Lil’ Wayne is genius.
Actually, let me rephrase that. Lil’ Wayne is not A genius, he IS genius.
That is confusing. Let me try this again…
Lil’ Wayne does not create art, he IS the art.
This is an important distinction to make, I believe, as it allows us to fully grasp the stunning masterpiece that is Lil’ Wayne.
In many ways Lil’ Wayne is proof of the existence of God. Not necessarily the God of fire and brimstone and the Ten Commandments but rather the God of creation, the “How Great Thou Art” God. A work of art like Lil’ Wayne could have only be fashioned by the hands of an immortal being. Forget the creationism – we evolved out of the primordial soup – but Lil’ Wayne did not evolve; he was preconceived, planned, and created.
Lets explore this further.
The genius of Lil’ Wayne is that he improves every single track he is on without any rational or conceivable reason as to WHY. Simply by being Lil’ Wayne on a song, he improves it. He is a completely two-dimensional object yet we don’t even begin to understand him. He is a caricature but as a caricature he is deeper and more authentic than any other musician alive today. He is the Keith Richards of our generation, an elegantly wasted mess who also happens to write a highly entertaining and shockingly coherent blog for ESPN. He simply is Lil’ Wayne and that’s about the extent of it.
We need a case study to help us understand this, to help us understand Lil’ Wayne.
Let us consider “Let It Rock” by Kevin Rudolf. Now, this is a terrible song. A purely commercial concoction of club beats and mid-90’s arena rock, by all measures it should suck, and it does. But only, it’s kind of amazing, solely because Lil’ Wayne guests on this song. Not only is his verse endlessly entertaining but he improves the rest of the song through some weird osmosis of genius. Like the godly glow that surrounded Moses as he came down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments, Kevin Rudolf, a human who’s music has no interest to me whatsoever, is surrounded by the aura of Lil’ Wayne on Let It Rock. The song is transformed from one of the worst songs of the year into one of the best. And all it took was Lil’ Wayne.
But what did Lil’ Wayne actually DO to improve this track? Like a drunken bar hopper stumbling into the last bar of the night, somewhat confused as to why he’s there but very much in favor of it, Lil’ Wayne stumbles into the song after the second chorus, takes a look around, and decides to just go with it and say a few words. But he doesn’t actually say anything. He just throws words together, not as some avant-garde cut-up experiment but rather because he just doesn’t have much to say. Most of what he says is vaguely sexual but not in any sort of coherent fashion. Much like the overly inebriated bar hopper, he’s horny but only in a general sense.
And yet, his verse is genius. It’s hilarious. Eminently unquotable and yet I find myself quoting it constantly. The genius does not reside in the words but rather in Wayne. It’s not the song that I love but rather Lil’ Wayne. The song is just one of many manifestations of the art that is Lil’ Wayne.
Let It Rock the proceeds to repeat its chorus a few times as the song winds to an unceremonious end but then Wayne is back. Like the drunk who’s recovered his sobriety enough to realize he must retrieve his car keys from the bar floor where he dropped them, Lil’ Wayne simply informs us that he is back, that he would like to fuck you (the new found sobriety has focused the vague sexual desires from the earlier verse) and then that’s about it and the song ends. It’s brilliant.
The video for Let It Rock confirms my argument. As Kevin Rudolf caterwauls around, Wayne is right behind him. The entire song he wears a guitar but doesn’t play a single note on it. And yet, Lil’ Wayne turns this video from a completely bland affair into an engaging and entertaining one, not because of anything he actually does but because a) he is there and b) he has a guitar on him. It’s not the genius of his actions; it’s the genius of who he is.
No other living musician is genius simply as themselves. Artists who comes close, such as a David Byrne, work very hard to be somebody who bring genius wherever they go. Lil’ Wayne does it just by showing up. Other artists are as iconic as Lil’ Wayne but they lack the ability to be genius just because. Madonna is an icon but adding her to Let It Rock would have been a disaster of historical significance.
When we are in the presence of Lil’ Wayne we are in the presence of greatness. He is a completely accidental genius but a genius nonetheless. We salute thee, Mr Wayne and we thank you for sharing your genius with us.
Kevin Rudolf (feat. Lil’ Wayne) – ” Let It Rock” [mp3]
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My point exactly: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4762582n
Katie Couric = crazier than Lil Wayne.
You’ve got to be the DUMBEST blogger in the history of blogging. Lil Wayne didn’t make the song this is a smash hit with or without Wayne. Here’s the proof kid:
EVERY SINGLE COMPANY THAT LICENSED “Let It Rock” from the Philadelphia Philles “Let Philly Rock” to Royal Rumble to NBA ALL-Star Game to the show 24 to the NFL to Dancing with the Stars did NOT use the Lil Wayne verse at ALL. Not EVEN A LITTLE BIT.
In fact this song has been such a success because they have let this song play on MOST radio stations in middle america with no Lil’ Wayne verse. (Do your research.)
On top of all this if you read comments/blogs from iTunes to Youtube the biggest debate is that most ppl didn’t want Lil Wayne on the track.
NOT TO DIMINISH LIL WAYNE BUT THIS SONG IS A SMASH HIT BECAUSE OF KEVIN RUDOLF’s GENIUS.
He produced it, he wrote it & he created the catchy melodies that has the whole world singing it.
Lil Wayne is amazing but he’s just Icing on the Cake in this song & you need to get your head out of his ass.
Dear Anonymous Commenter/”Mr. Hits” -
Relax. Some things aren’t meant to be taken so seriously. Kevin Rudolf wrote a good song, but you yourself said that Wayne is the icing on the cake. In this case, it was ice cream cake which is, as you know, the shit.
Save the vitriol for better things like debates on politics or religion. Also, this is just a good pop tune, but let’s have some perspective – the “top” iTunes track from last summer was the lowest rated number one single since iTunes debuted – “I Kissed a Girl”. If we trust the mainstream fan to dictate what is good, we get to listen to that shit on the radio.
Also, I am sure that Tom is probably a bit more informed (and has a sense of humor) which you don’t possess. Re-freaking-lax.
Love,
SMS
Kevin, is that you?
Exactly, Lil Wayne made the song sound better. I listen to this song at least twice a day, its great!
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I think the only genius in all of this is Mr. Hits. The only one who’s done his research and the only one i wasn’t laughing at. Yes, i agree he was a little harsh in his judgement on the blog, but seriously…i laughed all the way through reading it. lil’ wayne is by no means a genius. Just a lil’ follower more than anything.
-J3W3Ls
lil wayne sucks! he is anything but art….he is the absolute antithesis of art!
The rather eloquently presented banter you just wrote, to me, is just that. A bunch of bullshit wrapped in some decent writing (mind you the subject was still complete bullshit)Lil Wayne is easily one of the most overrated individuals in the history of music, and I say this after putting in a considerable amount of time analyzing his “music”. Several times i’ve pushed myself to give him a chance and see why people ride his dick so much. But all i can come up with, is people like his raspy annoying voice, and he has the occasional interesting play on words that you could get from any decent rapper. His lyricism is sub par at best when compared to the greats (Nas, Talib Kweli, Rakim, Tupac, etc) and lyricism is not something as opinionated as taste in music.
[...] Wayne, is a genius, we think. I think most people really agree and despite how disappointing many of us found his latest album, [...]