Earworm: Lil’ Wayne “No Ceilings”
November 3rd, 2009
Who: Lil’ Wayne
Sounds like: One of the self-proclaimed best rappers alive (the other being Jay-Z) doing what he does best - going off, stream of consciousness-style, over a series of instrumentals from popular hip-hop tracks. For some reason, the blisteringly absurd lyricism he brings to these projects is often absent from his commercial releases, with a few exceptions, i.e. “A Milli.”
RIYL: Any of Lil’ Wayne’s other mixtapes, especially Dedication 3 and Da Drought 3.
Need to know: No Ceilings is probably the last official mixtape Weezy will put out for some time. The rapper is almost definitely bound for prison for about a year after pleading guilty to weapons possession. Fortunately, it seems like he put his all into it, spitting his unique brand of lyrical idiocy (”I’m on some s*** and ain’t even came out the a** yet”) over the beats from “D.O.A.,” “I Gotta Feeling,” “Poker Face,” “Run This Town” and “Sweet Dreams” by Beyonce. Often the tracks begin with the sound of a flicking lighter. Really, Weezy is best when he’s in this mode. With his albums, there’s an obligation to water things down with R&B hooks and keep the lyrics basic. His upcoming Rebirth album is an auto-tune/rock crossover attempt that sounds bad on paper and worse on record - even his die-hard fans were confused by the atrocious “Prom Queen.”
Track: “No Ceilings” is a track produced by Cool & Dre that could have been a big hit single, but Lil’ Wayne just gives it away for free, suggesting that he’s got a limitless supply of music of this calibre. The impassioned song combines wailing soul with hard-hitting 808 drums, in the vein of “International Player’s Anthem” by UGK featuring OutKast. Wayne kills the track with crazy lines like: “Young Weezy F., the ‘F’ is not for “failing” / Swagger just dumb, call it Sarah Palin / If you n***** fly then I must be parasailing / We are not the same, I’m a motherf****** alien!” Unfortunately, the song features Wayne’s “daddy,” Baby, who takes things from a 10 to about a 6 when he gets on the mic, but fortunately his verse is brief.
Buy: Download the whole album here for the price of $0.00.
Tags: Lil' Wayne, No Ceilings, Weezy
Posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 11:04 am by Cam and is filed under Earworm, The New Music.
