Let me jump right in this: the Wayne you used to know, the one who used to be labeled as "Weezy the Monster," yeah that guy is dead and gone. Those catchy bars that you heard in the first two Dedications, in Da Droughts, in the first two Carters and No Ceilings are no more.
I remember back in the day when I used to put Wayne lyrics in my Away Message on AIM, and now I can't even stand to hear him anymore. It's wild.
I actually sat down to think of when this drastic change occurred. Before Wayne got sent to Rikers Island, he dropped No Ceilings, which was honestly one of his best works, an easy top five. But then he came back from prison and dropped the track "6 Foot 7 Foot," which was set to appear on his next album Carter IV. The track was chills, but in real life Cory Gunz had as good of a verse as Wayne on the track.
Then before the album dropped, Wayne decided to follow the trend and do a mixtape first. That mixtape was Sorry 4 The Wait and it was just another all right project, much like the actual Carter IV album.
Then on a whole non-music related flow, this man just started dressing wild. Wearing shiny red snowboard boots to Miami Heat games. And around this time his brand, TrukFit, was gaining popularity in the world of Zumiez. These are non-music related events that have everything to do with the music this guy has been putting out.
Ever since he's been on this whole skateboard flow, his bars have drastically changed for the worse. He raps about skateboarding, but can't even skateboard! Skateboarders like Hopsin are even tired of Wayne and his posing skateboard life.
"Wayne, skateboarders don't like you, I'm telling you that right now," Hopsin said. "Learn, it's cool, learn. But don't come out with all this huge buzz about you skateboarding, claiming you're a skateboarder because people like me get upset and other skaters feel the same way. Only reason skaters are hanging around this guy is because he's Lil Wayne, but they don't like him. I've talked to skaters and nobody likes Wayne as a skateboarder."
First this guy claimed he was part of the Bloods, but when he was out in L.A. the Crips pressed him, and now he's a skateboarder. You're a grown man, dog. How are you a poser and you're hitting 30 later this month?
Then Wayne let it be known on his DEWeezy episode that skateboarding is his new love in life, replacing music.
"Music is in trouble because I am really in love with this skating sh**, and I would not lie to you," Wayne said.
If you feel that way, then why put out music that isn't as good as your previous work? Or why put out music that your whole heart isn't into? You've me out here listening to these weak bars, like: "If the best things in life are free then why the f*** we pay attention." This dude isn't even lukewarm; he's cold linguini.
When I heard Dedication 4 was coming out, I knew this was going to be Wayne's make or break. This mixtape would decide if all that weak stuff before was play-play or if he really has just lost it or doesn't care. But when I saw the album artwork I already knew it was a disaster in the making.
I own all of the DJ Drama X Lil Wayne Dedications in my iTunes community. The first three have Wayne just chillin', nothing wild; Dedication 4 shows Wayne as a TrukFit cartoon character with his tongue out. I'm looking at all four of them now and it's just hilarious how awkward D4 looks with the rest of the Dedications.
I tried to dismiss the artwork and not judge it when I saw the unofficial tracklist floating around the Internet in early August because there were a lot of A-list features, but when the official tracklist dropped Monday, all hope was abandoned. The first feature that I saw was Gudda Gudda, and I almost smashed all 15 inches of my MacBook.
So far I've listened to Dedication 4 about three times through, and I had to force myself. The hottest song is "Green Ranger," more because of J. Cole (Wayne admitted he didn't like the beat and wasn't going to rap that much). This is probably his worst mixtape, and I'd grade it a C. Too many TrukFit references, flow was off on a few songs and it just wasn't that Wayne who I knew as the Best Rapper Alive. This is also the first mixtape by Wayne to not receive five stars on the download sites as well.
I read a comment on the site talking about how back in the day jocking Wayne was the thing to do and now hating Wayne is the new wave. Almost did a Spartan 300 dive in those comments and engaged in Internet beef, but I chilled.
Hating Wayne is never what's up. I don't even hate him. I recognize everything he has done - the fact that he's in my iTunes over 500 times speaks to that; I feel like if he doesn't want to rap or isn't serious about rapping, then he should just chill. Right now I feel like the only reason he puts out this music is to plug his label and brand. That's smart, but it weighs on his name whenever music is mentioned.
And I know rapping the same content can get old. Dude has been doing this since he was 11 and he is going on 30 this month. If my years of mathematics from public education schooling are correct, then that's a good 19 years of rapping about sex, drugs and regular everyday happenings. I'd get bored, too.
For today, though, and probably from here on out, new Wayne gets passed over. I don't even get excited when I see someone put him on the track. I'll stick to Tha Carter II and everything else pre-skateboard life.
Email: duane.owens@ubspectrum.com
