Psycedelia and the musings of Lil’ Wayne: I can’t feel my face

Psycedelia is an oft times overlooked ingredient in modern day hip hop: while rock has cultivated its links to altered states of being, the drug culture within hip hop has been limited to copious amounts of marijuana smoke and ignores the implications of the use of heavy drugs. Maybe this is for the best; I wouldn’t want to encounter a cultural analogue to the ceaseless doodling and creative abandon of jam bands, which is the unfortunate nadir of rock music experience with pharmacology. Still, the effects of the use of the hallucinogenic stimulant ecstasy and prescription medicine have forever changed what can be said in rhyme.

This isn’t to imply that hip hop hasn’t dabbled in expanding your mind, dude. Reports have recently come out about Redman experimentation with acid during his most productive periods of recording, Cam’ron openly talks about his love affair with scripts, and how else can you explain “The Greatest Pac Man Victory in History” by Aesop without mushrooms as a starting point. Then you always have Houston and the sizzurp. But most hip hop shies away from openly embracing these kinds of experiences: being a head is not being a part of some cool sub cultural realm of experience, a head is someone on the street scrambling for drug money.

Then Lil Wayne started his ascent into rap respectability and we can only hope the kid keeps taking ecstasy, xanax, and whatever else he can get his hands on. Non sequiturs spill out of his mouth: wait, he already said this better than I can by saying “when I open my mouth all bullets come out.” Wayne focuses his Psycedelia in his words, unlike rock’s preoccupation of leaving the issue at the mere music, except for notable exceptions in Frank Zappa and the Beatles. Most of Wayne’s most psychedelic moments take place over beats on mixtapes that purport in no way to be Psycedelia. Wayne’s take is not one that focuses on subjectivity or subject matter; his delivery and word choices are his strengths as a rapper.

Wayne style is more akin to a free verse poet rather than a rapper who focuses on narrative or forming an iconic image through boast. Wayne has more in common with Walt Whitman or one of the beat poets such as Ginsberg rather than emulation of other rappers such as Tupac or Biggie. It’s a form of expression unencumbered by formalism and the cult of personality that permeates rap music. He’s truly on some other shit, in the parlance of the street. His only formal requirement is to rhyme. Some bring up that he did show a undue amount of respect to one Shawn Carter, but one couldn’t imagine Hova going to some of the heights that Wayne going to. Also, the sheer quirkiness and dexterity of Wayne voice separates him from Jay’s monotone delivery.

Apparently this upward trend will continue on The Carter Three, if the leaks are to be believed. Two tracks in particular lend themselves to this discussion. “I Feel Like Dying” directly addresses drug use, with a distant female vocalizing that she feels like dying when the drugs are gone. It’s a song that explores the dark corner of pharmacology that any heavy drug user knows. Meanwhile, “La La La” is more staightfoward I love the hood song, but could also be used as an analogue for a more meaningful life gained through reflection.