The Kobe Bryant of Rap: Lil’ Wayne

If Jay-Z is Michael Jordan, Lil' Wayne is definitely the late great Kobe Bryant. The wordsmith who can turn a cliché or chestnut into a hot line, Wayne, certainly deserves to be in the top ten in MC rankings.

While outlets are harping on his dieting and exercise routines, he is actually primed to be an even greater rhymesayer.

On his latest effort “Kant Nobody” with sick vocals from the fallen DMX and the producer mastermind Swizz Beatz, Wayne outlines his greatness. His prowess on the microphone is nothing to be scoffed at in any sense.

The clarity of his rhymes from his strained voice and gravelly delivery commits to the truth of his powerful rhetoric. In case you might have missed the past twenty-four years or so, Wayne has been studying tape. Like Bryant, he doesn’t just look at where the rhyme is or what it’s doing but where the MC won’t be or isn’t doing.

He shadowraps so much that Jimmy Fallon even pointed out that Wayne never writes his rhymes àla Shawn Carter. He rehearses lines that staff has to find and stitch together just so Wayne can memorize them before he performs.

Wayne has made such an impact on the culture that the word “bling” entered the American lexicon largely because of him. While “drip” and other terms have mostly replaced the entry, Wayne still deserves credit for instituting a new word.

People like to talk about albums in terms of Michael Jackson’s catalog, particularly Off the Wall (1979) and Thriller (1982). The former is more focused and cohesive and introductory in nature. Wayne has a similar career trajectory. His Tha Carter II is his OtW and Tha Carter III is his Thriller.

The mastery over the microphone had matured since being with the Hot Boyz and he matured with the previous effort. III stands as his sales project with finger-popping tunes and contemplative cuts. After selling a million albums in the first week before the streaming services came into clear, prominent view, Wayne decided to offer to the streets enough heat on the mixtape circuit to make him a workhorse just like Kobe.

What both men did in their careers was make their labor into a show horse as well. Wayne has delivered more projects and probably has a terabyte external drive somewhere loaded with songs. Like Black Mamba, Wayne can strike at any moment and make the bite fatal for anyone who dares go against him.

While he has courted controversy, served jail stints, and has somewhat “waned” over the past decade, his mind is still ever sharp and punctuates the popular culture. With his wit, outlandish approach is one that unravels the mind and installs a battery fully charged with energy and imagination.

Wayne unspools the easy route and takes the cloth and sets it ablaze. He makes it seem simple. His turn as a tongue twister and a preeminent wordsmith details a life that is at once tumultuous and splendid.

As he writes without writing like his mentor Jiggaman, he pins down metaphor, imagery, simile, personification, and a deep understanding of his audience. Wayne knows that he can take any subject and flip it and make sixty-year-olds swoon, teenagers prance, and infants sway. The words may not capture everyone everywhere at once, but in time they will come to understand in time. Wayne illustrates through his New Orleans twang and his Miami surroundings the beauty in the ugly and takes his words seriously all while having a good time.

His vocal excellence is a powerful force that delivers on the idea of taking the mundane and making it magnificent.