Weezy's Rampage Continues

As many of you are probably aware of, Lil' Wayne has continued his unprecendented market saturation with the recent release of his double disc mixtape opus entitled Da Drought 3. It seems to exist only to give Weezy a chance to spit on every song he didn't get a chance to, spit more bars on a few songs he already has cameoed on (It's Me Bitches, Down & Out, We Takin' Over) , and to profess his love for R&B temptress Ciara. The release of this mixtape, coupled with his recent declaration that The Carter 3 won't be out until the end of the year, leaves Wayne at an interesting crossroads. Whether or not you believe that he's made his recent lyrical improvements on his own, or whether you feel like he's still a subpar rapper, his effect on the creatively deficient world of recent hip-hop can be felt on every coast. However, it feels like Wayne may be concerned that he's already hit a ceiling and that he won't be able to continue improving at his current rate. His plan of continuing to spit on every available guest spot while not putting out an album also reeks of complacency. Take T.I. for instance. He is wisely choosing to strike while the iron's hot. King has just recently left the Billboard Top 200 and the first single off T.I. Vs. T.I.P. has already been leaked out. What's more puzzling about the pushback of Carter 3 is the fact that Wayne routinely brags about never having to touch a pad, which should make recording a breeze. The most troubling aspect of Da Drought 3 has to be the fact that Wayne clearly seems coked up and pill'ed up for most of the recordings, ending and beginning tracks with nonsense ramblings about Gummi Bears and hitting people in the head, not to mention continuing to rhyme in a faux Jamaican accent. Hopefully Kanye West's reported involvement in recording the third Carter will include getting him to stop doing that. Da Drought 3 is not without some classic Wayne quotables, however. "On top of my paper like I'm startin a heading", "You ain't satisfied til your son callin, tellin you where to leave the money in the mornin", "I don't know karate but after the brain, I kick you out", "I swim with the big, I don't have time to deal with Willy The Squid", among others. One interesting note about the mixtape is that Wayne not only adresses Gillie, but also the allegations brought up by the kiss picture of him and Birdman. He speaks on it openly, in a way that will give homophobic Weezy detractors plenty of ammunition, especially with such lines like, "I hope when we kiss, it makes you sick to your stomach" & "hell yeah, I kiss my daddy". Such personal introspection can only make his upcoming album that much better and one can only hope he continues to pursue it, possibly leaving Birdman and his peculiar relationship out of it. At any rate, Wayne just simply needs to put down the syrup, cocaine, and pills and pick up a pad and pen, because as fun as it is to hear his "spit sporadic" style on the hot beats of the moment and in limited doses on other artists' tracks, a full album of Kanye West and Scott Storch produced drugged out freestyles does not appeal to me. The scary part is that Wayne has developed a fanbase that treats even his most nonsense rhymes as gospel. He could do well to learn from Cam'ron, a skilled wordsmith who fell victim to a rabid fanbase that could see no harm in his tutti fruity louie rhymes until it was too late and he had been eclipsed in songmaking quality and stature by Jim Jones and Juelz Santana. Wayne needs to stop reading his own press clippings before a few years go by and Currensy is outselling him. More continued effort into crafting rhymes that will stand the test of time should keep him from such an inglorious fate.