lil wayne

Why Must Lil Wayne Be So … Normal?

You want a piece of me? Please?

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]

Why Must Lil Wayne Be So … Normal?