...but it's sort of like being one of the last emperors of ancient Rome. Generational bias to be sure, but I don't think anyone would argue that hip-hop will see a more fertile creative period than the late eighties to mid-nineties in its future.
Over a decade ago, back in my MTV-watching days, I remember seeing videos for a crew calling itself The Hot Boys. The group consisted of members Juvenile, B.G., Young Turk and Lil' Wayne. I laughed at what seemed like a bunch of backwater ostensible rap artists sporting the de rigueur thug aesthetic--wife beaters, shiny watches and baggy jeans. They had supplanted Master P's god-awful No Limit as the new face of the South. I figured they couldn't be much worse than "The Ice Cream Man" and his ilk. So on the strength of Juvenile's quirky hit song "Ha", I purchased his solo LP, "400 Degrees." I gave it a few spins. Then I proceeded to buy every release these guys put out. Southern rap acts (with the exception of groups like Outkast) are often derided for the simplicity of their lyrics and song composition. I tend to attribute that to the fact that Southern hip-hop is sort of still in its adolescence. For years, the only notable things coming out of the South were the Geto Boys and Too Short (Luke and 2 Live Crew were always more affiliated with the booty bass scene, hip-hop's cheeky cousin). Now the South is coming into its own with the likes of artists like T.I. and Ludacris who can drop one-liners with the best of them. None of the Hot Boys would ever be mistaken for a cajun Rakim, but the group does have a notable musical legacy. This is thanks in large part to one man: Mannie Fresh, producer for the bulk of Cash Money's output in its nascent years. Fresh is one of the most under-appreciated producers in hip-hop history. Largely eschewing easily recognizable samples, Mannie Fresh crafted some of the most kinetic and idiosyncratic beats this side of Timbaland. Fresh gets frenetic with the primordial elements of rap: snares, high-hats and the thump of the 808 percolate at 120 bpm. You can hear his signature sound in the hit songs that defined and established the label: B.G.'s "Cash Money Is A Army", Juvenile's "Ha" and "Back that Azz Up", and Lil Wayne's "The Block is Hot" (BTW, the video for Juvenile's "Ha" is almost like a cultural artifact with its portraits of life in the wards of New Orleans in the late nineties; worth seeking out on YouTube). Granted many of the songs were lyrically execrable (especially those on any Big Tymers--a group comprised of Baby and Mannie Fresh--record), but the beats never disappointed.
So jump ahead ten years and Lil Wayne is the last Hot Boy standing (all the others having left the label, Cash Money Records, due to alleged financial improprieties by the co-founder of Cash Money Records, Bryan "Baby" Williams--infamous for his platinum dental work). I'd been aware of a growing groundswell of support championing 'Weezy Wee' (as he sometimes refers to himself) as the next greatest thing in hip-hop. Apparently he appeared on every third rap and r&b record released over the last few years. Prolific? Undoubtedly. Great? I was skeptical to say the least until I listened to a freestyle he did called "Dough is What I Got" on which he rapped over Jay-Z's first official un-retirement track, the oddly tepid "Show Me What You Got." The old guard (Jay-Z, Nas, Wu-Tang, etc.) had recently been lamenting in the press the perceived slow death of hip-hop in the last few years (ironically, the same death knell sounded in the late nineties during that generation's ascendancy). "Dough is What I Got" served as a rebuttal of sorts with Weezy launching a salvo directly at Jigga himself ("When it comes down to this recording/I must be Lebron James if he's Jordan"). After he threw down the gauntlet, the pressure for Lil Wayne to deliver a record on par with previous crown-claiming albums such as Paid in Full, Illmatic, Life After Death and Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life increased exponentially.
Is the Carter III the greatest thing since yogurt with fruit on the bottom? Well, not exactly. It's still serves as pretty solid testimony to his dominance over the current field of contestants.
What makes Lil Wayne so appealing? He's a singular personality in a genre full of clones, wannabes and interchangeable voices. It comes down to his charisma and inventiveness, his willingness to attempt things that might fail (e.g. his fondness for riff-heavy guitar-backed tracks). You get the sense that when he steps in the studio, he just follows whatever impulse enters his mind. This is simultaneously his greatest strength and weakness. Take a song like "A Milli"--simple driving beat, repetitive sampled hook; he takes it and runs roughshod over the track with an at times haphazard flow, creating something that feels both ephemeral and classic in the same breath. Then he'll follow that up with a fairly derivative track like "Got Money" that wears its pop aspirations on its sleeve (but again, he miraculously saves even that effort with a few playful lines, specifically his riff on Rhianna's ubiquitous "Umbrella" song). He carries the album the way Will Smith is able to carry a movie with a mediocre script (*cough*I Am Legend*cough*).
The Carter III suffers from the same maladies as many contemporary rap albums: too much filler, too many guest stars, inconsistent production. Still it manages to overcome these faults on enough occasions to make it a worthwhile purchase (or if you prefer ala carte, I'd recommend between 8-10 of the albums 18 tracks). I don't know how long the reign of Wayne will be, but I'm not mad about it.
On a side note: I'm not sure what to make of Wayne's Zapp-like obsession with voice modulation. I swear at least a third of the tracks on his new album use Auto Tune.
Tracks worth a listen, or two:
- A Milli
- Dr. Carter - concept song about him literally saving hip-hop
- Phone Home -Wayne expands on his "I'm a Martian" conceit
- Tie My Hands - moving piece about the aftermath of Katrina
- Mrs. Officer - gives a new meaning to a classic NWA song
- Lollipop - infectious melody, showcases Wayne's eccentricity perfectly
- Lollipop Remix - ft. Kanye who's much less annoying on other people's albums
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