Could Lil Wayne's guilty plea hurt his CD sales?

Could Lil Wayne's decision Thursday to plead guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in New York bring a halt to the New Orleans rapper's recent professional momentum?

Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., is expected to receive one year in prison, according to a spokeswoman for the New York district attorney's office. His plea was related to a 2007 weapons possession arrest in New York City; police said a gun was found on his tour bus in Manhattan in July 2007.

Lil Wayne was forced to surrender his passport Thursday; he will next appear in court on Dec. 15 and he'll be sentenced in February, the New York district attorney spokeswoman said.

Wayne's plea could have larger implications for the release of his next album and his ability to tour to promote that collection. The artist has been working on a long-awaited rock 'n' roll effort, "Rebirth," an album scheduled to be released Dec. 15.

His label publicist at Universal Motown did not respond to requests for comment, and it was unclear whether the legal situation would affect the release of the album.

"Rebirth," originally pegged for a spring release and pushed back several times, is tipped to remake the rap star into a rock 'n' roller. A lead single, "Prom Queen," was released in January, but it failed to generate the radio airplay and digital sales of his rap efforts.

Lil Wayne has also said he's in the midst of recording "Tha Carter IV." But it's difficult to say how Lil Wayne's legal troubles will affect his career. Rapper T.I. is serving out a one-year sentence on federal weapons charges, but his 2008 album "Paper Trail" has sold more than 2 million copies. T.I. also brokered a deal for an MTV reality show, "T.I.'s Road to Redemption," which documented his efforts working with at-risk youth.

Read the full story, and vote below.

-- Todd Martens

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Wanted: Lil Wayne impersonator for birthday celebration

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Lil Wayne and the million-sellers club

Top photo Jake Danna Stevens / Los Angeles Times. Bottom photo: Associated Press

Wanted: Lil Wayne impersonator for birthday celebration

Hey reality, can this please be true?

A panicked parent in the Washington, D.C., area is looking for a Lil Wayne impersonator STAT! Here are the specs, according to the Craigslist ad (with a little added punctuation for dramatic effect):

My son is turning 16 and really wanted Lil Wayne to perform for his birthday gala. Unfortunately his schedule will not permit him to make it. I need a Lil Wayne impersonator desperately.

Here is the kicker -- my son is blind so you do not need to look like the rapper, just sound like him. I understand he grunts and mumbles a lot. I don’t care if you are 67 and Jewish; if you can sing the songs you’re hired. Money is not an issue. Name your price.

Read the rest here. Remember, you don't have to have dreads or that toothy grin because the birthday boy won't see it anyway. But if you can imitate that dirty croak and play half-crappy guitar, that'll do just fine.

-- Margaret Wappler

Photo: Chris Pizzello / Associated Press

Summer music preview

This summer offers a couple of significant "first times since": It's the first time since the recession really hit, causing many to pull their belts taut, and the first since a new administration helped feed a renaissance in socially conscious, multicultural arts. Personal caution meets communal hope in many people's everyday lives now, and it affects our leisure choices along with everything else.

Yet the healing power of organized sound remains the same. All over the Southland, old favorites return and emerging sensations debut. New albums and late-career gems hit the Internet (and those remaining retail outlets). People will gather to dance and to sing along to their favorite artists. No one trend captures the mood of mid-2009, unless it's the bliss of having much from which to choose.

The following is a selection of some of the best bets for music-related entertainment in Southern California prior to Labor Day.

Read more Summer music preview

--Ann Powers & Margaret Wappler

Photos: Neko Case, left, Lil Wayne and Wilco. Credits: Jason Creps Getty Images, Associated Press

Grammy countdown: Lil Wayne's contradictions

The MC proclaimed himself the best rapper, then backed it up with album sales and free downloads. So why is his taste turning to rock (as well as cough syrup)?

In "The Carter," the documentary about Lil Wayne that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last month, the superstar rapper is filmed in some compromising positions. Namely, he's shown taking his medicine.

In one scene, the extravagantly tattooed and dreadlocked rhymesayer pours a viscous purple liquid from a prescription bottle into a soda jug then mixes himself a cocktail, gulping it out of a giant Styrofoam cup. In Southern hip-hop circles this potent narcotic mixture is known as "purp," "drank" or "sizzurp" -- cough syrup fortified with codeine, hydrocodone and/or promethazine that, if taken at a high enough dosage, can produce a swooning high. One that's also potentially fatal.

