Any journalism student will tell you that the most difficult aspect of news writing is trying to convey information to your reader as clearly and efficiently as possible. In some cases, visuals are better in transmitting this information than words.
So of course the next logical step in reporting Lil Wayne’s dramatic hospitalization last weekend is to animate it so we all know exactly what happened to our favourite face-tattooed rapper.
From visiting the “hip hop hospital” to the most inappropriate (or appropriate, depending how you look at it) use of Baauer’s “Harlem Shake,” this is basically how I want all my celebrity news to be reported from here on out. The video even shows a miniature Lil Wayne mixing his own Sizzurp (which he is rumoured to be addicted to) and an Angel-version of Lil Wayne busting out some dance moves with Angel Elvis.
What your favourite part of this animated news report? Tell us in the comments!
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
If you were confused and concerned about Lil Wayne’s condition last night, you can now breathe a little easier. Contrary to what was being reported, the rapper is now recovering after being hospitalized for multiple seizures.
Things blew a little out of proportion last night when TMZ initially reported Friday evening that Lil Wayne was in critical condition at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles following a seizure.
The rapper was was first hospitalized on Tuesday night. He was released the next day but was soon taken back to the hospital after he was found unconscious in his room.
According to TMZ, the situation was extremely serious, with them reporting that Wayne was being given his last rites and that his family was surrounded around him to say their goodbyes. The update has since been deleted.
But contrary to this report, rapper Mack Maine tweeted that Lil Wayne was “alive and well” while another rapper Birdman tweeted,”My son is in good spirit…feelin much betta…be home soon. YMCMB.”
But if that didn’t satisfy those who were still in doubts, Lil Wayne officially tweeted, “I’m good everybody. Thx for the prayers and love.”
So with all of that being said, this has been one confusing ride. I’m still trying to make out what happened exactly, but his story goes to show that one must confirm all sources before publishing something!!
This must have been terribly embarrassing for TMZ.
Hopefully they’ll acknowledge their error so that future stories won’t go the same way.
“Scream & Shout” — Britney Spears & will.i.am
Seems like Britney Spears has been hanging out a bit too much with X-Factor exec Simon Cowell, because she’s rocking a pretty heavy British accent on will.i.am’s new track “Scream & Shout.” Off will.i.am’s upcoming album #willpower, the pop princess and hip-hop genius make magic together. The track is perfectly produced with will.i.am’s futuristic touch, and Brit’s famous line “It’s Britney, bitch” makes a comeback all the way from 2007s “Gimme More.” Although the collab sounds like a match made in heaven, I would have liked to hear Brit singing a little more. Oh well, it’s still going to make you dance your pants off. #Willpower hits stores early next year.
“No Worries” — Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne pays homage to Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in his new video for “No Worries,” which sees him replaying the famous drive through the desert and Vegas shenanigans from the film. Wayne plays the gonzo journalist with the infamous sunglasses and cigarette holder, his long-haired pal rides shot gun, and the two spend the rest of the video roaming through a casino high on ether. Enjoy!
“Freedom” — Nicki Minaj Read more…
Comedy Central’s Key and Peele imagined what it must have been like for Lil Wayne to serve his nearly year-long prison stint at Rikers Island in 2010 and it’s not pretty. Behind bars, the rapper is the least tough of the tough jailbirds.
Lil Wayne (played by a dreadlocked Jordan Peele) has a massive ego that is slowly deflated everyday he’s there. While he starts off rapping nonsensical lyrics he slowly starts hiding behind guards and eventually has nowhere to turn.
Wayne spent eight months in the New York prison for an attempted gun possession charge.
Watch it here
In the world of celebrity news, there’s no shortage of hits and misses. This week, Daniel Radcliffe parties like he’s Bill Murray and Kanye West made a few sex tapes.
HIT: Daniel Radcliffe parties with an Irish soccer team like a boss
Daniel Radcliffe pulled a Bill Murray and thus, making him “Awesome Person of the Week.” Apparently, Radcliffe was walking around Dublin, Ireland at 4 a.m. when he ran into Dublin’s minor Gaelic Football team. The team just came off of winning the All Ireland title and they invited Radcliffe to join in on the festivities. Radcliffe hung out with their team at a house party for two hours and was even drinking out of their trophy. Now I can truly say I want to party like a wizard.
MISS: Kanye West might have two sex tapes floating around
TMZ is reporting that not one, but TWO, sex tapes with Kanye are being shopped around. Apparently, one of the ladies Kanye was with looks like Kim Kardashian. Obviously, that revelation has sparked rumours that it is Kim in the videos and was filmed while she was supposedly still with Kris Humphries. Ew! Why? This is just another piece of Kanye-Kim info I did not need to know. Ever.
