Who is Weezy's Replacement?

Yesterday, a fan on the Champagne n' Reefer facebook wall raised the question: “Who will replace Weezy?” For those who don’t know, Lil Wayne has been in jail since March 9th for a one-year sentence (though will probably serve only 8 months for good behavior) on gun charges.
Wayne is easily one of the most high profile rappers of the past five years, and, in the eyes of many, the best. Although he gained some serious mainstream recognition with Tha Carter II, it wasn’t until a year later that Weezy’s produced his masterpiece: Da Drought III. Though he has undoubtedly had some good work since then, it’s widely held that Lil Wayne has been slowly falling off, a fall which has culminated in his recent incarceration.
Taking a look at history, Wayne’s stint in prison has the makings to be a career-ender. Few rappers have gone to prison for an extended amount of time (after their rise to fame) and managed to come out with the same amount of clout and relevance in the game. Just look at Shyne. When first signed to Bad Boy Records, Shyne was hyped up to be the next big thing, even drawing comparisons to The Notorious B.I.G. Until his ten-year prison sentence, that is. Shyne was released from jail a couple of months ago and has released a handful of tracks, every single one of which has been proclaimed total shit by the greater rap community.
One of the first rappers who looks like he has the potential to break the trend of jail ending a rappers career is T.I. Just out of the pen, T.I. has already jumped right back into the game with a few new (solid) tracks and an upcoming album, King Uncaged.
Back to the original question though: Who will take Lil Wayne’s throne? There are definitely a few criteria for taking the crown.

1. Recognition
2. Varied Flow
3. Clever Lyrics
4. Controversy

We’ll start off with recognition. A rapper’s gotta have a big name in order to fill
Weezy’s shoes. Though I’m a huge fan of up-and-comers J. Cole and KiD CuDi, neither of these rappers have proven themselves to have the staying power to sit at the top. Many would like to hail Drake as the immediate successor to the Young Money throne, but he hasn’t earned his place as king of the hill yet, either.
Wayne’s replacement must also have been in the spotlight recently enough for a power grab to be plausible, making a relatively short list: T.I., Young Jeezy, Lupe Fiasco, Eminem, Jay-Z, Kanye West and The Game.
Next up is a varied flow. About the only person I can knock off here is Young Jeezy; the rest have proven to be fairly capable of mixing things up.
Third: clever lyrics, a critical ingredient to Weezy’s replacement that many of the remaining contenders lack. T.I. and The Game are knocked out right off the bat. Their lyrics are all about name/brand dropping, which just can’t stack up against the lyrics of the greats. I’ve also gotta take Jay-Z out of the running here too. Though he definitely was a great lyricist in his heyday, Jay is past his prime and too old to vie for the top spot. Jigga's had his last big encore.
So that brings us to the final piece of criteria; controversy, and Lupe, Kanye and Eminem are the final three standing. Controversy is necessary to being great in the rap world. What great rapper has ever been unanimously liked?
As great a rapper as he may be, Lupe Fiasco is not a polarizing figure in the way Weezy is. He's got a pretty loyal fan following, but the vast majority of his songs aren't radio friendly, which definitely hurts his cause. He just doesn’t draw the same type of attention that’s necessary to hold it down at the top. Looks like the L.U.P-End for Lupe in this contest.
Kanye West is undoubtedly controversial. From his “George Bush hates black people” outburst, to shutting down Taylor Swift at the VMA’s, it seems as if Kanye is constantly in the middle of a media firestorm. Unfortunately, the Taylor Swift incident may have garnered too much negative publicity, knocking him out of the public eye as of late. There are reports of a new CD being released over the summer entitled Good Ass Job, but he hasn’t dropped a new solo track in months, so the quality of his next CD is anyone’s guess making him a risky bet. And, sorry, Mr. West is gone.
That leaves only one man standing. Eminem is the most controversial character in rap history. He raps about rape. And murder. And drugs. Plus, he’s sold nearly 13 million worldwide. Oh yeah, and he's white. His next CD, Recovery, is only two months away, and he’s been dropping random tracks over the past few weeks to start building up hype. The two most recent, ‘Not Afraid’ and ‘Despicable Freestyle’, were both ill and showcased two completely differently styles of rapping. So is Marshall Mathers the next Weezy? Recognizable? Check. Mixes up his flow? Check. Clever lyrics? Check? Controversial? Check. Ladies and gentleman, looks like we have a new king of the rap game.