At another moment in the film, the multiplatinum-selling New Orleans MC opens up a Louis Vuitton attache case that travels with him everywhere to reveal a stack of money as thick as a brick and a Glaceau VitaminWater bottle filled with purple fluid. "That ain't VitaminWater," Wayne says in the film, laughing at his ruse to smuggle the stuff across international borders.

Filmed between May and September 2008, just as his popularity was hitting critical mass, "The Carter" presents an unexpected slice of life from last year's top-selling pop artist, who comes into Sunday's Grammys nominated for more awards than any other act. Lil Wayne (a.k.a. Weezy F. Baby, government name: Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.), who will also perform on the show, which will air on CBS beginning at 8 p.m., is up for eight statuettes in categories including album of the year.

But in addition to those revealing scenes, "The Carter" underscores what many of the rapper's collaborators, career overseers and industry observers already know. In ways both profound and ridiculous, Lil Wayne is defined by his contradictions.

Read the full story.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Grammy countdown: Grammys slow hip-hop embrace

Grammy voters have a long history of trying to correct past mistakes. See last year, when Herbie Hancock took album of the year for his "River: The Joni Letters," his first-ever win in the category. Or in 2005, when Ray Charles' "Genius Loves Company" took top honors. One can even go back a little further to 2001, when Steely Dan won for "Two Against Nature."

Prior to releasing their Grammy-winning albums (Charles passed away a few months before the release of "Genius Loves Company"), all of the aforementioned artists had a lengthy body of work full of esteemed albums. The pattern may continue this year. Robert Plant is nominated for his collaboration with Alison Krauss, "Raising Sand," and the Led Zeppelin legend has just two Grammys to his name.

But giving the award to Lil Wayne for his "Tha Carter III" may also be an attempt to right a few wrongs. Grammy voters haven't exactly taken to hip-hop in its top categories, nor do they often reward artists as sexually explicit as Lil Wayne.

Yet just as record sales are dropping, TV ratings for the Grammys are trending down. The Grammys could benefit from a dose of relevancy, especially after favoring Hancock's "River: The Joni Letters" over Kanye West's electronic-infused hip-hop of "Graduation."

It is, admittedly, a long shot. After all, while West's ego swells by the hour, his music is relatively tame compared to that of Lil Wayne. West, for instance, is a regular performer on the Grammys (he'll be there again this year), but most of Lil Wayne's biggest hits aren't fit for prime-time viewing. And the Grammys are still an organization that didn't have a best rap album category until 1996.

So, Lil Wayne winning album of the year? That wouldn't just be a surprise, it would be a Grammy landmark. Here's a brief look back at how hip-hop has fared in Grammy's top category.

Lil Wayne: Sippin' on sizzurp in documentary at Sundance

Sundance offered plenty of musical fare for the parka-wrapped viewers of Park City --  like Melissa Auf der Maur's short film "Out of Our Minds," involving Vikings, bloody trees and time travel -- but Pop & Hiss thinks Chris Lee, one of the correspondents for the L.A. Times' Sundance blog, did right to check out "Tha Carter," a documentary on Lil Wayne:

In the shockingly intimate documentary about him that premiered Saturday night at Sundance, superstar rapper Lil Wayne is laid bare in several different ways.

He's shown as a guy with a protean work ethic and a creative process unlike any other hip-hop performer. A child prodigy turned relentless showman whose only solace comes from creating music -- Wayne is thought to have recorded more than 1,000 songs and has contributed guest verses on dozens of others. He doesn't bother to write down any of his lyrics but nonetheless retains total recall.

But the primary talking point of "Tha Carter" is certain to be none of those things. In the film, Lil Wayne's biggest professional liability gets thrown into stark relief. It's something that has managed to hide in plain sight throughout the rapper's rise from underground mix-tape phenom to the biggest selling act of 2008 and this year's leading Grammy nominee: his addiction to prescription cough syrup.

You see scenes of Weezy chugging the stuff mixed with soda out of giant styrofoam cups throughout the documentary. He raps about it more than a few times -- the lyrics of one song spelling out his devotion to the drug are emblazoned across the screen. And in another scene, the New Orleans-born rapper opens a Louis Vuitton travel case and there, next to a pile of rubber band-bound money as thick as a brick, he points to a bottle of Glaceau Mineral Water that is filled with the viscous purple syrup.

Read the rest of the post.

