I was hesitant to bash Lil Wayne’s god-awful "rock" single, "Prom Queen," when it leaked this weekend. Felt too much like shooting fish in a barrel, you know? I said my piece about Weezy’s delusions of guitar-hero grandeur long ago. After seeing footage of the song’s live premiere this morning, though, I can stay silent no longer. Trout better watch out, because I’m aiming straight into that barrel.
So there you have it: Music’s reigning emperor standing bare-assed before us. This unholy combination of bargain-basement mall-metal riffage and semi-conscious Auto-Tuned moaning sounded bad enough in the studio, but seeing Wayne attempt to perform this song live is just painful. You may notice that virtually no sound comes out when Weezy starts maniacally tapping his frets around the 1:50 mark. This is because Lil Wayne cannot play guitar (even after months of "practice"!), so he’s mixed waaaay down, if he’s even plugged in to an amp at all. And he wants us to listen to an entire album of this nonsense?
I’ve said it before, but once more for the road, Lil Wayne is a genius. I firmly believe he is one of the greatest lyricists who has ever lived, when he wants to be. What’s more, I am all for artists expanding their range and confounding their audiences. (Kid A is probably my favorite album of all time. The Love Below is pretty sweet too!) None of that changes the fact that even geniuses make mistakes, and as responsible fans we have to call them out. "Prom Queen" would be lame if it was being played by a random rock band. It’s still just as lame when it’s being played by the world’s biggest rapper.
But hey, maybe there’s something wrong with my ears. Do any of you actually like "Prom Queen"?
More on Lil Wayne:
He was one of EW’s 25 Entertainers of the Year for 2008
Tha Carter III made it onto Leah Greenblatt’s 10 Best CDs of 2008
Weezy’s Gatorade ads are awesome
Thinking over Tha Carter III when it hit shelves last June
hmmm… i also didn’t hear anything when he started playing… not his fault tho, might have been awesome… and yes this live performance was not ver good… but it was the first for the song, and i’m sure it’s not as well put together as it will be the more it’s played…. the song is mediocre, but what makes it great is that here’s someone who’s conquered the rap world, and instead of resting on his laurels…. he switches gears completely…. and i applaud him for that and am interested to see how the whole cd comes out… plus i believe this is just the “street single” and he will release another more official first single in the near future
Wait – that’s a SONG?! Maybe I’m just another old fuddy-duddy, but I saw no musical merit what-so-ever, except for an okay guitar riff (apparently not played by Lil’ Wayne himself).
I liked that song better than any of his rap music! He may be a good lyricist (emphasis on ‘may’), but his beats and arrangements do nothing for me.
this shaneka sims and i just wonted to till you that i like this stuff
this shaneka i love lil wayne i love all his songs and everything he is my role modle
You want real rock?
You’re welcome. Wayne should stick to what he knows best.
His 15 mins were up long ago. I don’t know why he is still in the mix
that was brutal. the whole song was rough, not just lil wayne’s guitar playing. yeah i think god-awful pretty much sums it up.
I’m not sure how I feel about it, and I tend to chastize Simon ALL THE TIME but that sure was SOMETHING, I just dunno what. I agree with the comments about it being the song’s debut, but I also feel that as bad as some of us might think the rock & roll image is for Weezy, that the song will be an undeniable hit since Spring is prom season for those of us that are no longer in our teens. It will be interesting though, since this is Weezy’s 1st single, and it has no urban base whatsoever. All past Weezy singles, especially from “Tha Carter III” were monster urban singles before crossing over to pop charts. This song is very much in the lane of Kevin Rudolf’s “Let It Rock”. This will be THE anthem of proms this years, but what about those who may not be able to afford going to their proms during this economic crisis? This is risky, but I dunno, Weezy seems to be untouchable right now.
Lil Wayne is indeed the best rapper alive, and I even got a kick out of “Hot Revolver”, but sadly this is just bad.
Its rappin with rock music.
“Party like a rockstar” ring any bells?
Its gonna be a hot song. Lil Wayne has been around for a long time now….its been longer than 15 minutes.
Just get used to it I suppose. The “kids” will love it. It will turn a new audience on to rock. I have that icky feeling.
Looks like somebody’s been composing songs with Microsoft’s Songsmith!
I’m in high school and all my friends are big Weezy fans, and trust me us “kids” don’t like it.
Man, this foo has been put on a pedestal for too long. he was better in the Cash Money days, now he’s wayyy too overhyped.
Listen more than once. It grows on you. Regardless, this is one song from the new album, check out “Hot Revolver” before you kill the king.