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MTV News’ Man Of The Year: Lil Wayne
No one was as successful, controversial, hilarious and, well, bizarre as Weezy was in 2008.By James Montgomery
lil wayne photo: mtv news/ legal tender rake-off rich
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. is no longer just your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper. In fact, considering the way he’s been carrying around a guitar lately, you could be forgiven for wondering if he event wants to be a rapper anymore. But the fact remains that for 12 long months, no one dominated hip-hop like Wayne did. No one sold more records, generated more headlines or appeared on as many tracks. No one flooded the market with as much product, and — in a genre loaded with compelling characters — no one was as mercurial, controversial, hilarious and, well, bizarre as Weezy was.
Not to mention, when you move 1 million copies of an album in one week, it’s pretty safe to say you’ve crossed over to the mainstream. Wayne most definitely was hip-hop in 2008, but he was pop culture too.
So considering all that — and after sifting through a year’s worth of headlines, videos and reader comments — we’ve decided to crown Lil Wayne as MTV News’ Man of the Year. From his epic Arizona drug bust in January to selling a million copies of Tha Carter III in June and, finally, nabbing eight Grammy nods in December, ‘08 has been anything but dull for Wayne … and that’s just skimming the surface. Below, for your perusal, we’ve compiled his entire 2008 résumé — a list of accomplishments truly befitting our Man of the Year.
But before we dive deeper into Weezy’s achievements, a quick word about someone else who had a pretty impressive 2008: President-elect Barack Obama. Sure, you could probably make a fairly convincing argument for him being our Man of the Year — after all, GQ and Time already proclaimed him as such — and you’d probably be right. But for an explanation of why Obama didn’t make the cut on our list, head to the Newsroom blog.
1. Lil Wayne
2008 Highlights: Rolled into ‘08 with the “Hottest MC in the Game” championship belt over his shoulder … Promised his long-awaited Carter III album would be coming this year and touted the long list of cameos he recorded by dubbing himself “Featuring Lil Wayne” … Arrested in Arizona when his tour bus is pulled over by border patrol agents who perform the aforementioned bust … Facing felony drug and weapons charges, he pleads not guilty. The case is still pending … Attempted to reunite the Hot Boyz at a concert during the NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, but the event was canceled at the last minute due to shootings outside the venue … Visited his old secondary school, promising Tha Carter would drop “in April” and being asked to the prom by a girl named Julie … Showed up three hours
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