Sorry Mariah, Rihanna, Alicia, Leona and company, the hottest singer on the charts right now is a lollipop-loving guy with a mouthful of bling and a pretty big ego, who is shamelessly adored by a few of us.
Ironically, he is the Fireman, or like he raps its, “Fire, Fa, Fireman. I got that fire I’m hollering. I got that fire come and try me and You can spark it up and I’ma put you out”. Okay so there is a sexual undertone in there but that is first base compared to Lil Wayne’s current hit, “Lollipop”. Just think 50 Cent’s “Candyshop” and you’ll get the picture.
But remember how many of us were rocking to 50’s 2005 hit? Well guess what, we are just as crazy about Lil Wayne’s big candy number, which is as ubiquitous as the rapper himself. You don’t have to be interested in rap music to know that Lil Wayne is huge right now, just turn on your television and he will appear.
He kind of makes you wonder whether he will have a movie out soon or a clothing line for it almost seems mandatory after you achieve a certain level of success. Heck, why not Broadway? Imagine Lil Wayne in Oprah Winfrey’s The Colour Purple. Perhaps he would fit right in… or not.
It may be the tattoo infestation; the heavy grillwork in his mouth or the permanent sunglasses affixed to his face, but Lil Wayne just does not come over as anything but a rapper, which we readily accept because he is one of the best in the business, and he is by far the most hyped in years.
And for someone who has been slugging away at is since in his early teens singing on the Cash Money label he deserves every bit of the spotlight he is standing in. Anyone who remembers Lil Wayne; Juvenile; BG and Turk singing as the Hot Boys crew under Cash Money many years ago can recall the little boy who was potentially big. He was talented; uncensored at times; wild and simply, good.
That was ages ago and as the years slipped by you get the impression Lil Wayne was just good, never great. Maybe he is still just only good but he has matured into one of raps most gifted. He has unparalleled energy and charisma and he is pretty smart. To break down just how smart a rapper he is, Lil Wayne appeared on over 70 songs prior to the release of his third album; ‘Tha Carter 111’ (best selling for the year so far) and he frequently released mixtapes, which are songs compilation, creating a gigantic buzz before the album came out. Most notably, the rapper released four double-disc mixtapes, ‘The Drought Is Over 1-4’, and made over 100 guest appearances.
Yes he professes to be the world’s greatest rapper and we know it is all boast, because he just isn’t. But for now, he has the biggest selling album of the year so far beating out rap’s golden boy Kanye West to take top honours. ‘Tha Carter 111’ easily sold one million copies in its first week and is the first album to achieve this sort of success since 50 Cent’s ‘The Massacre’ debuted at the top of the charts in 2005.
Wayne has not only scored by far the biggest debut of the year, but he has the highest first week sales in the history of Universal Motown records, which is the parent company of his Cash Money label. The hit, “Lollipop” is also sitting atop the Hot 100 charts for a fifth consecutive week. Candy anyone? (Since this commentary was written The Scene has learned that “Lollipop” has slipped to No 3 on the charts.) (thescene@stabroeknews.com)