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"You look at me and tell me what you see, you listen to me and tell
me what you get. That’s what it is." Pause. "That’s who I am. I am
music, ya dig?"
Dwayne ‘Lil Wayne’ Carter, aka the
self-proclaimed Best Rapper Alive, isn’t one for navel-gazing. Press
him more than once about how he conjures such insane couplets as "I’m
probably in the sky flying with the fishes/Or maybe in the ocean
swimming with the pigeons," and you’ll be greeted with a sigh. Prod
again, and expect an even more curt response: "I don’t think you’re
comprehending the answers right," he murmurs, pausing to pick up the
ever-present styrofoam cup that houses Weezy F Baby’s beloved
Sizzurp‘n’Sprite. "I’m just being me. I am living in another world. Do
you want to come into my world? Is it safe? I can’t say. But my world
is what I am. I am that person," he insists, touching a face
embroidered with ink etchings like ‘I Am Music’ as well as ‘Fear’ and
'God’ on his right and left eye-lid respectively. "This shit don’t come
off. I’m crazy. I am a rock star."
Evidentially; the recently leaked tracks Prom Queen and Hot Revolver, both apparently singles from the forthcoming Rebirth
album, show Wayne in an axe-laden, head-banging mood. The jury remains
out as to how successful this sonic swerve may be, but given past
performance, it seems likely that Rebirth will be as profitable as its Tha Carter III predecessor.
Over
the course of two interviews, he certainly rolls with a rock-like
attitude. At a mid-level London hotel he’s edgy, moody and even subdued
at times. Like his music, his thoughts follow an unsteady stream of
consciousness, meandering from the meaningful to the utterly
meaningless. A few months later at the Hit Factory studio in Miami, the
25 year-old is much more accommodating. He still mumbles and arrives
with sizzurp and weed, but he seems a warmer person that before. Fresh
from a session with Pharrell Williams, he’s thoughtful, considered and
introspective.
When it comes to meeting Wayne, it seems the only
thing you can predict is that his mood will be unpredictable. A studio
hermit, he professes to sleep just three hours a night, and claims to
visit only the studio, the bank and his bed. But it’s this unrelenting
work ethic that has contributed to his success. From a moderately
successful member of the Hot Boyz, Wayne parlayed bold proclamations,
t-shirt-slogan-ready statements and a proliferation of mixtapes, guest
verses and collaborations into a career that has proved unstoppable.
Voted the Number One rapper by everyone from BET to Rolling Stone,
Wayne has transformed himself from a footnote in hip hop history to one
of the most important figures in pop music.
"I'll say this," he offers, "there's only one me. Who is Wayne? I’m just being me. It’s as simple as that."
Hattie:
Who is Lil' Wayne: a rapper? A rock and roll star? Your 'Girls,
guitars, drugs and beefs' posturing makes you appear more like a rock
star than a rapper these days. Wayne: Not yet. I’ll be
there though. I don’t think about things that I have to do to get
there, I just wake up every day and do something to get there. If I
think about it, then that means I’m doing something anybody can do,
because you can think about doing something and take over from there. I
could think about doing something and then we’d have a teacher and we’d
be in class and we’d all go home and think about the test the next day.
Only a few can walk in there without studying and pass everything
correctly. I try to be that person. I am a rock star, I don't do things
that make me a rock star, ya dig?
H: Having dominated rap, is rock music the next genre for you to take over? W:
I like to stay in my box, 'cos when you go outside your box sometimes
you can’t do it. Of course I’ve ventured into a lot of music such as
rock and soul and things like that, but I still keep it Lil' Wayne
between the lines. Therefore I’m safe at the end of the day. You can’t
say, "Oh, he didn’t do well because he trying to sing," 'cos it’s still
a typical Wayne song.
H: I understand you’ve been working on both Rebirth and Tha Carter IV? W: Yes, ma'am. We were debating how we gonna do it - we were gonna do either Tha Carter IV or Tha Carter III Rebirthed,
because it’s going to be very different. Like, it will sound different
in a way not everyone will like and I don’t want anyone not to like Tha Carter IV, so we’re going to go with Rebirthed. But either way, I do so much music that I have Tha Carter IV done as well.
