Lil Wayne

I’m a big fan of music. All music. You play something, I’ll probably like it or at least tolerate it. I’ll put my hands up cause they’re playing my song with Miley or try to run this town with Jay-Z or even put my toes in the water, ass in the sand with the Zac Brown Band. But there is one artist who I respect more than everyone else in current music: Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. aka Lil Wayne.

This may sound surprising at first because from afar he seems like a tatted-up foul-mouthed thug rapper who smokes weed and is addicted to prescription cough syrup. Some of this may be true, but that is just the cover of the book, not many people take the time to look inside the book.

A New Orleans native, Lil Wayne had a troubled childhood growing up which included accidentally shooting himself when he was 12 and dropping out of school at the age of 14. He released his debut album at the age of 17 but didn’t receive much recognition until his release of Tha Carter when he was 21 (2004). He then became arguably the most popular and successful rapper with the release of Tha Carter III last year.

How did he become so popular? Starting in 2006, Wayne began releasing mixtapes that anyone could download for free online. He wanted to do this so that everyone could enjoy his music, not just those who wanted to buy the album. I think this is very respectable and one of the best things an artist can do because it gives them exposure and shows everyone that he isn’t a selfish guy who only cares about money. In addition to this, Wayne collaborated with numerous artists and was featured on many albums that also landed him a lot of support and popularity. With this new power Wayne suddenly had, he spoke out about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that New Orleans faced. He even went to New Orleans himself to help out those in need and used his own money directly to help his hometown recover. Again, I greatly respect Wayne for this because he is showing that he legitimately cares about people in need and makes sure that he uses his surplus of money for a good cause.

At a glance, Lil Wayne may not seem like the best person. But if you look closer at him as a person and take the time to listen to his lyrics, then you will see that he actually has respectable qualities and that he may just be the best lyricist to ever write a song. It has been said that rap is a form of poetry, which means that Lil Wayne is a literary genius.