HIT: Lil’ Wayne opens skate park in New Orleans
When he’s not making weird depositions in court, Lil’ Wayne can often be found skating. It would only make sense for Lil’ Wayne to have his own skatepark. Instead of making one in his own backyard, the rapper decided to open a public skatepark in his hometown of New Orleans. His Trukstop park was constructed within a building that survived Hurricane Katrina and will be opened to the public seven days a week. Thanks to Wayne, the skate-obsessed youths of New Orleans now have a new place to skate without risking running into the cops.
MISS: Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong checks into rehab after Bieber flip-out
Green Day front-man Billie Joe Armstrong had a bit of a freak out at a iHeartRadio Music festival in Las Vegas last week. Armstrong was given the one-minute warning mark which prompted him to start a expletive-laced tirade, including, “What the f*ck! I’m not f*cking Justin Bieber, you mother*ckers.” Apparently, he was drinking a lot before Green Day’s set and has since checked into a rehab facility as of Sunday. Hopefully Armstrong can conquer living with his addiction. We’d all like to hear some more Green Day.
HIT: photos of an 18-year-old Victoria Beckham surface
Photos of a pre-Spice Girls Victoria Beckham have been making its round on the internet and holy hell, does she look good! Beckham obviously doesn’t have the modeling skills she has now, but she still looks really cute. With both mom and dad’s good looks, the photos cement the fact that little baby Harper Beckham will be quite a stunner when she grows up.
MISS: Paris Hilton was caught on tape making ignorant comments
Paris Hilton might as well pretend she’s filming The Simple Life 24/7 because she keeps getting caught doing stupid things. This time, a cab driver taped Hilton saying some pretty ignorant things about gay men. The heiress was with an openly gay model who was trying to explain Grindr, an app gay men use to find hook-ups. “Ewww. Eww. To get fucked?,” she was taped saying. “Gay guys are the horniest people in the world… They’re disgusting. Dude, most of them probably have AIDS.” While she’s since released an apology, I haven’t taken anything she’s done seriously since episode one of The Simple Life.
It appears that Lil Wayne’s head or too inflated or he’s officially run out of f*cks to give because his videotaped deposition during a legal proceeding is one of the most pitiful things we’ve seen. You’d think the rapper would put a little more thought into his answers considering he’s the one suing Quincy Jones III over a documentary about him.
During the proceedings it seems he can’t remember ANYTHING that’s happened to him and if he does answer a question it comes out as complete gibberish.
According to TMZ Lil Wayne agreed to let QJ III follow him around for a few months to document his life while he was producing his album Tha Carter III. However, Lil Wayne was disappointed with the final product and called it a “scandalous portrayal” of his life.
In this video, Lil Wayne is questioned by Quincy’s lawyer Pete Ross. The best conversation?
Watch it here:
Technically these two new songs aren’t solely by Wiz Khalifa, but he’s featured in both of them and we can’t resist the power of Wiz.
The rapper drives around in a red sports car in Curren$y’s new video “Jet Life,” the second single off the MC’s album The Stoned Immaculate.
Meanwhile, in the Matt Alonzo-directed video for ”Celebration,” Game throws a BBQ with famous friends Wiz, Chris Brown, Tyga and Lil Wayne. Wiz takes his place at a picnic table in a laid back-looking straw hat. The track is from Game’s upcoming album Jesus Piece, which is due out in December.
“Jet Life” — Curren$y (ft. Big KRIT and Wiz Khalifa)
“Celebration” — Game (ft. Chris Brown, Tyga, Wiz Khalifa and Lil Wayne) Read more…
Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz has already worked with Drake, Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown and Kanye West. The roster is impressive considering his debut album Based On A T.R.U Story, which debuted at number one on Billboard 200, only came out this month. During a phone call with ANDPOP’s Azra Kassam, he chatted about the most important lesson he learned from the almighty Kanye West and his biggest accomplishment (it might surprise you).
Musically speaking, his first album hits close to home
2 Chainz said the release day for his album felt like the first day of school. “This is my first album. It took me my whole life to put it together,” he said. So it was only natural that he wanted to pay homage to his Atlanta hometown. “Over half the project is done by Atlanta producers so I still have that hometown feel,” he explained. “There are great influences on there, great features, great production… I think people will be able to relate to it in all areas.”
Kanye West taught him the importance of art and images
“The dude is very creative,” 2 Chainz said about fellow rapper Kanye West. The Watch the Throne rapper taught him how art can add another dimension to the hip hop genre. “Artistic expression…it’s another way to express yourself without talking,” he said. “That’s something Kanye brought to my attention…it’s all about images.” His description of working with West on the “Birthday Song” single? “It was a combination of an overload of confidence with a touch of cockiness!”
One of his biggest accomplishments so far is influencing others to vote Read more…
In the world of celebrity news, there’s no shortage of hits and misses. This week, Robert Pattinson gets funny on Good Morning America and Ryan Lochte lands a cameo on 90210.
