Does Lil Wayne hold the title of “The Best Rapper Alive”?

Well, maybe not. But the best rapper currently signed to a major label, that’s could be up for debate.

Most “best rapper” lists give you the standard:
Tupac: Dead.
Biggie: Dead.
Nas: Slowly coming out of his “Nastradamus” and “I Am” malaise.
Jay-Z: Retired after a mega-hit, then came out with his biggest piece of shit CD to date.
Eminem: Am I the only one who thinks his rapping style has gone off the deep end? How many farting and burping sounds can you put in your music and still be taken seriously?
Snoop: Now more a caricature of his gangster image then anything else, and his only really good album was well over a decade ago.
50 Cent: The hard core gangster rap revival lasted for about one CD, and well, now it’s over.
Dre: Awesome producer, great mind, mediocre rapper.
Rakim: The 80’s are over.
Big Daddy Kane: Ditto.
KRS-One: Super ditto.
Kanye: See the Dre comment.
Talib Kweli: Maybe the best lyricist, but these days rap is about making that cash.
Common: Yes, I realize this is a contradiction to what I just said about Talib, but get off Kanye’s cash dick, you used to be better.
Outkast: Together they are great. Solo? We won’t go there.
Tribe: Same.
Diddy: I can’t believe I wasted time writing his name.

So given that the so-called best are either dead, coming off a shitty album or albums, no longer rapping, or just plain not that awesome, maybe Lil Wayne has an argument as the current best rapper alive.

Regardless of your opinion, here’s ours of his latest work…”Tha Carter III.”

So Baba, what’s your favorite and least favorite song?

Baba Ganoush: Favorite: Although I liked “Tie My Hands” at first, I’m going with “Comfortable,” which features Babyface and produced by Kanye. These two songs stand out and just feel like Wayne is stepping out of his raw hard core rap comfort zone to make good music. Least favorite: I fucking hate “A Milli”!! This song may have the best lyrics in the world, but I can’t get by someone saying, “a milli” over-and-over in the background. I hate it “A Milli” times over! You?

J Diggles: First off, I want to say that the album cover is tight. Taking the classic Nas “Illmatic” cover and throwing in the Lil Wayne twist. Anyway, I am liking it when Wayne slows it down a bi. Haven’t heard much of it over the years, but “Tie My Hands” and “Mrs. Officer” are pretty tight. Right now though, I am digging most on “Let The Beat Build.” But if you want some of that bass, “3 Peat” is the one. And of course “A Milli” makes me want to put a cigarette out in my eyeball; especially since it is all over my Sirius system right now.

J Diggles: So is Robin Thicke from “Tie My Hands” really Alan Thicke’s (the dad from “Growing Pains”) kid? Or are you just eff-ing with me?

Baba: Yes, confirmed by Wikipedia, which is always right. I think I found this out when his song “Wanna Love U Girl” with Pharrell came out and thought to myself, “Wow, Justin Timberlake has not aged well over the past couple of months.” Of course, it turned out he was a separate person and Justin Timberlake still looks like he’s 14. Then Robin did that collabo with Lil Wayne, “Shooter,” which was equally tight. But hyping his Dad as Alan Thicke isn’t going to help with the street cred. You think Wayne could have written some sort of line about how short he is and Robin’s Dad on “Growing Pains”… now that would have been the balls.

J Diggles: Wow, that’s nuts. Definitely lacking the street cred. How about Wayne rapping about his ex-wife that goes something like this; “I’ve got so many women, I don’t even need her. I’ve got so many women that I had to leave her. I’ve got so many women, they call me Micheal Seaver.” That’s dirty south right there.

Baba: Tight verse. Maybe he can do a remix of “Tie My Hands” and throw this in there as well: “Put me in front of the mic and I come up with rhymes quick. But I have to slow it down, when paired with Robin Thicke. Call me the hip-hop jockey and give me the reigns. It’s another hit with the son of the dude from Growing Pains.”

J Diggles: We should clearly make our own Lil Wayne song. Alright, let’s grade this album. It has only been a few listens and Lil Wayne is someone that has to grow on you, but I am going to give it a “B”. Its no mixtape (“Dedication 2” being the best), but I do think its his best studio produced solo album, just ahead of “Tha Carter II.” I am happy I bought it.

Baba: True, you could make a better album with his best mix-tape tracks, but there’s a handful of songs from “Tha Carter III” that would belong on that disc too. You could even make a decent record with all his versions from cameos and remixes. I’m sure the disc will continue to grow on me as well, so I’m going with a “B+”. Either way, the CD has its spot in my car’s 6-disc changer for the summer.

So best rapper alive?   Well, probably not.  But I like Wayne and I think he definitely has some talent.  He is also hooking up with some better producers to give him a more universal sound, which is always good for radio play (i.e. cash).  For my money though, Nas is still “The Best Rapper Alive”.  And no matter how many bad albums he comes out with, he can still claim Illmatic.  Besides, on the whole, I think he last 3 albums take down Jay-Z’s (the only other competitor) last 3.   We’ll say Wayne is in the top 5 for now and keep our eyes on him.  He’s young and prolific, so I think moving up the ladder is a definite possibility.  I mean, how many people do you know that can come up with rhymes like this: “I have so much chips, they call me Hewlett Packard. I have so much chips, you can have a bag if you’re a snacker.”  Gold.