H: Can you explain your lyrical process? W:
I blame it all on me. I don’t write nothing, it comes from my regular,
natural thoughts, from what I’m thinking. I’m off the wall. My thoughts
bounce everywhere. I’m a Libra and you know we’re the only sign who
don’t have no soul, so... We can go anywhere and take it everywhere and
feel no way. I know how to express that with words and with actions.
And I think I do it well.
H: You seem particularly interested in using space as a metaphor - you often liken yourself to a Martian, for instance. W:
Yeah, I exaggerate it, but I do feel like I’m different. My thought
process keeps me rejuvenated and that’s why I can stay in the game as
long as I’m in the game. No-one does it like I do. So that’s why I
always go to the Martian thing, 'cos I’ll never say what you think I’m
going to say and I’m not going to do what you expect me to do. It’s
also about being free mentally. I’ll do what I want and say what I do
and make it cool and make it make sense.
H: Film and sport are another two recurring themes in your raps... W:
I watch TV, but I don’t watch a lot of movies. You can see in my
records that I watch TV a whole lot. I watch sports, period. I’m a big
sports fan. Every sport, I watch it. Every one.
H: Do you play much sport? W: Nah, I don’t have the size to play any sports. So I’m glad I got a shot at this [music].
H: So other than film and sport, what else influences your lyrics? Art, your children, books... W:
I’ve read a few books in my day. Like I told you earlier, I don’t write
my lyrics down. I think you as a listener have to word it as "lyrics",
but me, I’m just being me. It’s not "lyrics", so I don’t have to come
up with it. If it’s something I have to come up with, that’s a whole
different thing. If I am that, I don’t have to come up with anything. I
am what I’m saying, there’s no lyrics. I just go in there. I don’t sit
in the corner and think "What should I come up with next?" I just do
it. This is what I am; I am that person. If you hear a song and I’m
animated, I am animated. These tattoos don’t rub off. So all that crazy
shit you hear in songs [rubs face], this shit don’t come off. I’m
crazy. So I am a rock star. You know how you don’t have to question a
rock star about their lyrics, because ten times out of ten they didn’t
even write their lyrics? But you’re still obsessed with the façade, and
everything else that comes with the sound. But with me being a rapper,
I got the best of both worlds. The lyrics are my lyrics so you do have
to question me about them because they are amazing. And then you have
to also question me about the rock star lifestyle and all this and all
that. So... [pause] There’s only one me though. I just am who I am and
every single thing that ever happened to me, or that will happen for
me, or to me, will be who I am behind that mic - every single thing:
daughter, mother, relationships everything. I don’t write. When you
write, you live within that paper and then you’re only as good as your
last line. So I don’t write, I don’t have a last line. I’m just trying
to get better.
H: You say you don’t write lyrics down,
so how does that work? Do you record tracks in one go, or sentence by
sentence, verse by verse? W: It depends. It may be the
whole lot, it may be three words. It depends what comes to mind. Some
people might come in the studio and hear a song and ask, "What the hell
is going on?" But when it all comes together it’s definitely amazing.
Like, I usually hear the music and what I do is I come up with a gang
of ideas. I lay them down and if I don’t like them, I take them out
until you have a piece here and a piece there. It comes out great.
H: Do you have a favourite Wayne lyric? Have you written the perfect 16 yet? W:
No, because I’m such a perfectionist and I’m always trying to be better
than my last shit. I always say the last shit is better than my last
shit [laughs].
H: How about a song? Is there a personal favourite on Tha Carter III? W: I would think the Mr. Carter
song was the highlight because it was with Jay-Z. That right there was
an amazing moment. Everything else is amazing as well, but that right
there? I go to that song first when I put the album on. The song was
given to me, I did the song and he and I, we know the same people.
Someone played him that song and he said "I got to have it." He called
me and I said "No problem."
H: What sort of influence has Jay had on your career? W:
Earlier on in my career, a few years back I moulded and made everything
about me around what he did and how he did it, because he was making
the best music at the time. If you want to be like anyone, you want to
be like the best and that’s inspiration in itself.
