Lil' Wayne

Lil Wayne: Human After All

Friends. Romans. Martians. I stand before you not to bury Lil Wayne and I Am Not A Human Being II, nor do I intend to praise it. Instead, I implore you to marvel at this album's sheer existence, because yet again, Lil Wayne has managed to accomplish something only great artists can: he's made someth ... More >>

On Lil Wayne and Future and Hip-hop Authenticity

Rap game ouroboros

Lil Wayne, Future, and the Ouroboros of Defensive Trendhumpery

If you pay attention to the Rap Internet, you are probably up to your elbows in people slinging the term "Appropriation" around, mostly in the context of the Harlem Shake meme. Even more loosely, people have been talking about what the idea of "ownership" in hip-hop actually, like, means these days. ... More >>

Lil Wayne Tops Elvis Presley's Billboard Record

Previously, Elvis Presley held the record for the male with the most entries on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, with no fewer than 108 hits. But Lil Wayne now has 109. Game's "Celebration," featuring Wayne as a guest, was the record breaker. Unfortunately for Wayne (or should I call him Lil?), a coupl ... More >>

Hot 100 Roundup: Brandy Comes Back, Lil Wayne Gets Gross, And More

Editors' note: Each week in this space, chart-watcher Robert Myers will offer his reactions to all the new entries on the Hot 100, Billboard's big board for popular songs. The late-summer doldrums continue in the world of Hot 100 debuts with two less-than-stunning rap records that won't be on the c ... More >>

Lil Wayne Hits The Decks With The Deweezy Videos

Last night at recently reopened Greenhouse, Lil Wayne the rapper welcomed Lil Wayne the skater to the world via the premiere of DeWeezy. Maybe it's because he started rapping professionally at an age when most kids where still learning their multiplication tables, but Wayne has always seemed to have ... More >>

Radio Hits One: Birdman Is Rap's Richest Second Banana

A few weeks ago, Forbes published The Forbes Five, which estimated the net worth of hip hop's wealthiest moguls, and put Cash Money Records boss Bryan "Birdman" Williams in fourth place with $125 million. Just two weeks later, Williams announced that his label's most successful artist, Lil Wayne, ha ... More >>

Radio Hits One: Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, And Young Money Bring Crew Love Back To Rap Radio

If you've listened to much urban radio lately, or even a little, you may have noticed that Lil Wayne and his Young Money Entertainment labelmates, particularly Drake and Nicki MInaj, are quite popular. You may have also noticed the same thing in 2011. And in 2010. And 2009. But perhaps nothing under ... More >>

Lil Wayne, Skrillex, And Others Fire Up Austin On Day Two Of SXSW

If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in this planet's many happenings, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. To break down the chaos, a few of Village ... More >>

GROWING PAINS

Robin Thicke premieres his newest record

The American Music Awards Nominations: Hey, Did You Know Adele Sold A Lot Of Albums This Year?

Have you bought your copy yet? (Give it time.) ​You can have your Grammys and your Mercury Prizes and your Polaris Prizes and whatever other musical prizes honor things like "talent" and "artistry"—the most honest awards show in pop music, though, is undoubtedly the American Music Awards ... More >>

Live: Lil Wayne Is The Master Of Ceremonies In New Jersey

Lil Wayne w/Rick Ross, Keri Hilson, Far East Movement, Lloyd PNC Bank Arts Center Tuesday, July 26 Better than: Sorry For The Wait. Before Lil Wayne took the stage last night at the PNC Bank Arts Center, the PA was playing cuts from Sorry For The Wait, the stopgap mixtape released as an apologia ... More >>

Sorry For The Weight: Lil Wayne's New Mixtape Full Of Empty Posturing

​Lil Wayne's mixtapes used to be events in rap. His incredible work on the Dedication and Drought series gave birth to the Mixtape Weezy that could credibly claim to be the best rapper alive in 2006-07, a rapper so good that Jay-Z admitted on his otherwise rapper-loathing "D.O.A." that he "mig ... More >>

Who Will Be The Next Pop Star To Draw Inspiration From t.A.T.u.?

