Sammy Warshaw ’12
Staff Writer

It’s official; rapper ’Lil Wayne has lost his mind.

Maybe it was two years ago, maybe it was 10 years ago, or maybe it was 27 years ago when he was born.

When ’Lil Wayne told the media that he was working on an all-rock album titled “Rebirth,” I couldn’t help but cringe at the idea.

Just thinking of Wayne singing in a high-pitched harmony and blasting his out-of-tune guitar solos makes me wish for the days of “Tha Block is Hot” and “Tha Carter III,” his previous best albums.

Sadly, my prediction was right. I can’t blame ’Lil Wayne for wanting to be inventive with his music and trying something new, but he should at least make it listenable. Songs like “Ground Zero” and “Get a Life” made me question Lil Wayne’s sanity (which was already debatable) and his perception of rock itself.

In a line from the absolutely horrid track “Paradice” (yes, that’s how it’s spelled), Lil Wayne screeches the words, “I’m tired of hearing the same songs, who told the DJ bring it back.

The “dead presidents bullet in Abraham Lincoln hat reminds me of the CAPT editing and revising section when you are asked to find the line that looks out of place. Who asked ’Lil Wayne to

become a philosopher with a degree in American History? I know I didn’t.

Now that the issue of lyrics is cleared up, I must question ’Lil Wayne’s idea of what he thinks rock music is.

Literally, each track seems to be a “tribute” (rip off?) of past rock bands.

On the track “One Way Trip,” he seems to be doing a knock off of Blink-182. The track was coincidentally produced by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.

This theme of trying a new style of music has been around for many years. Classic artists such as Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan are known for changing their genre and turning it into something great.

Elvis Costello’s attempt to re-create different types of music was one of the highlights of his career.

In no way do I scorn Wayne for trying to do something new; I am just disappointed it is such a disaster.

I can’t imagine a person listening to this album and saying, “This is great stuff,” and marveling at his lyrical gift.

If the whole purpose of “Rebirth” was to get cred beyond hip-hop, why couldn’t he have just become more political or more innovative?

The album sounds like the guy recorded himself while wasted out of his mind, threw some random GarageBand mixes over his vocals, and got some hot-shot producers to try put it together.

There is hardly an ounce of wit, intelligence, or ground-breaking material in this entire album.

In the track “Phone Home,” from the album “Tha Carter III,” Wayne proclaimed the words, “We are not the same, I am a Martian.” Who knows, maybe he was trying to tell us something.

For further evidence concerning Lil Wayne’s possible extra-terrestrial activity, please listen to “Rebirth.”

Lil Wayne so desperately wants to achieve greatness on multiple levels, but in the process nearly puts a damper on his past achievements.