Everybody Gets Them But Me!

[Soot and Stars]

O.K., I've got to chime in on the Lil' Wayne! I've got to say that I don't think everything he puts out is gold but I love a lot of the things he brings to the table. Now this diatribe is for Hip-Hop fans only because otherwise it would be like someone trying to tell me to try to eat a certain variety of tomato because it's different. I just hate tomatoes period. Certain people just hate Hip-Hop, rap, etc. so why would defending one rapper over the other make a difference to them. Now for actual Hip-Hop fans I'm a little disappointed.

Now, to me Lil' Wayne is no Bob Dylan but why the Hell would he want to be. Let's look at this in Raps terms and say the equivalent. Lil' Wayne is no 2Pac. Now 2Pac is my favorite rapper ever but I don't look at him as a definition of what Hip-Hop should be. Not every rapper has to go off about the hard knock life of their urban crime ridden upbringing. Besides Eminem took 2Pacs role now as the Ying VS. Yang of personalities. The guy who loves their Mom (2Pac)/Daughter (Eminem) but will still **** you up if you cross them. It's all great but Hip-Hop wasn't founded on that IMO.

Now most of this commentary is going to come from what I think is Lil' Waynes peak which is the Rebirth album. I think that albums perfect and amazing for the genre and it reminds me a ton of Run DMC. Hip-Hop started out being about the rhyme itself and social commentary came in later. The early stuff started out with confidence, swagger and delivery and IT was FUN. Lil' Wayne has that perfected. His delivery is slow, methodical but filled with a swaggering personality like very few others. Like Run DMC on Rebirth he shows that a rapper can have the over the top personality of rock stars like Mick Jagger. It's all about being larger than life. If you want to look at just rappers who's had the balls to create a rap/rock record in the Hip-Hop industry, learn even the most basic guitar chords and just make such a detour in their prime like Lil' Wayne has. Hell, his single off the last album was practically purely R&B and he sang rather than rapped. Balls of steel!

Lil' Wayne gets flack because his style took him to a top 40 audience which God forbid destroys your "cred". He's not the most complex lyricist but he could rhyme the word be with the same word in the next line and make it work. He's got this perfect raspy drawl which he accentuates with these touches like a cocky laugh or vocal hiccup, a sneer, etc. and just paints each song with a vibrant personality even the best pop artist fail at. To me whether you like him or not I think he doesn't deserve the flack he gets. To me if you discredit Hip-Hop as being style based then you discredit the genre that didn't start out trying to change the world with the content of it's lyrics. It wanted you to move to it's beat and escape with it's rhythm and attitude!

 

[Lynch]

Time Magazine recently called Lil Wayne the "Bob Dylan of his generation."

That's either remarkably stupid, or an apt description of how pathetic this generation is.

Or remarkably accurate.

I don't see anything wrong with the remark by Time. Bob Dylan is easily one of THE most overrated artists in history. Lil' Wayne? Seems quite similar considering the high regard some folks have put on LW.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Or remarkably accurate.

I don't see anything wrong with the remark by Time. Bob Dylan is easily one of THE most overrated artists in history. Lil' Wayne? Seems quite similar considering the high regard some folks have put on LW.

I do agree that he's gotten too much cover time on magazines. I saw him on the cover of my favorite magazine Blender repeatedly and was like "O.K., is there anyone else in the industry right now. I hated and still hate the "Lollipop" song. Never bought that album actually. Honestly though I got hooked by just listening to the next album and having fun with it. I don't get either mass hype or villification. It's a product like Ice Cream. Ice Cream is everywhere but has multiple flavors even when by the same company. We really don't know what the flavor is like until we taste it. Even when we read the description we don't know exactly what it'll be until we hear it with our own ears. So when I hear hype like Dylan comparisons which is always used I'm like whatever until I here the content.

 

[Groovy Man]

Lil Wayne isn't even close to being the poet of Dylan nor the musician either.

Lil Wayne got some ''thug love'' while he was in jail

''comere boy''....

 

[architect]

Here's my "I Don't Get The Fascination" list

Bruce Springsteen
Bob Dylan, although I do like his songs when they are done by others
U2
Nirvana
Aerosmith
Grateful Dead
KISS
Lynerd Skynerd
Frank Sinatra
Sublime
White Stripes

PUNK, in general
RAP, HIP HOP and R&B, in general

 

[foreverblue]

ac-dc

 

[ILoveJimmyPage]

Here's my "I Don't Get The Fascination" list

Bruce Springsteen
Bob Dylan, although I do like his songs when they are done by others
U2
Nirvana
Aerosmith
Grateful Dead
KISS
Lynerd Skynerd
Frank Sinatra
Sublime
White Stripes

PUNK, in general
RAP, HIP HOP and R&B, in general

I agree with almost ALL of your list. Frank Sinatra was always a bore to me. I can see why people would think "what's the big deal?" with Nirvana but I dig them. Let's not get me started on KISS.

Punk... exactly! That genre has always seemed to have little range to me. I don't get it. The Ramones had zero talent IMO.

 

[Prime]

HIP HOP

Hrm...I...ur...eh...

However, I do agree with you on the mention of Sublime. A friend of mine loves them. I don't get it.

 

[tomcat]

At the top of my list: PINK FLOYD! I'll never understand the fascination with them. I think they're absolutely horrible.

 

[architect]

However, I do agree with you on the mention of Sublime. A friend of mine loves them. I don't get it.

A lot of my younger friends like Sublime, and Bob Marley too which I don't get. A kid i used to work with burned me 40 Oz. to Freedom and said it was his favorite album in the whole world. I gave it a courtesy listen and then promptly threw it away. Good riddance.

I'm force fed rap/R&B/hip hop almost all day at work. I'm so angry by the time I leave. :mad