It probably shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise that the attention-seeking girl-kisser Katy Perry drew inspiration from the Russian pop duo t.A.T.u.; her recent creepy chart-topper "E.T." sounds as good as it does in large part because it's heavily inspired by the pair's still-dizzying 20 ... More >>

Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV Pushed Back Yet Again

There's still time to change the cover, you know. ​After originally being slated to come out the day last November when he got out of jail, Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV has been pushed back from June 21 to August 29. Of course, delays are nothing new to today's scared-of-its-own-shadow record ind ... More >>

Hot 97 Announces The Seemingly Young Money-Sponsored Summer Jam '11 Lineup

​ Hot 97 has announced the lineup for Summer Jam '11, and it's (perhaps unsurprisingly) filled with Young Money acts: superstars Lil Wayne and Drake act as the de facto headliners, while a non-specific set by Young Money, the label, is on tap. Could that possibly mean an eventual cameo by Nic ... More >>

The Curious 21st-Century Decline Of Hype Williams

On Friday, a link to three-minute making-of video for a scrapped, Hype Williams-helmed clip of "XXXO" appeared on M.I.A.'s twitter. The footage shows M.I.A and a small group of dancers (including Beyoncé choreographer Jonté) painted head-to-toe and gyrating to the song's hissing, whirling beat. Th ... More >>

Live: Bamboozle Stimulates Every Sense (And Then Some)

So much to see, everywhere. ​The Bamboozle Meadowlands April 29-May 1, 2011 Better than: Watching scene reports scroll by on Twitter. In a lot of ways, the Bamboozle is a festival tailor-made for the current moment of constant distraction. The festival's running time over three days totals ... More >>

So, This Is Really The Cover Of Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV"

​Not going to lie: When someone sent me the LOL-filled BuzzFeed page riffing on the cover to Lil Wayne's next LP (which is now coming out in June) I figured that the image being virtually tittered at was a joke perpetuated by one of the many Internet types with a copy of Photoshop, memories of ... More >>

The 10 Best Post-Prison Lil Wayne Songs (Plus the Other 16!)

​It's been almost 5 months, or 141 days, or 3384 hours, or 203,040 minutes since Lil Wayne got out of jail. And in that time, by our count, he's made 26 new musical appearances. A few of these might have been recorded before he went to jail (pre-probation-Wayne's maniacally hoarse voice genera ... More >>

Neon Trees

Lil Wayne's Show In NYC Thursday Is Back On

​Verily, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj will be taping a Carson Daly NYE spot on Thursday evening -- the same show Wayne announced and then immediately retracted yesterday. In a radio interview, Wayne explained the confusion: Some since-admonished third party hijacked his personal Twitter account t ... More >>

Lil Wayne's Twitter Confirms, Then Quickly Denies, His Apparently-Not-Happening Show Here Thursday Night

Well, folks, there was a solid 20 minutes there when Lil Wayne had us all convinced he was doing a show here with Nicki Minaj on Thursday, but he's apparently fallen victim to some sort of Twitter hack -- a lot of that going around today.

The 20 Worst Songs of 2010, #16: Lil Wayne, "Paradice"

F2K10 is a countdown of the 20 worst songs of 2010. Track our progress here. ​Lil Wayne's rock album was as "eagerly anticipated" as tax season, a divorce court hearing, or the icy embrace of death itself. Watching the gifted rhymer aimlessly dick around with a guitar was like watching Picass ... More >>

Lil Wayne's Wild Weekend: Courtside in New Orleans, On Stage in Las Vegas, Red Carpet in Miami

Lil Wayne was released from prison last week, as you might have heard. He spent some time alone before rejoining his friends, first on Friday night in New Orleans, where he sat courtside to watch LeBron James and Dwayne Wade's Miami Heat take on his hometown Hornets. Saturday he took the stage in L ... More >>

The Weird Sad Loneliness of a Post Prison Lil Wayne

So Lil Wayne finally made it out of Rikers yesterday, walking away from solitary confinement, the Rikers guard who called him a "jackass," and what TMZ pegs as one solitary fan in the parking lot (not the way we heard it). Either way, he's free. And though we know now that he's spoken on the phone ... More >>

