Before and After: The Year in Popular Songs. Day 4: Lil Wayne's 'Lollipop'
The last year is one we can fairly divide into "before" and "after" -- the economic crash and Barack Obama's presidential election have both irrevocably changed the flow of American life. Pop & Hiss is going through Billboard's year-end singles, considering how the impact of the most popular songs has changed since 2008's fateful fall (See the previous entry on "No One" by Alicia Keys here).
Number 4 is after the jump. Number 5 will be posted on Monday.
4. Lil Wayne featuring T-Pain, "Lollipop"
FIRST IMPACT: Though this was the first single from Weezy's critically acclaimed, massively popular sixth studio album, "Tha Carter III," it was also a climax of sorts. (And not just in terms of what the dirty, dirty lyrics describe.) The New Orleans-based rapper teased his fans with mixtapes and guest appearances for two years before finally releasing some old-fashioned product of his own; by the time "Lollipop" hit, he already owned rap, and not coincidentally, his friend and collaborator T-Pain owned pop. The song itself has a retro-futuristic feel, courtesy of producers Jim Jonsin and Static Major, who appears in the video (and, sadly, died before it topped the charts). It's the perfect setting for Wayne's off-kilter space alien flow.
AFTER OBAMA: Our president-elect once name-checked Lil Wayne on the campaign trail, but it still seems unlikely that this lewd and somewhat mercenary sex jam would make it onto his iPod. It's going to be interesting to see how the most inventive mouth in pop responds to the cleanup challenge Obama has leveled at hip-hop.
AFTER THE CRASH: It's also going to be interesting to see how Weezy adjusts his attitude toward bling. He's been as likely to toss dollars around as the next strip-club habitue, but unlike many of his peers, he's also able to take on other subjects. "Lollipop" is pretty much straight porn, and we all know that's a low-budget art form.
-- Ann Powers
Photo: Lil Wayne at the House of Blues. Credit: Stefano Paltera / For The Times
