — and over the past weekend, he hit the latter with a vengeance.
Cash Money chiefs Ronald "Slim" Williams and his brother Brian (a.k.a. Baby, a.k.a. The Birdman) enlisted Rousseau to shoot nine videos for Lil' Wayne during Friday, Saturday and parts of Sunday. The director said he and his crew started setting up for the production around 9 a.m. Friday and the last camera stopped rolling at around 8 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday.
Reading that was like seeing the school bully at the cathedral praying after school. Wayne, people can and always will hate you. They'll say your music is ignorant and degrading and silly and stupid. They'll say you're a terrible role model (he really isn't a role model in the first place) and that you going to jail is exactly what you deserve. But at the end of the day, those same people are most likely the ones buying your albums and writing about your music and watching your videos. Now that you filmed 9 in the span of a weekend, the haters (I hate using that word) will have their hands full, especially now that you're not going in until March 2nd. Few people truly grind, and even fewer respect it. I suppose when you're as engrossed in repetition as you are, you don't see that....
If you're of faint heart, please move to the next post NOW. Then again, if you're into heavy body modification, this might be the post for you. Whatever the case, lifetime inmates in prison have begun tattooing the whites of their eyes as a 'final frontier' of body modification. The inmates will be getting disciplinary action for their tattoos, but at that point, who really cares? I'll tell you one thing: you wouldn't find any of that at OZ...
Now, you knew this was coming Wayne. I'm not even trying to make fun of you, because jail really isn't a laughing matter. However, this is an excellent example of a rapper's art imitating life, only we're in the real world, not on wax. Wayne, it's been no secret that you're lyrics deal with the 'grittier' side of life. From slanging cocaine and running prostitutes, to shooting rivals and wearing gang colors (which you apparently didn't even earn), you've pretty much exemplified the violent lifestyle that more or less breeds platinum records. What you seem to have forgotten is the two other things that that kind of lifestyle breeds: jail and death. And you seem to have gotten the lesser of the two evils (if either can be called lesser).
Gun possession and illegal drug possession are the charges. Both of them seem silly in comparison to how you got them. According to police reports (yeah, they're not the most reliable, but that's all we have to go off), when they smelled and saw marijuana smoke seeping from your tour bus, they approached the bus. And when you saw them, you threw a Louis Vuitton bag, containing a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic gun, out of the bus. To me, you sound guiltier than Cheddar Burress (also arrested in NYC on gun charges) on a Saturday night at a club with no metal detector. Face it Wayne, your 'gangsta' (I feel like Tom Brokaw writing that word) lifestyle caught up to you. And while you might not serve the minimum 3 1/2 years (thank your $5000/hr lawyers), you'll definitely be in prison for a year. I wonder how 'real' your lyrics are going to be after some hard time...
