swag rport.

words: swagrporters.

In his latest album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole references the '02 Lil Wayne who would 2 years later crown himself as the best rapper alive. And who could argue? Weezy F was killin' the game!

The 2000's was an age of hip-hop where Lil Wayne, aka “Weezy F Baby Don’t Forget the F Baby,” was dropping albums every few months. There was always another Wayne mixtape in the works and a steady stream of Lil Wayne was all over the radio. A stack of Lil Wayne CD’s from my years of burning every mixtape serve as a reminder of Weezy’s prolific run as the king of New Orleans.

Between studio releases, official mixtapes, and leaked studio content I had enough content to tap out my iPod's storage capacity at the time. This meant constant talk about the latest Weezy work and a race to hear the next release. This prolific run catapulted Lil Wayne into the driver's seat as hip-hop's influencer and the game is no doubt a different, and better, place for his contributions.

Over the years, the flourishing flow of Wayne’s music has given way to the drought that we were all ensured was over. Lil Wayne has announced that Tha Carter V will be his last studio release, but its starting to look like it might not even be an album at all. After pushing the release date back several times, most recently to 12/9 and now without a date in sight, Weezy publicly blasted the Cash Money Label for again delaying the album. After comparing the label to a prison that is stifling him and his creativity, Lil Wayne confirmed these comments at a recent performance.

This sudden beef comes as a surprise, at least to me, after the long-time relationship between Lil Wayne and Birdman and the Young Money Cash Money crew. After years of album collaborations, joint tour dates, launching a clothing line, extravagant gifts, numerous public appearances, growing an empire together...and who could forget "the kiss" fans have to wonder what is driving the sudden separation in the YMCMB camp. Is it all a publicity hoax to drive sales? Or is the beef for real?  

Wayne, who has often pushed the limits stepping into new genres to explore his artistic boundaries, might have gone too far with Tha Carter V. If the Cash Money Label can't even co-sign on it what could be on this album? Maybe Lil Wayne's creativity does need a check on this one. Maybe it needed a check a few albums ago.

The streets be buzzin' for that new Wayne! But we wait in hopes that this new Wayne is the old Wayne we grew to know.