Attack of the Featured Artist

This piece is my take on the whole phenomenom of "featured" artists appearing on nearly every track nowadays. I wrote it a couple months ago, though it becomes more relevant every day.Whether it's an up-and-comer trying to attract some attention with some big names, or an established star just bringing some old friends along, it's hard not to take notice of how important "featured" artists have become.
    Basically, Hip-hop is suffocating with featured artists Last year, 22 of the 25 best selling rap singles contained the word “featuring.” On the top 15 rap CDs selling right now, 136 of the 222 tracks (61%) on them have featured artists. (And as I'm reposting this piece now, the numbers are 92 out of 160 which is 64%. Does that mean things are continuing to get worse?) Rappers are no longer expected to get by solely on their own abilities. Instead, their songs are judged on the value of their featured artists—whomever they can pay enough to join them on a track.
    It’s widely accepted that the late 1980’s and early ‘90’s were the “Golden Age of Hip-Hop.” Lyrical masters such as KRS-one, Eric B, Rakim, and Big Daddy Kane rocked the mic, and hip-hop classics such as Illmatic, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik were released. Even as we progressed into the late 90’s, single artist tracks were still the dominant force in the industry. Jay-Z and Nas produced incredible chart-topping albums on a near-yearly basis by their own merit, proving that artists could still climb the charts carrying their own weight.
    The early 2000’s saw the rise of the era of glamour. Hip-hop slowly started to merge with pop-music as Cam’ron donned pink fur coats and Sean Comb a.k.a. P. Diddy a.k.a. Puff Daddy a.k.a. Puffy a.k.a. Diddy started his Sean John clothing line and held his infamous “white parties” (named for the rule requiring all guests to wear only white). Yet artists were still able to move their singles to millions across the world without burdening their tracks with featured artists.
    As we’ve pushed into this era of the featured artist a rapper has become almost nothing but a brand name. Any big name rapper can bring enormous success to a song simply by allowing their name to appear next to it. Slapping Lil Wayne onto an unknown track and labeling it as a “remix” can bring it from obscurity to number one on iTunes. Relatively unknown artists such as M.I.A. and Estelle can shoot to instant stardom after years of anonymity simply because of a single song with Jay-Z or Kanye West.
    Going further into the decade, the number of “featured” tracks only grows. “Swagga Like Us,” a single from T.I.’s latest album, Paper Trail, featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne, has shown exactly how dominant the featured artist has become. What could have previously been an unnoticed track with an unremarkable beat on became the most talked about rap song in years, shooting to the top of the charts. Purely by having three of the most recognizable rappers in the industry on his track, T.I. created such a popular song.
    So the question is: are features good for hip-hop? Absolutely not. There are some benefits to the trend. For example, consumers are getting more bang for their buck with each song. Instead of paying for a single with one artist, you get to listen to four for the price of one. It also gives new artists a chance to get recognized, since a feature from a successful artist serves as a co-sign to any new talent, assuring consumers that the artist is worth their time and money.
     On the other hand, the role as a featured artist lowers the expectations for many rappers. Quantity has become valued over quantity, with the most well-known rappers jumping on every remix they possibly can. Lil Wayne is easily the worst offender. In 2008 alone, Lil Wayne was featured on 22 tracks, and the quality of his verses has been steadily decreasing, as his rhymes become repetitive and irrelevant. Gone are the days of Da Drought 3 when each line packed a punch and every track was guaranteed to impress. No matter what anyone says, the lines on No Ceilings don't even compare to Da Drought 3.
     Yet, somehow, consumers continue to buy Lil-Wayne-featured tracks. He has almost transcended ability, and is now entirely defined by his name. The name “Lil Wayne” carries enough weight to sell tracks, regardless of quality, and this can only be a bad thing for hip-hop.
     T-Pain is equally guilty. Since his first top 10 single (“I’m Sprung”), T-Pain has not done a single thing to advance his sound. As the pioneer of the auto-tune sound, which Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and the rest of the rap community so readily adopted, he has continued to be the most popular artist to grace a song’s chorus. From “Good Life” with Kanye West to “Low” with Flo-Rida and “Blame It” with Jamie Foxx, T-Pain is amazingly limited in his musical abilities, yet he continues to have his name attached to the most popular songs on the radio. Even a bad hip-hop video parody (“I’m on a Boat”) can’t slow T-Pain down.
    Features are smothering hip-hop. A lower caliber of lyricism is now acceptable, hurting the genre in the long run. If the over-saturation of low quality remixes continues, the future of the rap industry looks bleak.