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— by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes
Artist: Lil' Wayne
Representing: New Orleans
Mixtape: Gangsta Grillz: Dedication
411: "Weezie F. Baby, please save the baby!" Lil' Wayne hooked up with DJ Drama for the latest installment of Gangsta Grillz with one objective: to prove that he really is the best rapper since Jay-Z retired. There's a gang of beat jacking — he uses tracks from Cam'ron, the Roots and even Dallas Austin's new protégés, Da BackWudz. But watch out — even though Wayne has been in the game on a major level since '98, he's one of the youngest MCs in the game, and he is still improving. If you don't get enough of the Birdman Jr. on this mixtape, he also just put out his Young Money: The Mixtape, introducing his new crew: Boo, Curren$y and Maine.
Joints To Check For
- "Weezie F. Baby" - Wayne makes it look so easy. "I'm in the South where I hug the block like a turnbuckle, can't get stopped by the vices/ No license, rollin' like dices on the streets where the odds is high/ The crime is life and the time is jail and in the jail your stressing/ The judge hit me with a algebraic expression."
- "I'm a Ridah" - Wayne uses his voice as a tool, adopting a grimy style to state his opinions on everything from his daughter and his momma to being a made man.
- "U Gon Love Me" - The Birdman Jr. sounds like he's coming right off the dome, old-school-style, as he displays his laid-black flow peppered with Hot Boy arrogance.
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
- DJ Finesse's #1 Spot
- DJ Smooth Denali's Hip-Hop Classics Part 7: The Breaks
- Tapemasters Inc.'s The Future Of R&B Part 3
- DJ Butta & Radio's Urban Warfare 2
- Clinton Sparks' Maybe You Been Brainwashed
- DJ Chuck T's Sexxplicit R&B Volume 11
- Wiz Hoffa & Money Mike's Black Madonna
- Chamillionaire's The Truth: Chopped & Screwed Version
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- "Peace" by Kanye West
- "So Seductive" by Tony Yayo featuring 50 Cent
- "Baby Girl" by Jim Jones
- "MVP Freestyle" by Mary J. Blige
- "Touch" by Amerie
- "I Run New York" by 50 Cent and Tony Yayo
- "One Love" by Too Short featuring New Edition
- "Be" by Common
- "King of Rap" by Prodigy featuring Illa Ghee
Celebrity Favs
Singer Marques Houston, star of UPN's "Cuts," has a smash out right now called "All Because of You," and would love nothing more than if his fans got Naked when his album comes out on May 24 (see "Omarion, Marques Team Up With 'Served' Director For More Films".) A couple of months ago, he put his own verse on 50 Cent's "Candy Shop" and put it out on mixtapes.
"50 Cent — I'd love to collaborate with him," Houston said. "Maybe we can do a song or video. He's hot. I respect him. He does his thing, and he don't care what nobody thinks about it. He don't care what anybody says about it. When I heard the beat for that song, I had to jump on there."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
Mr. "Smack Your Favorite DJ" Kay Slay can't keep himself from smiling these days. The Drama King feels he struck the jackpot with his Brooklyn MC, 27-year-old Papoose.
'Poose has New York in a noose with one of the most talked-about songs right now, "Charades." Papoose raps from the perspective of the hip-hop police, explaining how scornful he believes that they are towards rappers.
"He was in the booth, and when he started spitting the joint, like 'Give me the keys to Lil' Kim's handcuffs/ Give me the keys to C-Murder's handcuffs/ So I can tighten them and let the cell door slam shut,' I was like, 'Hold on, wait a minute.' Slay remembered. "I was like, 'Did he say what I think he just said?' He was like, 'Hold on, I got this.' When [I figured it out] I was like 'Oh sh--! Finish that song!' "
"I just analyze what's going on," Pap explained. "[The police who target rappers] are chopping entertainers off. I spoke on it. I spoke on reality, how they're taking brothers down left and right. One thing they say is, 'You do the crime, you do the time,' but they're harassing us. How it's going down is crazy, disrespectful, a slap in the face."
"I been grinding, trying to get in the game, so I been a little closer to the game," he continued. "I go to the radio station and police are in front of the station: undercovers, plain clothes, sometimes uniformed. You look at how it's going down. I just spoke on it and gave it my poetic take on it."
Papoose says he's been trying to break through since about '98, '99, but almost every MC he ran across fronted on him.
"I been doing this a majority of my life," Pap told. "I been eating cats up for years. A lot of rappers in the game know me, but a lot of the audience don't know me. I never got that recognition. I never got put on where I was supposed to. All the rappers was intimidated by me. Only certain rappers — like Kool G Rap — was like, 'Come get on this album.' But a lot of dudes that became famous over the years, they never wanted to do nothing with Papoose. They was scared. Real talk."
He may have scared off some MCs, but plenty of executives are clamoring for the kid. He and Slay have been taking meetings with several big dogs who are trying to sign them both to a deal.
"Labels are on us like crazy," Slay says. "I'm running into major meetings. Everything is looking real gravy right now. That man deserves it."
Slay guarantees that the investment will be worth it. People will find the versatility in Papoose's music.
"We got 'em for the club, reggae. Only thing we ain't got yet is a reggaetón record. "I got every angle covered. And the most important thing is that there's a message in dude's music."
For more on the role of mixtapes in the music industry, check out the feature "Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."
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Photo: MTV News
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