Lil Wayne is a lot like R Kelly for me. I can't figure out if he is one of the biggest geniuses of our time or, for lack of a better word, a total buffoon who has all of the right friends. Maybe they are the Andy Kaufman's of hip hop, or maybe one day someone with a lot of money said "Holy shit! this boy is fucking nuts, let's give him a million dollars and see what he comes up with." Frankly, the fact that I can't figure it out makes me lean more towards the genius side, and after watching Tha Carter Documentary, I have a new found respect for him. Genius or not, the boy works his ass off.
For his latest album, Rebirth, Lil Wayne took on the task of recording all the instrument tracks himself. Except for some guest appearances, Wayne laid down tracks for bass, keys, guitar and the reason he is on here, drums. Is he a virtuoso? Of course not, but he had a vision in his mind and he didn't stop recording until his skill level was at the point where he could put what was in his brain down on tape.
Critics have blasted this album for taking the worst of rock conventions and turning them into a mediocre rock record, stating that taking your initial influence from bands like Fall Out Boy and Blink 182 can only lead to disaster. I would agree, if this was anyone but Lil Wayne. When Fall Out Boy writes their terrible songs, it's obvious they were structured to sell records. It's semi talented musicians pandering to thirteen year olds to make money, they know it, and we know it and no one cares because we can avoid it if we want to and if they want to make money off people with bad taste, go ahead. Think though, if you were Lil Wayne, it makes total sense that your first exposure to rock music would be the superstars you are playing awards shows and festivals with. Maybe in time he will go record diving for Talking Heads albums or Pavement seven inches, but for now, let him get his feet wet. You have to take Rebirth into context, any rock musician worth his salt would be ridiculed for life if they yelled out "BRIDGE!" directly before the bridge of their song.
But Lil Wayne ISN'T a rock musician.
He is a rapper who wanted to make a rock record. It was an experiment of sorts, and the difference is when Fall Out Boy makes a record you can tell they consciously dumb down their lyrics and arrangements to sell records, when Lil Wayne makes a record, you can tell he puts his heart and soul into it, giving 180%. You might think if the end product is the same it doesn't matter, but I think intention plays into it as well.
Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't a god awful record that is made great simply because it has Lil Wayne's name on it. there are some actually great rock songs on here, no matter who wrote them. I would say 30% of it is really, truly great and the other 70% is only great if you like and respect Lil Wayne (which I do). I just got tired of reading reviews where people slammed Wayne as if he had been making rock records his whole career.
Now let's get to the drums. I'm not sure exactly what songs Wayne played on. I know Travis Barker played on One Way Trip, mostly because of how many times Wayne shouts "My n***a Travis Barker is my drummer, motherfucker". If only he could work his song credits into his lyrics more often.
I am going to take a guess and say he definitely plays on American Star, Prom Queen, Drop The World, and Runnin', so let's just concentrate on those.
American Star starts with the rock and roll standard of trying to hit as many things as possible at once. It always makes me laugh because when you listen to the drums, he doesn't really do much. Lots of cymbals, a few kick and toms and then a four count on the kick and cymbals kicks into the song. He'll have to work on his noisemaking. After countless Hip Hop records Wayne has an awesome sense of kick patterns, and that's what really stands out for me on this record (especially this song). The drums are loud, but he spaces everything properly to let the vocals take front stage. Instead of drum rolls Wayne seems to love flams on his toms, which is something more drummers should do. You don't always need sixteenth note rolls to lead into a chorus.
Prom Queen is a high hat smashing good time. Wayne alternates between quarter notes and eighth notes on his hats in the verses, a subtle touch that picks things up before the chorus. There are a lot of little adjustments he does to his rhythms that aren't technically difficult, but they make a huge difference. There is also tons of snare/cymbal smashes that I love. I just picture Wayne having the time of his life playing drums on all these songs. That's a hard thing to accomplish on a record.
Drop The World is another solid example of tom flams making a big difference. The drums in this song are minimal, only coming in on the choruses. It makes everything sound angry and powerful, and Wayne plays a snare pattern in the middle of the chorus that turns the accents around. Whether he was conscious of it or not (I'm gonna say he was) it follows the vocal really well.
Runnin' is probably my favorite track. The chorus skips a beat on the four, something that took me a long time to learn how to play comfortably. Wayne scatters toms and snares throughout the verses, and with a little echo on everything it sounds like he is playing in a huge warehouse. The guitar and bass lock into the kick drum, something most rock bands never figure out how to do.
Wayne is on his way to prison for weapons charges, and to make sure he remains in the spotlight he shot 30 videos (yes, thirty) before he goes. That is insane. You can say his rock record doesn't hold up to say, Dark Side Of The Moon or Born In The USA, but he worked just as hard on it, and for trying to compete in a totally separate universe, it's better than most of the garbage that is out there.
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