Man Of The Year 2006 - Li'l Wayne

I'm sure that any of you who dabble in hip-hop press are long since tired of hearing about how much of a terrible year it's been for hip-hop in general. Whilst Clipse, Ghostface, Trae, Suga Free and maybe even Murs were there for the number of us who actually look in to the critically acclaimed but not very high-selling rap albums, the big names didn't fair as well and you all know who they are so listing them seems pretty redundant. Plus there was that god-awful skateboard rap album by Lupe Fiasco that everyone except me seems to see something in.

However there was one rapper who was consistently on the ball and if the huge picture and his name being in this entries title didn't give it all away, that man was Li'l Wayne. He has spent the entire year flexing his vocal chords almost constantly and has in the process come out with two fantastic mixtapes as well as an official album with his "adopted father" Birdman. To add to that, despite "Idlewild" easily being Outkast's worst album to date, Li'l Wayne turned up on one of the albums decent tracks and completely stole the show right out from under Boi and Andre. He constantly kept the critics happy whilst being one of few artists this year to be throwing some decent hip-hop in to the mainstream.

However where Wayne has really brought himself to the front this year is through his constant Hurricane Katrina commentary. Being a New Orleans native, last years hurricane would obviously be a strong issue to the man. You could even say he sounded like a man who's childhood home had been destroyed and many old friends left homeless. Whilst Wayne did go for the obvious target of G.W (whilst probably justified), the real heart of this chain of music came from his clearly genuine, bleak and almost upsetting portrayal of the event and aftermath:

"We're from a town where everybody drowned"
"The hurricane took my Louisiana home/and all I got in return was a darn country song"

Obviously the written lyrics aren't as compelling without the delivery so grab the tracks below.

Birdman & Li'l Wayne - Stuntin' Like My Daddy
Outkast ft Li'l Wayne - Hollywood Divorce
Li'l Wayne - Georgia... Bush