Sundance offered plenty of musical fare for the parka-wrapped viewers of Park City --  like Melissa Auf der Maur's short film "Out of Our Minds," involving Vikings, bloody trees and time travel -- but Pop & Hiss thinks Chris Lee, one of the correspondents for the L.A. Times' Sundance blog, did right to check out "Tha Carter," a documentary on Lil Wayne:

In the shockingly intimate documentary about him that premiered Saturday night at Sundance, superstar rapper Lil Wayne is laid bare in several different ways.

He's shown as a guy with a protean work ethic and a creative process unlike any other hip-hop performer. A child prodigy turned relentless showman whose only solace comes from creating music -- Wayne is thought to have recorded more than 1,000 songs and has contributed guest verses on dozens of others. He doesn't bother to write down any of his lyrics but nonetheless retains total recall.

But the primary talking point of "Tha Carter" is certain to be none of those things. In the film, Lil Wayne's biggest professional liability gets thrown into stark relief. It's something that has managed to hide in plain sight throughout the rapper's rise from underground mix-tape phenom to the biggest selling act of 2008 and this year's leading Grammy nominee: his addiction to prescription cough syrup.

You see scenes of Weezy chugging the stuff mixed with soda out of giant styrofoam cups throughout the documentary. He raps about it more than a few times -- the lyrics of one song spelling out his devotion to the drug are emblazoned across the screen. And in another scene, the New Orleans-born rapper opens a Louis Vuitton travel case and there, next to a pile of rubber band-bound money as thick as a brick, he points to a bottle of Glaceau Mineral Water that is filled with the viscous purple syrup.

Read the rest of the post.

Grammys sign up Lil Wayne, Thom Yorke for new campaign

Lil Wayne, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Lenny Kravitz, Stevie Wonder and Rihanna have signed on for a massive Recording Academy ad campaign. Television, print, online and radio spots will try to drum up some excitement for the organization's annual Grammy awards, which suffered a decline in ratings last year.

A television ad (above) with Wonder's "Superstition" -- and lyrical references to such R&B and soul artists as Ray Charles and Stephanie Mills -- debuted over the weekend on CBS. Ad spots with Rihanna and Yorke will roll out in the days leading up the Feb. 8 telecast.

A Grammy spokeswoman says each artist was asked to give the Recording Academy 10-20 songs that influenced or affected their life and career. The lyrics and song titles are then featured in the print and television ads.

One nicely odd effect is that the advertisements for the industry awards now feature a host of artists and songs that had not been recognized by the Grammys. The Yorke ad is at left, and contains references to such experimental and challenging artists as Scott Walker ("Psoriatic") and the Liars ("The Wrong Coat for You Mt. Heart Attack"). One of the biggest references in Yorke's ad goes to a relatively unknown electronic act Modeselektor, whose "Kill Bill Vol. 4" is inscribed into the forehead of the Radiohead singer.

The print ads from Lil Wayne and Rihanna come with more popular nods. Lil Wayne's ad pays tribute to Jay-Z's "Can't Knock the Hustle" and Young Buck's "Pocket Full of Paper," for instance. The most notable presence on the Rihanna ad is Destiny's Child's "Say My Name."

The print component will also continue to expand in the run-up to the awards. A Grammy spokeswoman says spots with Coldplay and Kanye West are in development.

The Lil Wayne ad comes with this bit of fine print: "Artist not guaranteed to perform." However, it would be rare for an artist nominated for album of the year -- Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" and Radiohead's "In Rainbows" are both up for the top prize -- to not perform at the Grammy ceremony, which will be held at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

The ads were developed by TBWA\Chiat\Day, and are said to be part of the biggest campaign in the Recording Academy's history, one that cost in the multimillions, according to Billboard. The promotion, dubbed "music makes us," is coming one year after the Grammys suffered their lowest ratings since 1992. More recently, a prime-time Grammy special announcing this year's nominations didn't fare too well in the ratings, finishing in fourth place for its time slot.

-- Todd Martens

Live: Lil Wayne at the Gibson Amphitheatre

The love flows freely in the cult of Wayne.

At the end of his hour-plus set Sunday night at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Lil Wayne, the most popular rapper in the world, performed a curtain call to the familiar strains of Whitney Houston's rendition of "I Will Always Love You." Wrapped in a navy blue terry-cloth bath robe, Wayne hammed it up for the adoring crowd: arms outstretched, blowing kisses, imperiously bowing. Thanking his audience, the impish New Orleans rapper declared, "I ain't [nothing] without you."

In response, the teeming, teenage mob erupted into roaring refrain, chanting "Weezy" over and over until the house lights flickered to life. The scene was closer to Beatlemania or hormonal boy band bliss than the average rap show.

