Recently I attended a Lil Wayne concert and his music and performance captured my attention and gave me a greater appreciation for poetry. At the concert I noticed an overwhelming amount of marks on his body that did not seem to be cuts or bruises. Once I took a closer look I noticed his body was like a canvas with tons of artistic tattoos that expressed his emotions and struggles almost as well as his lyrics. The words are written to look like he carved it with a razor blade; they are in a shade of red.
Additionally, he has two teardrops under his eye. The teardrops represent the people he has lost. They also represent the struggle he has endured through out his life. On the side of Lil Waynes face there is a fleur-de-lis. Lil Wayne is from New Orleans, Louisiana. His neighbor hood was one of the most affected areas during Hurricane Katrina. After the hurricane the city of New Orleans adopted the fleur-de-lis as a symbol to remember the storm. This tattoo shows that despite his gangster image he is still religious.
Lil Waynes tattoos represent a lot of what he has been through and what he believes in but his lyrics remind me of a more modern version of poetry. With each song it creates a story of an event that took place that made him who he is today. In the song I Miss My Dawgs he speaks about memories he has with his friends that he grew up with and that he will always he there for them no matter what. He expresses this when he states, If ya ever died I swear to God I got yo kids homie, Whats mine is their I gotta give homie. The lyrics express how caring, giving and guinne he is.
While at this concert the last thing I expected to hear from this man, that is sagging his jean shorts with no shirt on and covered in tattoos from the tip on his forehead as far as I can see on his legs, was lyrics about how much he cares about people and that even though they are writing hate songs to him he still has respect for them and misses them. When Lil Wayne was rapping most of his lyrics came off as if there was not a meaning behind his lyrics but after listening more closely I could hear his pain, anger, struggle, as well as his determination to make it to the top.
His determination is clear in his lyrics from Only Way when he says It ain’t coming to me so I gotta go get it. He also shows his willpower in his song The Sky is The Limit he says how he will do anything to become successful, And if you look high, you see that im gonna be in it, The sky is the limit. Lil Waynes lyrics have a lot of heart in them but tend to come off as cocky. Each song he did seemed so different then when I heard it on the radio because I could see his passion for what he was saying. Looking around me I saw I was surrounded by fans singing the songs as if they were their own.
Lil Wayne writes music that doesnt only sell but talks about real problems. I went into the Lil Wayne concert thinking I was going to listen to a bunch of catchy songs to dance to and left there with a completely different view on him as an artist and his lyrics. Poetry is a form of art that uses words to express feelings or tell a story. Poetry always seemed boring and pointless to me. I never appreciated poetry because I was never able to relate to the poems I read. I also think I did not appreciate poetry because I had never heard a poet read his poem.
When I read someone elses poem it tends to take away from the emotions the poet was trying to convey. I am never able to figure out who has written the poem, where the poet meant for the poem to take place, what tone of voice it was suppose to be read in, so I never understand what I am reading. Being able to see Lil Wayne in concert I can now see the difference between words, and words with meaning. When I hear the tone of his voice while he rapped his lyrics it was no longer just words on a piece of paper, he brought those words to life. While he was performing it was quite clear what emotions he was trying to provoke from the listener.
Additionally, when the listener, or reader, is able to relate to the artist their work gains meaning. To see how much what he was saying means to him and he is able to convey his emotions to the listener. Facial expressions also help to understand poetry more than I thought. I also had a different view of Lil Waynes lyrics because of his appearance. Lil Waynes tattoos spoke almost as loudly as his lyrics. Just by looking at him people are able to determine that he is a man that has been through a lot of struggles and his belief in God. I am now able to see the art in poetry. Lil Wayne is truly a modern day poet.
