Alexandra M. Svokos STAFF WRITER

I just found out that I have Lil Wayne’s entire latest album on my iPod and consequently have been listening to it over and over and over and over. The song “Dr. Carter” has particularly piqued my interest. It’s different than the other ones as he only makes approximately two inappropriate references and has a lighter background. Here, Weezy is a doctor who improves concepts, originality, flow, style, confidence, vocab and metaphors, respect for the game, and swagger. “Welcome back hip-hop I saved your life,” he concludes. Lil Wayne thinks that it’s his responsibility to deliver the message of the people to the nation, and he does so in songs like “Tie My Hands,” but then he has songs like “Lollipop.” Weezy’s music, despite the generally inappropriate and demeaning messages, is really fabulous and so much fun to listen to, but did he really save hip-hop?

While Lil Wayne saved hip-hop’s life, hip-hop saved Lupe Fiasco’s song…at least according to his song “Hip-Hop Saved My Life.” Unfortunately, Lupe only has one album left, LupE.N.D., before he retires from rapping. His music is truly incredible and Jay-Z himself has proclaimed Lupe “a breath of fresh air.” Lupe does not rap much about girls, sex, drugs, buying things and the like (“Superstar” doesn’t count). “Gold Watch” is really the only song where he speaks materialistically and straight up lists things that are cool like leather Gucci belts, Mont Blanc pens, and Moleskin paper, and even then he undermines his list by saying that “the most important things are the ones that aren’t seen.” Lupe’s songs are often political, loving, concerned, chill, and great to listen to. “Paris, Tokyo” was the first rap song that my mother listened to without complaining. But then again, he’s not very well-known and hence not too influential. Was it even possible for him to save hip-hop?

I suppose 50 Cent should be considered as the one who saved hip-hop. Then again...never mind.

We’ve already covered Weezy, so what about Jeezy and Yeezy? Combined, these three have influenced rappers abroad and even my sister, Beezy, and her friends, Jeezy and Easy. Frankly, as far as I’m concerned Young Jeezy doesn’t care about saving hip-hop he just cares about saving his street cred. But Mr. Kanye West? I think he’s got it in him to save hip-hop.

My mother doesn’t appreciate this, but by far my greatest accomplishment is my knowledge of every word to nearly every Kanye song off Graduation and Late Registration, as well as his part in “American Boy.” Actually, I can’t hide it: I’m in love with Mr. West. He really cares about his music (as seen during a variety of awards shows) and helping the community; he started the Kanye West Foundation which focuses on keeping Latino and African American children in school. Yes, most artists care about their music, but Kanye looks further, and bigger, than making good songs.

Kanye planned his Glow in the Dark tour with huge ambitions, and succeeded beyond anyone’s belief in raising the bar for concerts. He was getting magnificent reviews from many esteemed critics but still complained when Entertainment Weekly gave him one of their few high grades. Kanye’s ego is huge, (he’s got more swagger than Barack Obama) but he pulls it off so stylishly that it’s appealing. Speaking of style, have you seen what he wears? Oversized glasses! Suspenders! Cardigans! According to Dr. Carter, “Dr. Kanye West is one of the brightest,” and everyone must agree. When Kanye premiered “Love Lockdown,” the first single from his new album, a lot of my friends complained that it’s not real rap. After a few days though, they walked around singing it. Weezy was caught on tape saying that it was great that the new music was great and that maybe he should also diverge from rapping because if Kanye, the greatest rapper, did it, Lil Wayne should do it. He soon covered up his swagger-misstep by calling himself the greatest rapper.

At Kanye’s concert that I went to, Jay-Z showed up at the end. And we all screamed and cried and whatnot. Wait a minute. Kanye looks up to Jay-Z, everyone flipped when Jay-Z showed up. Does that mean that…maybe Jay-Z saved hip-hop? Let’s see… He released his first album over a decade ago and has influenced and created many famous artists including Kanye West, Rihanna, and his wife Beyonce. I have actually made a business presentation about him and his ventures including Roc-A-Fella Records, Rocawear, The 40/40 Club, and ownership of the Nets. Jay-Z also has done a lot of community service work and has retired from rapping several times only to be drawn back in. Jay-Z certainly is the kind of hip-hop, but did he save it?

Who knows, really. Maybe it was a joint effort and everyone saved hip-hop. Maybe hip-hop was not saved, maybe it just evolved. Maybe it was 50 Cent after all. Well whoever it was, I’d like to thank; and now I’m going to sit down and listen to Weezy for another 7 hours. Peace!