Of course, Lil Wayne is many things, but average isn't one of them. A syrup-swilling, swaggering streak of energy, Wayne has his trademark combination of id and idiosyncrasy to thank for his popularity. Few contemporary phenomena are as celebrated or as strange as the cult of Wayne -- over the course of the last three years, he has transformed himself from lightweight Southern gangsta rapper into one of pop music's driving forces.

Headlining the sold-out Gibson in the first of two successive L.A. performances, Wayne's revamped stage show reflected the expectations created when an artist sells 2.5 million copies of his latest album ("Tha Carter III") and in the process emerges as prima facie evidence that the music industry isn't a ghost just yet.

Trading the slurring anarchy that often prevailed earlier in his career for a five-piece backing band and predetermined set list, Wayne's evolution jibes with his ascent to the title of 2008's rock star of the year (according to Spin magazine). This is arena rap and a toned-down Wayne, who even apologized for cursing because he knew that children were in the audience.

The phantom pelvic pantomimes and casual misogyny were muted in favor of quasi-conservative paeans to the Lord's power and a pressing desire to exhibit his abyssal catalog.

Ann Powers on pop music in 2008

The genre got further fragmented, but there were standouts nonetheless.

Putting together this list, I pinged friends to ask what albums I absolutely should not have missed this year. Sixty replies quickly poured in. Only one release -- the big rock mountain "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -- was mentioned twice. Some picks were already in my best-of pile; many haunted my get-to-it list. Others I hadn't heard, or even realized existed.

The fragmentation of pop is getting to be an old story. As personal and music-industry budgets shrink, it's less likely than ever that we'll all end up purchasing the same music and sharing a conversation about it. For variety addicts, that's great; for believers in the dream of a common language, it's depressing. For a critic, it seems like a mandate to rethink one's entire enterprise. In the meantime, here are a few trends and individual efforts that made me happy this year.

Lil Wayne, Coldplay rake in Grammy nominations*

New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne, defying the trend of an industry in retreat by selling 1 million copies of his third album, “Tha Carter III,” in a single week last July, was rewarded with a field-leading eight Grammy Award nominations tonight, including album of the year.

Lil Wayne galvanized rap fans in the months leading up to the album’s release with a seemingly never-ending series of mix tapes distributed over the Internet, pointing the way toward new methods of generating excitement at a time when consumers’ overall enthusiasm toward the record industry’s offerings continues to erode.

Recording Academy voters who decide on nominated artists and recordings, while taking the position that Grammy recognition does not hinge on sales or chart position, nonetheless heaped the most nominations on acts that continued to sell solidly and chart high during 2008. They include Coldplay, which collected seven nods, and Jay-Z, Kanye West and Ne-Yo, tied with six apiece. The rappers benefited from their many collaborations in categories dominated by recordings featuring guest performers.

Coldplay, however, was the only act to complete the hat trick of nominations in the three top categories of record, album and song of the year from its hit album “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.” Lil Wayne’s other nominations came primarily in rap categories.

Adele, the 20-year-old British singer and songwriter sometimes tagged as “the next Amy Winehouse,” also snagged nominations in three of the Grammys’ four marquee fields. She received a best new artist nod (along with Duffy, the Jonas Brothers, Lady Antebellum and Jazmine Sullivan) as well as record and song nominations for “Chasing Pavements,” a track from her album “19.”

One of the biggest surprise hits of recent years, “Raising Sand,” the collaboration between Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and bluegrass darling Alison Krauss, generated five nominations.

The track “Please Read the Letter” from “Raising Sand” is nominated for record of the year, along with “Chasing Pavements,” Coldplay’s "Viva La Vida," M.I.A’s "Paper Planes" and Leona Lewis’ "Bleeding Love." The nomination of Lewis’ single brought “American Idol” sourpuss Simon Cowell his own nomination as one of the producers of the recording.

Along with the Wayne, Coldplay and Plant-Krauss efforts, the other album of the year nominees are Ne-Yo’s “Year of the Gentleman” and Radiohead’s “In Rainbows,” which set the industry abuzz last fall when the band issued it initially only as a digital download and allowed fans to pay whatever they thought it was worth, even if that was nothing.

Jazmine Sullivan, a 21-year-old R&B singer from Philadelphia, marveled backstage at her five nominations. "I was signed when I was 16,” she said, adding that nothing materialized and she was dropped. “My story is one of perseverance, picking yourself up.”