H: What frame of mind were you making Tha Carter III? Were you aware of the intense pressure from fans, eager for you to deliver a classic album? W:
I would say no but I have to say I would be lying if I didn’t consider
that. It was in the back of my mind that everyone was expecting me to
do great. But I was looking at it like, the capacity of the anxiety was
so great that it was like anything I did would be better than OK. All
my job was to make it better than OK. And I did that, so therefore when
it came out it was whatever it was.
H: How did you celebrate selling ‘A Milli’ in a week? W: I went to the studio and did a Thank You song for the fans.
IN
PART TWO (coming 12.00am Zulu Time Monday March 2): Weezy on N'awlins,
Obama and how to mix a rap career with a psychology degree
In PART ONE of her globe-trotting quest to get to the heart of what makes Lil'
Wayne tick, HATTIE COLLINS probed the freeform wordsmith on his rock ambitions,
his writing process and what his definition of "classic" is. In the
final installment, she finds out about Wayne's upbringing, his parallel life as
the world's most unlikely student, and why he feels like Barack.
Published: March 2, 2009
Born
in New Orleans 25 five years ago to Jacida Carter, Wayne’s upbringing
is one that’s become all too familiar in hip hop lore; drugs, death and
no dad were an everyday reality in a city ravaged by record murder and
drug statistics. "What is a normal childhood though?" Wayne asks of
selling cocaine as an 11-year-old and becoming a father at 15. In 1997
he had a child with a high school sweetheart and his daughter, Reginae,
remains a pivotal part of Wayne’s life, cropping up in many of his
lyrics. "She say I’m the best daddy in the world, but every kid say
that," he chuckles. "She a great kid. She’s mine. She’s perfectly
mine." Four years before he became a father, on "Friday May 13, 1993",
the fledgling rhymer was spotted rappng outside a record shop. He was
brought to the attention of local rap heroes Bryan "Baby" Williams and
his older brother, Ronald "Slim" Williams, CEOs of the hugely
successful Cash Money Records. Alongside Master P’s No Limit label,
Cash Money dominated the late ‘90s, with the label making millions in
touring and record sales. Finally, after a tough childhood, Wayne had
finally "made it."
H: You give so much of yourself lyrically - is there anything you hold back from rhyming about? W:
I don’t think so. I was Lil' Wayne at 11 so ain’t nothing too much
important happen before 11, except hide and go seek and Nintendo games.
Other than that I’ve been Cash Money, I been rapping, so everything I
say is all of me. There was never a point where I worked at
such-and-such and I could rap about that. I was scooped up at 11 and
that was that.
H: What was life like growing up in New Orleans? W:
A lot of people there will hate me for saying this, they say it’s tough
growing up there, but you have to be an individual. I’m from that city,
but you didn’t have to do all that stuff. Those teachers were telling
the truth when they said you didn’t have to do that. I paid attention
and now look what I’m doing. I’m very intelligent and that’s why I do
this. I had a strict mum, Ms Cida don’t play, I couldn’t come inside on
no irresponsible type stuff. But I love my city, it made me who I am,
meaning it made me be able to go out into the world and be totally
fearless. I’m totally fearless because of where I’m from. Nothing can
scare me. Fear can rule the world - it actually does. And I owe them
that because fear in life in general is big. We fear God and who knows
if there even is one, we just fear it. My city gives me that. I’m
fearless because I’ve been around everything. That means the most to me.
H: How has New Orleans changed since Katrina? W:
I don’t get to spend no time anywhere 'cos I’m bouncing everywhere and
trying to get everything being given to me. As far as the city, I don’t
think I can speak on it 'cos I wasn’t there before the hurricane, or
after, so when I fly back and I ride through, it’s ugly. It don’t look
good, nobody’s happy. That’s all I know about it so I try and get away
from it as quick as I can. I don’t like to be around that type of stuff.
H: Given how crazy your life was, do you feel you’ve missed out on a normal childhood? W:
What is that? That’s for children and I ain’t a child so... You don’t
cry over nothing you’ve missed, for something you can’t get back. I
look at it like childhood wasn’t meant for me. I look at people with
childhood and it’s still not exciting to me. I love what I do. At eight
years old I was writing raps, at 11 I was making money. I was cool with
that.