Lil Wayne Is Officially A Free Man

And like that, the rapper most loved by former and current United States presidents is finally out of jail, eight months after he went into Rikers on felony gun charges. "You guys waiting for that jackass?" a Rikers guard asked the Rolling Stone reporter that had staked out the jail this morning. ... More >>

Lil Wayne Bids the Internet a Temporary Farewell

Yesterday, Lil Wayne asked his fans to stop sending him the hundreds of pieces of mail he gets per day, since he can no longer write back. (A violation of jail rules back in May landed him in solitary, where he'll remain until his release from Rikers in November.) And now, today, he's posted his f ... More >>

Lil Wayne Will Serve Out the Remainder of His Time at Rikers in Solitary Confinement

​Back in May, we reported that Lil Wayne had been caught hiding an iPod charger and pair of headphones in his cell (specifically, and somewhat tragically, in a discarded snack bag in his trashcan; the iPod itself was found being held by a neighboring inmate). Early reports suggested that Wayne ... More >>

Drake

Lil Wayne Tipped Off by Rikers Jail Staff, Brought Better Food, Allowed Long Visits

Lil Wayne even has a special visitors entrance Looks like hip-hop star Lil Wayne is even more of a VIP at the Riker's Island jail complex than we previously knew. Department of Corrections officials appear to be bending backwards for him, sources tell the Voice. We're told that when guests visit ... More >>

Drake Is Not Exactly Answering Lil Wayne's Prison Phone Calls

​"I call Drake at least once a week," Lil Wayne told Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex last night, phoning in from Rikers. "I actually call three or four times a week, but he only picks up for me once a week." He was laughing when he said it: Wayne, of all people, knows what it is to be one of the most ... More >>

So Just How Homophobic Is Rap In 2010?

​The familiar conceit of this past Sunday's New York Times Magazine article "Sissy Bounce: New Orleans's Gender-Bending Rap," goes something like this: There are some gay rappers in New Orleans. Rap's usually really homophobic. That's crazy, huh? Contrasting the apparently enlightened attitude ... More >>

Lil Wayne: The Rikers Island Prison Rap

The heartbreaking genesis of this song? Lil Wayne heard his protégé Drake's collaboration with Jay-Z, "Light Up," over the radio in his cell in Rikers, where he's serving a year and day on weapons charges. Once the center of the rap universe, Wayne was left a spectator. But not for long--a day l ... More >>

Lil Wayne Facing Potentially Serious Consequences Over Jail Contraband

​As we reported on Tuesday, Lil Wayne was caught this week at Rikers in possession of various illegal electronics--in this case, headphones, a charger, and, eventually, the MP3 player to which they belonged. Our source pegged the crime as an infraction--possession of contraband--but had no wor ... More >>

Is Lil Wayne Making Self-Aggrandizing Prank Calls From Prison?

​A friend of a friend shares with SOTC an interesting story he originally posted on his Facebook page: It's 9:50 a.m., Thursday morning, when his work cell phone--a number pretty much reserved for co-workers and family--rings. On the other end? A mysterious yet familiar voice. The question? "H ... More >>

Gucci Mane Is A Free Man

​Even as fellow famous incarcerated rapper Lil Wayne faces disciplinary action today at Rikers for violating prison rules regarding possession of unauthorized electronics, Atlanta's Gucci Mane strolled out the front door of Georgia's Fulton County Jail this morning, a free man. Outside the jai ... More >>

Breaking: Lil Wayne Caught With Unauthorized Electronics in His Jail Cell [Updated]

​Corrections sources are telling the Voice that rapper Lil Wayne was caught today at Rikers in possession of "unauthorized earphones and a charger" during a search. An investigation is underway to find the missing device (almost certainly an iPod or other kind of MP3 player) that goes with the ... More >>

Luther Campbell Weighs In On Lil Wayne, T.I., And Other Gun-Toting Hip-Hop Stars: "People Have To Understand The Rappers' Workplace"

