Kreston Kent

The Literary Genius of Lil Wayne:  The case for Lil Wayne to be counted among Shakespeare and Dylan Order a personalized, author signed copy Paperback  •  iBook   •   Kindle Weezy Tweet This blog post is supplementary to and NOT featured in the book. Having been a political science major at the University of Houston alongside Lil Wayne when he majored in political science there as well, I know that all political science majors at U of H read John Locke. In "6 foot, 7 foot," Lil Wayne drops the line: "the fruits of my labor, I enjoy them while they're still ripe." This is the well known "spoilage principle," credited to 17th century British philosopher John Locke. Here's the original: John Locke's 2nd Treatise: " It will perhaps be objected to this, that if gathering the acorns, or other fruits of the earth, &c. makes a right to them, then any one may ingross as much as he will. To which I answer, Not so....

Enjoyed doing this interview today for YoungMulaBaby.com https://twitter.com/ymbdotcom/status/546022717322194945 KK "The Literary Genius of Lil Wayne: the case for Lil Wayne to be counted among Shakespeare and Dylan" iBooks:  http://tinyurl.com/LGLWiBook    Kindle:  http://tinyurl.com/LGLWkindle    Paperback:  http://tinyurl.com/LGLWamazon   Personalized, author signed copies make great gifts:  https://mkt.com/krestonkent Professor Kent's official website:  http://www.krestonkent.com

The Literary Genius of Lil Wayne:  The case for Lil Wayne to be counted among Shakespeare and Dylan Paperback   •   iBook   •   Kindle Weezy Tweet! This blog post is supplementary to and NOT featured in the book. The chapter "Form over Flow" in the book  details exactly how Lil Wayne is different as a lyricist from other acclaimed rappers, including  Drake, Rick Ross, Nas, Eminem, Black Thought, Childish Gambino, Kool G Rap, T.I., Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z and MF Doom . Further support for this argument can be found in Wayne's "duet" with Biggie on the "I'm Wit Whateva" remix from the album Duets: The Final Chapter. On that track, Wayne adopts a clearly different style of rap, more akin to the "flow" of other rappers, as opposed his own "form" style. Wayne's style on the track is a clear homage to Biggie, emulating his flow. Those familiar with Wayne will notice the absence of "random" soundin...

Start a Fire wasn't released in time to make it into " The Literary Genius of Lil Wayne ," but it serves as yet another example of Wayne using sophisticated literary devices on his tracks. The section headings here correspond to chapter titles in the book: Lil Wayne, Folk Artist: In the last release, "Off Day" (which is analyzed in the book), Wayne alluded to his early track (feature) "Back That Azz Up." This time, with "Start a Fire," he hearkens back to "DontGetIt" from Tha Carter III, repeating "They Just Don't Get It" in the chorus, whereas " DontGetIt" begins with the line "Stood in the heat, the flame."  Both songs feature late-50's and 60's references: "Great Balls of Fire," quoted in "Start a Fire," and Perry Mason, cited in "DontGetIt" both premiered in 1957. Lil Wayne riffs on the famous pun from The Beatles' 1969 track "Co...

Still re-listening to Dedication 5 this weekend: I've said I love the pun: "I should prob'ly see a shrink but I'm afraid he'll make me little." ("Devastation," D5) but I'm gonna spell out why it's special: It's not just about shrink->little in the sense of changing size, It's also about psychologists making us revisit our childhoods, i.e. when we were "little." This interpretation is supported by the next line ending with "since I can remember." We find another instance of such a double pun in "Still Got That Rock": "take all your possessions / call it poltergeist" The more obvious pun is possessions as in belongings and also as in spiritual/supernatural possession. But there's also a pun in poltergeist that goes with the "belongings": polterg-"heist" as in "take all your possessions." So, again, both meanings of both words apply at the ...

Thanks, Weezy, for the shoutout on Twitter today. @krestonkent "@LilTunechi: Much luv for Professor Kreston Kent!" My newest favorite song, which I'd overlooked before, is "Don't Kill" from D5. Brilliant combinations of rhyme and pun and allusions. "...We got beef ...Bone gristle ...Cocaine ...Cold cripple" Notice, "cripple" makes a pun on co-cane ("with a cane") and also rhymes with gristle, which is a pun on "we got beef." But wait! There's more! The rhyme for "bone gristle" is adumbrated back in the previous verse with "snakes tryina TONGUE KISS US." Snakes have cold tongues (cold blooded) and no arms or legs. "Cold cripples." The rest of the song is packed full of puns, polysyllabic rhymes, and enigmatic allusions too. "Cooking up two quarters" is one other. KK Read "The Literary Genius of Lil Wayne: the case for Lil Wayne to be counted amo...

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