H: Are you still doing your psychology degree? W: Yeah. My schedule’s getting stupid now, but my tutor’s helping me. I do it online - Phoenix online.
H: Have you learnt much about yourself, doing a psychology degree? W:
I already know about myself, I know who I am. I got a lot of mirrors,
there’s mirrors all around my crib, so I know what I look like and I
can see through these [points to eyes]. As far as psychology, it’s more
about figuring out everybody else and the way they are. I think you
figure it out to a mental point, where words aren’t used, where you
mentally understand. You know how they act, you know who they are,
stuff like that. And then you’re never sure. And that’s the beauty of
psychology, the beauty of humanity. You never know who somebody is.
Psychology teaches you that; that you could never know someone.
H: What made you decide to do a degree? W:
I don’t know. It’s different for me 'cos I don’t have to turn up in a
class or hand nothing in, so if I’m going to do it I have to be
interested. It’s not like I’m being forced to do it. I have to do it if
I want to do it, so that makes it a whole lot different. I’m just
trying to kill time.
H: What else do you do to kill time? How do you relax away from rap? W:
I don’t really chill. Chillin’ is for dead folk. That’s what you do
when they put your body on ice. Me, I just go hard 'cos one day I’m
going to stop. No time soon but one day I’m going to get very tired and
be like, "I quit."
H: Have you thought about writing a book? W:
I thought of a book called Just A Thought, but I don’t know. It’s about
everything I think about; ideas, theories, shit I think about all day
that has no answer.
H: Like? W:
Crazy stuff like words. Like the word "bitch". Why women hate to be
called bitch when a bitch is a female dog and a dog is a man’s best
friend. I don’t get it. Things like women putting period in red gravy.
I get deep up behind that. It’s not just me saying that. You got to
think about that. If you’re sitting up in a woman’s belly, first thing
a woman gets when she’s pregnant is she loses her period because you as
a baby, you consume all that shit that she’s discharging. So that’s
what makes you prone to your mother, because you’re consuming youe
mother, you’re eating your mother so you’re a part of her now, she
lives inside of you and outside of you. Ya dig?
H: You’ve had a phenomenal three years. Why do you think you've been so successful? W:
You see my video, you hear my song, you hear about me, everything is
positive and you get it. Like, this guy cares about what he’s saying
and doing. I don’t want to use this reference because I can never be as
great as this guy, but it’s almost like Barack. The reason that the guy
won is because people feel like they’re him. Even though he’s the
President, people feel like they know that guy. When you hear my music,
you feel like you’re me.
H: Talking of Barack... W:
[Laughs] I’ve said before in my raps that we’re not trying to be
Presidents -that is such a dumb line now. Like, thanks Barack, you make
me look crazy!
H: What are your hopes for Obama’s Presidency? W:
I think it’s going to be good. He’s going to be a democratic President
like JFK. I think he’s going to take care of things and make the
economy better like FDR. And he said he wants to do the health thing
too and make that better, like Clinton said he wanted to. And I think
he’s going to succeed because he’s not FDR, he’s not Clinton, he’s not
JFK, he’s Barack. You feel like you know him. It’s just that feeling he
gives me. It’s like his family is your family. That’s what I try and
give you in my music, that you know this guy, this guys means what he
says. That’s important.
H:
You seem such a complex character and somewhat ambiguous about so many
subjects. Can you try and explain a little bit about who Lil' Wayne is? W:
That’s simple. I can explain me in one word; unexplainable. Anybody who
can be explained should be ashamed of themselves. If you can fall under
a word that comes from the dictionary, then that word was created
before you were even here. That means you were created before you were
even here, so how do you know you were finished? You probably wasn’t
even finished. I have no word; I wasn’t created, I wasn’t made. I was
put here and there’s no word for it. I can’t explain myself. You look
at me and tell me what you see, you listen to me and tell me what you
get. That’s what it is, that’s who I am. I am music, ya dig?
CLICK HERE
to read part one of this exclusive interview, in which Weezy talks
about Martians, rock stardom and how he writes the most surreal rhymes
in hip hop.
