Back when Lil Wayne was plugging Carter III, he appeared on TRL and we were amazed by how totally normal he seemed. “Aha,†we thought then, “this is a man more in control of his persona than we realized.†But recent Wayne developments along the same normative track have us worried: Is the post–Carter III megastar Wayne actually — gasp — mellowing out?
In the old days, we couldn’t go a week without Lil Wayne, mysterious Styrofoam cup in hand, comparing himself to Martin Luther King or explicating why being a whore is a good thing. But recent behavior, like his ESPN blog, is disconcerting. Sure, at first it seemed wacky enough — Look what Wayne’s gotten himself into now! But then we read the thing: It’s coherent, at times nearly informative, and totally, totally boring. To wit: “Some people were also asking if I like college sports, and the answer is yes, I do.†He’s probably got an editor parsing his rambles, but who dares edit Lil Wayne? We want stream-of-conscious garble! More oblique mid-rhyme Roger Federer shout-outs and less lame Steve Bartman jokes, please.
And today MTV reports that Wayne is guesting on Fall Out Boy’s upcoming Folie à Deux. Whaaaa?! He should be off on a codeine bender, not responsibly showing up for other people’s recording sessions! And, okay, yeah, the track might be rad — but it’s just harder to fantasize about Weezy being an actual extraterrestrial when he’s hanging out with Pete Wentz. Be careful, sir. It’s a slippery slope to normalcy.
LIL WAYNE BLOGS FOR US: WORLD SERIES? “I SEE THE TAMPA BAY RAYS.†[ESPN]
Fall Out Boy’s New Album To Feature Lil Wayne, Pharrell And … Blondie’s Debbie Harry? [MTV]