Lil Wayne is everywhere. I called to order some Chinese food and I’m pretty sure it was him taking my order.
I like to check out the Billboard Top 100 chart to see what people might be interested in listening to. I gave up on commercial radio years ago, so I’m never quite sure what the hot songs are. The bars where I spin aren’t too up to date on current music. It’s basically a matter of keeping up with the Top 40 and people are content. If they haven’t heard it on the radio, then they don’t know it or like it. There are many songs that I’ve started playing before they hit the airwaves and people frown at them and clear the dance floor. Three weeks later, I’ll get a dozen requests for the same songs. So, it’s almost a waste of time to listen to a lot of new music and find good stuff for people to dance to. If they don’t know it, they won’t dance to it.
It seems like sixty percent of the music out there has Lil Wayne contributing in some way. (Five of Billboard’s top 50 right now, actually, and 8 of the top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop.) I always liked him back in the Hot Boyz/Cash Money days. His cadence and lyrics stood out for me, even though Juvenile and Mystikal were the top guys at the time. I never would have imagined that Weezy would become a top-selling artist. And a sex symbol, apparently.
Yes, girls are starting to call him sexy. LL was always the man, but when the mainstream (read: White) ladies began to accept Denzel and Wesley Snipes as sexy and attractive, it was quite surprising. And now things have gone to the far end of the spectrum. It started with 50, and now it’s Wayne – dark skin, braids, and a mouthful of bling.
But it seems like the more that White America seems to be accepting of some elements of Black culture, the more hatred and resentment builds underneath the surface. Listening to West Virginia voters discussing their “discomfort” with Barack Obama is a nice reminder to anyone that thinks racism is dwindling in this country. But because a few athletes and musicians succeed, people assume that things are improving.
Halle Berry won an Oscar, so things are better, right?