​Did you know the 2 Live Crew boss is now a columnist for our compatriots at New Times down in Miami? It's true, and after a few warm-up pieces ("Fire Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra"), Luther Campbell today addresses why Lil Wayne and T.I. risked their careers over firearms. Short version: Try goin ... More >>

You Will Have to Wait Until Lil Wayne Gets Out of Jail to Get His Autograph

​Though it may have been a decent way to for Wayne to while away the days in prison, and though the mind boggles at the prison economy that could've sprung up around Lil Wayne signatures (that's worth like a box of cigarettes at least, right?), alas, it is not to be. TMZ reports that Wayne has ... More >>

Robert Christgau On Lil Wayne: "If I've Ever Been This High, Which I Doubt, It Was 40 Years Ago"

​Here's Bob on Weezy, at length, of course, and absolutely worth the read, also of course. Two Rap Radar commenter quotes in the first paragraph! Extremely involved lyrical analysis! Stuff like this! Based on a stripper-ready DJ Unk track (I Googled that), it ends each of the 22 lines of its ... More >>

Lil Wayne Goes to Jail Today, But At Least We Have This Young Money "Roger That" Video to Remember Him By

Here is the first of a reported nine videos Lil Wayne shot in front of various green screens before reporting to Rikers today. This time, they opted for a comic strip treatment--fitting for not just Wayne but Nicki Minaj, who is basically a walking comic book character anyway. A Rikers guard fille ... More >>

Rikers Island Superstar Lil' Wayne's Pre-Slammer Scrapbook

​ The New York Department of Correction's most exciting inmate since crooked cop boss Bernie Kerik is on his way to jail. Again. Most of us can take a wild guess as to what that's like for all the Regular Inmates of the world: shitty. Want to know what that's like if you're an uberfamous super ... More >>

The Blessing and the Curse of Lil Wayne's Candy Addiction: Jail Postponement, Eight Root Canals

​Let no one say that the judge who postponed Lil Wayne's prison stay in order for the rapper to get dental work was going easy on the man--TMZ reports Wayne endured an eight-hour procedure on Tuesday that involved eight root canals, significant tooth implant repair, and some much needed grill ... More >>

So Was Lil Wayne's Rebirth a Modest Success Or a Total Commercial Failure? Maura Johnston Reads the Charts

"Billboard's 'Tastemakers' chart is the one we should all paying attention to, don't you think?"​This week's Billboard 200 is headed once again by Lady Antebellum, the milquetoast country trio whose second album Need You Now moved 481,000 copies in its debut week, and 209,000 copies in the sal ... More >>

Lil Wayne Is Probably Going to Rikers Island Today

​Today Lil Wayne will finally enter a plea in a Manhattan courtroom stemming from a 2007 gun charge he caught in New York City. He's expected to start serving time at Rikers Island right away--"I just say I'm looking forward to it," the rapper told Rolling Stone. Maybe. Billboard quotes City D ... More >>

Lil Wayne Saved By Bad Teeth

​ "Rap star Lil Wayne has gotten a temporary reprieve from jail," reports the Associated Press: "for dental surgery." His lawyer apparently told the judge that Wayne needed to finish a string of procedures on/in his mouth prior to heading to Rikers. The rapper's new date with destiny is March ... More >>

The Long, Slow Death of Lil Wayne's Rebirth

Dwayne Carter proves rappers can make lousy rock albums, too

Daly: How Come This Guy Walked on Gun Possession, and Burress and Lil Wayne Didn't?

​In today's Daily News, Michael Daly notices that Shabia Johnakin, a "20-year-old Brooklyn high school dropout," got mere probation for gun possession, though he was trying to use his weapon (it jammed) in the company of men who were shooting at police. The clemency was in part due to Johnaki ... More >>

The Long and Tormented Genesis of the Lil Wayne Documentary The Carter

In this week's Voice, Jed Lipinski tells the long and involved story behind the making, and then spiking, of The Carter, thirty-year-old director Adam Bhala Lough's verite documentary depicting Lil Wayne's 2008 U.S. and European tour. The DVD finally comes out next week, with a disclaimer calling ... More >>