Review: Lil Wayne

Photos by Jill Toyoshiba/The Star

A sheepish grin crossed Lil Wayne's face Monday as he strode onto the stage of the Sprint Center toting a green skateboard.  After the previous evening's concert in St. Louis, the rap star tweeted that he'd received a "gnarly gash" over his left eye in a skating accident.

Aside from a large bandage on his brow, Lil Wayne showed no ill effects from the injury in an impeccable 100-minute performance. His resilience isn't surprising.  Lil Wayne is the most consistently compelling pop star of the past decade.  His lyrical and musical inventiveness and ferocious work ethic make most of his peers seem like indifferent dullards.  A recent eight-month incarceration did little to slow him down.  He may not be a model citizen, but he's been rewarded for his dazzling productivity.

"I am a 28-year-old self-made millionaire," he told the audience of about 8,000.  

Lil Wayne recalled that Tech N9ne visited him in jail last year.  As he brought the Kansas City-based rapper to the stage for a warm embrace, Lil Wayne noted that Tech N9ne is featured on his long-awaited Tha Carter IV album.  The failure to perform the promising collaboration was one of Monday's few disappointments.

The perfectly-paced and variety-filled set included gangsta rap ("Bill Gates"), dance music ("Go D.J."), current hits ("6 Foot 7 Foot"), heavy metal ("Prom Queen"), R&B ("Motivation") and even a shockingly tender ballad ("How To Love").  A four-piece band added new dimensions to tracks like "Lollipop."  After a stunning a cappella rendition of "Nightmares of the Bottom," Lil Wayne proclaimed that he is "the best rapper alive."  It's difficult to disagree.  

One jarring incident briefly broke the celebratory mood.  Several dozen overenthusiastic fans pushed against a temporary walkway to a secondary stage during "Mr. Carter."  Although the apparatus rocked perilously above fans for a few moments, no one appeared to be be injured.  

In stark contrast to the enormous amount of energy expended by Lil Wayne, Rick Ross didn't seem to make much of an effort during his lackluster 35-minute opening set.  The audience bailed him him out by rapturously chanting Ross' lyrics to powerful material like "MC Hammer" and "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast"), songs that glorify illicitly acquired riches.  The audience also adored appearances by R&B singers Keri Hilson and Lloyd, but the best of Lil Wayne's opening acts was Far East Movement.  Its dance-oriented set revealed an audacious independent streak worthy of the evening's headliner.

| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star

Comments

[Not down wit' weezy]

""I am a 28-year-old self-made millionaire," he told the audience of about 8,000."

P.T. Barnum had it wrong....apparently, there are 8,000 suckers born every minute.

[don corleone]

thanks for coming in and giving us your opinion of a show you did not attend.

[don corleone]

and of course all opinions are welcome here, even if one did not attend a show.

[Tucson Injury]

I like some of his songs. I'm just relieved he got through the accident fine.