New York Times Tries to Discuss Lil Wayne … Fails
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
I knew as soon as I saw Lil Wayne on the front page of Wednesday’s New York Times Arts section that there was going to be something wrong with the article. That’s just how it is. When someone as counterculture, erratic and just plain weird as Wayne is profiled, a paper like the Times — no matter how good a job they’re doing at not being old, stodgy hermits anymore — is bound to completely miss the point. Little did I know, writer Jon Caramanica (who I’ll give credit to as a good music journalist) would shoot himself in the foot all by himself.
Take the article’s intro graf:
For someone who made ubiquity his art form, Lil Wayne has done a stupendous job of disappearing this year. Sure, he was on tour and at the Grammys, but the stream of mixtapes and freestyles on which he built his reputation slowed to a drip. While he was taking a breather, others — in particular, Gucci Mane, and Lil Wayne’s protégé Drake — took his template and ran with it.
Upon seeing this, my first thought was: “Hmmmm, Lil Wayne has been on countless hit songs this year, and just released ‘No Ceilings,’ one of the best rap albums of the year. Silly New York Times is out of touch yet again.”
Funny enough, Caramanica thought exactly the same thing… about 500 words later.
Even if they have the permanence and legitimacy that a bar code affords, they’re not more important than, say, the far superior “No Ceilings,” the mixtape Lil Wayne put out in October, and one of this year’s best rap releases.
So let me get this straight … Wayne has been absent this year — specifically on the mixtape circuit, which you notably point out to readers — yet two months ago he released … wait for it … a mixtape that is one of the premier rap efforts of 2009. Got that? So the peg of the article is Wayne is slacking and not releasing mixtapes — aside from the one that was released two months ago and is fantastic. Mmm-hmmm.
Another moment in the article that crosses a fine line is when Caramanica discusses Wayne’s involvement in mixtapes of his proteges:
On many songs Lil Wayne is present primarily in the form of an Auto-Tuned hook, leaving room for his squad but also implicitly removing himself from direct competition. It’s a benevolent form of arrogance.
Wayne is promoting people, essentially lending his name to them in order to boost interest (Quentin Tarantino Presents ‘Hero,’ anyone?), yet he’s somehow slighting them with arrogance by letting them do their own thing instead of outshining them — which he’d certainly do? Shenanigans, Caramanica! Shenanigans!
Hopefully over the holiday break you can kick back, research … and listen to that stellar ‘No Ceilings’ mixtape released by that guy who didn’t release any mixtapes this year. (If you haven’t already, you should download ‘No Ceilings’ here … it’s free because it’s priceless, to paraphrase Mr. Carter)
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At least the Times isn’t calling him Mr. Wayne on second reference. (Like Mr. Loaf, or even Mr. Shinehead.)
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I think you’re throwing a bit of a straw man argument in the gears of a pretty solid article by taking one miniscule point that Caramanica made and completely removing it from all contexts. Take Lil Wayne in 2005, when his “official” album (Tha Carter II) was paired with two mixtapes. Prolific? Sure thing.
By comparison, a year after Lil Wayne dominated the pop landscape, he went on to produce a single mixtape, after one long delay, at the very end of the year. Similarly, Rebirth, an album that was supposed to come out this year, has also been delayed. Considering Lil Wayne is a person that can’t seem to sit still without dropping his own albums (and I’m not even talking about collaborations) it’s a bit unusual that the 12 months following his greatest success he has been, by his previous efforts, almost too quiet. Especially considering his upcoming court sentencing might throw a wrench in his productivity.
Valid point, but with all of the legal woes, court dates and overall business he’s involved in daily… it’s not like the dude went Damon Dash on us. He’s still everywhere, just not as much as he was. Plus, my money’s on the fact that he’s logging dozens upon dozens of songs for mixtapes that will come out during his jail sentence … so he can continue to be ubiquitous.
In response to another comment. See in context »I don’t know. I think “No Ceilings” is incredibly weak stuff compared to his other mixtapes, especially Drought III and None Higher. I thought Carter III was a slight step down lyrically from where he’d been at, but it’s a classic compared to NC. And that’s not even mentioning his embarrassing forays into Autotune, amateur guitar playing, and rock ballads. If anything, the Times was cutting him a break by saying “Rebirth” was passable. I love Lil’ Wayne, but ‘disappearing’ is far too kind a description of what’s happened to him. Disintegrating is more like it.