Is Lil Wayne the Savior of Hip-Hop?

Not since the Shady/Aftermath re-introduction of 50 Cent has an artist caused more controversy and riled up such strong and profound emotions of love and hate than Lil Wayne! That's because there is no middle ground with an artist like Wayne, either love him or hate him period!

And some feel there have been a lot of reasons for onlookers to hate to say the least. This young man has been a millionaire since he was a teenager and a part of the successful group the Hot Boys (feat. Juvenille, B.G., Turk, Mannie Fresh and Baby). During the late 90's and beyond these guys were able to put a stamp on the hip-hop game and put New Orleans on the map in a major way with a laundry list of hits! And as we all know with great success, fanfare, acclaim and wealth, always comes haters who plot on people's downfalls (the late great Notorious BIG spoke about this well on a track entitled Downfall off his classic album Life After Death)

But after Cash Money records Hot Boys group split up, Mannie Fresh and Baby formed Big Tymers and along with Wayne were the only ones from their crew still on Cash Money records! They continued to make hits, and lots of money as they had worked out a distribution deal through Universal records worth over 100 million dollars! So at this point it's not like anyone within the crew was hurting financially or in need!

So one would have to wonder what the motivation is for someone like Wayne who already was successful, rich, and well known, to still want more! I mean after you've already made your first million before your 21, and your apart of a successful rap group and record label, what is there left for a rap artist to do? Become a successful solo artist, and be respected as one of the best lyricists in the game, that's what's left.

See Wayne already had the money, women, cars, and other material things that some of his counterparts had. But he didn't have the respect of being a great MC the way artist like Jay-Z, Biggie and Nas did! And that's what he's been after ever since his first Carter album dropped!