La La La

• I remember this one time in an interview with Status Ain't Hood that Lil Wayne made it no secret that he was engaged in active pursuit of "that Hard Knock Life song ... that song that got Jay over." Since that time - the interview occurred around the time Tha Carter II came out - Weezy has never quite gotten there, despite being maybe the most prolific and consistent rapper - at least in terms of his mixtape output - in history. He hasn't come out with the one single - Status Ain't Hood thought that it might have been "Shooter" - that would have propelled him towards the worldwide crossover success he has seemed to have been poised for since the first Carter record.

With his new track, "La La La," Lil Wayne seems to have unabashedly taken his own advice and pulled out all the tricks in the "Hard Knock Life" handbook. "La La La" is almost a note-for-note interpretation of the precedent set by Hova. From the outset of the song, "La La La" features the high-pitched, happy-go-lucky, sung-by-children chorus juxtaposed with tales of the drug trade delivered with a light touch and an impeccable flow. He gives respect to fallen hip-hop heroes. He shouts out his hometown of New Orleans. He gives insight to his personal history \ mythology. His punchlines are, for the most part, crisp. Maybe even more telling than anything, Jay-Z already made a song for the Bad Boys II - the best movie ever - soundtrack called "La La La."

Something about Lil Wayne's "La La La" feels somewhat tossed-off, though. It's not that he necessarily lacks the charisma of Vol. 2-era Jay-Z. Maybe "La La La" loses something in the toning down of the weirdness evident in some of Wayne's more-memorable mixtape tracks. (See: "Lay My Organs Down" on Lilweezyana, "Momma Taught Me" on the first Dedication, his verse on the AMG remix of "Cannon" on Dedication 2, damn near the entire Drought 3 tape, et al.) "La La La" certainly lacks the bizarre sense of experimentation and esoteric reference points that fans have come to expect. (See also: "Prostitute Flange.")

I think what "La La La" needs, really, is a video. It wasn't until the "Hard Knock Life" video came out that Jay-Z managed to temper his image and portray a persona that the record-buying public might, you know, feel safe hanging out with, while the lyrical content of that song kept his credibility intact. Unfortunately for Lil Wayne, with their continued focus on low-budget "reality" programming, the video support that MTV gave to "Hard Knock Life" is no longer available for recording artists. As it stands, with "La La La," Weezy has not quite produced a "Hard Knock Life"-caliber crossover single. He's gotten close enough, though, that with the right kind of video and the right kind of support from, say, 106&Park, Fuse - maybe - and, I guess, MTV2, he might get to Jay's rarefied "God MC" status anyway.

If it doesn't work out, though, as I suspect it won't (which sucks, because "La La La" is a really entertaining song), Wayne can rely on his continued decimation of the mixtape industry and his plans of releasing increasingly awesome Carter albums to get to where he wants to be. (Also, if I Can't Feel My Face doesn't leak too early and has even one hit on it, both he and Juelz Santana could both finally realize their commercial potential.)

Anyway. "La La La." I heard it on the radio, and on the internet, I think, once, and I was thinking that Lil Wayne was making another run at "Hard Knock Life," and ispo facto, the throne. But then I couldn't find it to listen to again. So I scoured the internets and finally had to, like, reverse engineer some shit in order for you to hear it. Which, I guess, is the least I could do, having made you sit through all of the above nonsense.

Lil Wayne - "La La La"