Lil Wayne is Not the Greatest Rapper Alive
And How He is Slowly Suffocating the Rap Game
Jun 11, 2009
There are too many participants partaking in the industry claiming the title of rapper. Fortunately many of them have their one hit and slowly disappear never to be heard again. But Lil Wayne is unwilling to disappear. He is supposed to be one of the best rappers in the game today and has an enormous fan base. But an honest overview of his work is needed.
Lil Wayne's Distortion of His Own Voice
Remember when Lil Wayne was part of the Hot Boyz? He may not have been a polished rapper, but at least he didn't distort his voice. He has emphasized the scratchiness within his voice and sadly this marketing scheme has worked. It succeeded in separating Lil Wayne from the pack and making him easily recognizable when a song of his pops up on the radio.
There is never anything wrong with wanting to separate one's self from the pack. Rappers have been known to create their own slang, emphasizing a unique voice, or dress in eye-catching apparel, but these gimmicks only add flavor to the artist where their lyrics cement them as popular rappers. In Lil Wayne's case many of his lyrics are questionable. His voice separates him, but he has no outstanding lyrical qualities which are deserving of earning him the top spot in rap, but unfortunately the media, fans, and strangely other rappers have agreed he is one of the best.
Lil Wayne's Inability to FlowLil Wayne may have a bit more creativity in his rhymes compared to when he first appeared, but does having more creativity mean he must sacrifice flow? Although his first albums are nothing to brag about lyrically; he does craft the speed of his voice and his delivery to the specific beat he is rapping over. With fame apparently comes the ability to ignore such inconveniences.
Lil Wayne on "Miss Officer" is a great example of ignoring the beat. He is able to keep up pace with it, but his voice offers no inflections. He keeps his voice pitch steady whereas the beat peaks at the end of each loop. He needs to be able to add more emotion and range into his voice. An example of a rapper who listened to the beat and worked with his voice to mesh with the different peaks and valleys of any beat is Tupac. Listen to "Ambitionaz Az a Ridah," "When Thugs Cry," and "Against All Odds" and you'll notice his voice rising and falling along with the beat.
He has the ability to flow and when he decides to, his ability outshines his voice and the package does come together as a decent rapper, but too often he ignores the beat and raps monotone forgetting about the subtle nuances of the beat.
Lil Wayne's Over-Hyped Lyrical AbilityLil Wayne has fans believing he is the best rapper alive because his lyrics are better than the competition’s lyrics. What about Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, Immortal Technique? What about Chuck D, KRS-One, and pretty much half the rappers beginning when hip-hop first originated up to 1995? Lil Wayne may be the most popular rapper, but that's a far cry from being the best rapper. He does have some good lines, but he tries to cram each song with line after line of incredible metaphors
One of the saddest parts is not the overuse of metaphors, but the lack of substance in most of his songs. What happened to the art of storytelling in rap? Lil Wayne has songs that do deal with specific times in his life like "I Miss My Dawgs" dealing with the break-up of his group the Hot Boyz, but very few of them. Where are the songs talking of the youth or growing up in underprivileged areas? Where are the songs that have the message other than "I am proclaiming myself the best rapper alive"?
A perfect example of questionable lyrics is Lil Wayne's song "Dr. Carter." The concept of the song isn't bad. He pretends he is a doctor and three different patients enter his emergency room. He loses his first two patients and the third pulls through. The third patient happened to be hip-hop and so he credits himself with saving hip-hop's life. Concept creative, but he leaves a lot to be desired lyrically, "Like hey, brighter then the suns rays got a pistol on the playground. Watch the gunplay like no kidding. No kids in the way, but the kids do watch, gotta Watch what we say."
Brighter than the sun rays is first and foremost an overused cliché. “The pistol on the playground, watch the gunplay” line has potential but his structure of the lyric is atrocious. The final three parts of the lyric that deal with kids falls all over itself. It's repetitive and barely makes any sense. For being the best rapper alive he should be able to craft a much more creative and unique line that doesn't use the same words multiple times in the same sequence.
Show me lyricism, Lil Wayne, while having a meaning within your song. Anyone can rap about nothing and create great lines, but show me the rapper who can work in magnificent lines while speaking on real life circumstances and then I'll show you the best rapper alive.
