The BEST Songs #3

In which Lil’ Wayne becomes The Best Rapper Alive.

The thing that’s going to be most difficult with this song is trying to choose which lyrics are the best. Because, in all seriousness, every single word that comes out of Wayne’s mouth in this song is just fucking incredible. From “Call me automatic Weezy, bitch, I keep spitting” in the first verse to “I take you to the shootout, baby, win, lose, or draw” as he raps over police sirens, Wayne’s verses are short, tight, and perfect. It’s a song that allows the rapper to breathe, with guest hook-singer Robin Thicke taking his sweet time, and letting Weezy run circles around him.

The middle verse, a lyrical bombing of radio stations, reads like a Best Of Lil’ Wayne list, highlighting pretty much everything that he does best. First of all, his flow switches twice in this song, and it works perfectly going from the fast-paced assault in verse one to the laid-back, confident drawl in the second. That isn’t to say that he isn’t still on the offensive in the second verse. Nothing could be further from the truth: Every word he says is another slug in the chest. “Stop being rapper racist, region haters, spectators, dictators, behind-door dick-takers. It’s outrageous,” he says to radio stations across America. That he can even say that line with such serious delivery (because it’s fucking hilarious, in a good way) is amazing to me. It’s not just the image of radio executives getting fucked in a back room somewhere, it’s all the unanswered questions that make me love that line: Why are they being fucked? Rape? Pleasure? Bribery? Who’s doing the fucking? Corporate America? Clear Channel? G-Unit?

Even more amazing to me is that this song is a single, which by definition demands radio play. But, as if to prove Weezy’s point or just to spite him because he hurt someone’s feelings, the song barely charted on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Charts at number 97. It didn’t even touch the Hot 100.

So, yeah, Wayne insults a lot of people in this song, but he does it in a way that makes his jibes fact instead of speculation. Like the masterful Jay-Z diss track “Takeover” (which causes me to think Nas is a total pussy whenever I listen to it) “Shooter” works its magic by hitting all the right buttons and making its author sound like a champion of the people and making everyone else a fucking joke.

“This is Southern. Face it: If we too simple, then y’all don’t get the basics.”

Pow.