Lil Wayne Folk Artist

According to Josh Tyrangiel, a writer for Time Magazine, “ Lil Wayne has a smoke-scarred rasp that makes him sound like Redd Foxx covering Bob Dylan.” I completely agree with Josh in comparing lil wayne with the iconic figure Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan is a common favorite. No one looks askance or questions me when I name Dylan as one of my two favorite musical artists. However, when i mention lil wayne to my friends, I often find myself facing a mouth agape, a scowl, or an expression disbelief: “thats a joke, right?” Even those who accept my declaration of favor for Lil wayne often come back with, “Dylan and Lil Wayne? Thats an odd combination”. But it is not odd; not at all. First of all, they’re both superb lyricists, each with his own distinctive style. Secondly, both Lil Wayne and Bob Dylan are frequently charged with being opaque, non sequiturian, disingenuous, abstruse, silly, banal, indulgent and nonsensical. Both are accused of stealing lines, not just because people seek to tear down those at the top, but also because both are engaged in the folk tradition. Finally, they both have similar flows.

Musically speaking, both Dylan and Lil Wayne use existing songs as scaffoldings on which to construct their own. Dylan draws from country, blues, bluegrass, folk, and early rock music, sometimes taking melody, harmony, rhythm and even many of the lyrics from an existing song and putting his own spin on it, inserting his own lines. According to ContactMusic.com, “Lil Wayne uses Karma Ann Swanepoel’s folk track once on his hit song I Feel Like Dying”. Wayne raps atop existing tracks from other artists and also samples from older pop and rock songs, especially on his mixtape. This is a clear extension of the folk tradition, modernized.

Adding to being their own distinctive style, they both are charged with being opaque. According to