HIT: Robert Pattinson delivers a zinger during one awkward interview
The Good Morning America crew is no Jon Stewart when it comes to comedy, but at least Pattinson was able to deliver his own zinger about the bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch they presented him in lieu of ice cream. “I’d like my fans to know that Cinnamon Toast Crunch only has 30 calories a bowl in it.” Start the slow clap.
MISS: Ryan Lochte lands a 90210 cameo
Lochte has what I like to call the “David Beckham” problem. Both are incredible athletes and they look damn good, but when they open their mouths, the illusion is shattered. While Beckham’s voice doesn’t match his physique, Lochte’s less than eloquent speech and tweets just makes me wish I never heard him talk. Adding to this is his less than impressive bit in Funny or Die’s “Olympic Ticket Scalper” video which also starred Sir Patrick Stewart, Simon Pegg and Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams. I really hope the 90210 writers give him one really easy line because I don’t think he can handle anything more than that.
HIT: Jennifer Aniston gets engaged
Aniston’s boyfriend Justin Theroux finally popped the big question on his birthday last Friday. Aniston reportedly cried tears of joy while tabloid editors wept for the end of their favourite tabloid storyline. Good riddance to all the Jen vs. Angie headlines that have plagued us. The only time I want to see an Angie headline is when Big Ange is laying down the law on Mob Wives.
MISS: Lil Wayne rumoured to quit rapping for skateboarding
If you’ve been following Lil Wayne on Twitter, it’s no secret that the rapper is really into skateboarding nowadays. He’s been hanging out with a number of pros and even injured himself earlier this year. “”I picked up the skateboard and I thought it’d be a hobby and what happened is it’s a lifestyle…,” he said in a radio interview with Atlanta’s HOT107.9. “Rap is taking a backseat to skating.” I really hope he doesn’t think he can turn pro that easily. Good skating is more than just flip tricks and rails. Just like rap, it’s about your flow and style, something you can’t develop in one year.
HIT: McKayla Maroney thinks her meme is funny Read more…
Aziz Ansari has some amazing hip hop cred. Although the funny man may not be a rapper himself, he can name Jay-Z and Kanye West as his friends and has even appeared in their “Otis” music video.
His musical affiliations go a little deeper as someone had the brilliant idea of photoshopping Ansari’s face into famous rap albums on the Tumblr, Emceez Ansari. Some highlights are 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Trying,” Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, LIl’ Wanye’s “Tha Carter IV” and R. Kelly’s “Double Up.”
I don’t know why but I can hear Ansari yell, “RAAAANNNNNDDDYYYY” in my mind every time I see a photo of him. You can practically hear it when you look at the “Get Rid of Die Trying” cover.
We’re used to seeing rappers as hard edged guys that talk about guns, drugs, sex and prison. That’s why it’s so bizarre seeing them pose for their primary school photos as wide-eyed children. My fave photo is Usher’s because the cheeky little guy looks like he knows something we don’t know. I also have to give a shout-out to Lil Wayne who sacrificed time out of his precious day and is NOT happy about it. Clearly his school photographer didn’t use one of those inherently funny jingly stuffed animals to crack a smile.
Just after seeing Drake’s collaboration video with Rihanna for “Take Care”, the Toronto rapper has dropped another video this weekend for his song “HYFR” featuring Lil’ Wayne.
“HYFR” (which stands for “Hell Yeah, F***ing Right”) opens with a young Drizzy dancing and saying “Mazel Tov”.
After the little wayback playback in Drake’s younger days, the real party starts with the rapper making his friends drink and do the hora!, just like any bar mitzvah.
It’s not surprising that Drake can do a spot-on impersonation of Lil Wayne considering that he’s spent a lot of time with the rapper and that he played Jimmy on Degrassi. Somehow though, the interviewer Tim Westwood is completely mesmerized by Drizzy’s audition for Lil Wayne’s Lifetime movie.
Drake mastered Lil Wayne’s raspy voice and his ability to go from happy to serious in a short span of time. It’s okay though, because the two are good friends so it’s all in good humour.
Watch it below:
“Take It To The Head” is a star-riddled song by DJ Khaled featuring Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown, and apparently they all want to get drunk and take alcohol “to the head.”
“Now we gonna get fucked up/ No excuses, no apologies,” Chris eloquently sings. It seems like DJ Khaled likes dropping these all-star songs that feature an array of performers, though we all know they’re the star acts. He must have one big rolodex.
This is the first single off DJ Khaled’s new album That Will Be Called Kiss the Ring. The track was produced by The Runners (who did Rick Ross’ “Hustlin” and Jeezy’s “Go Getta”).
Nicki Minaj’s new song “Roman Reloaded” starts appropriately enough with a gun being loaded. The song is the title track from her upcoming album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, and features Lil’ Wayne.
The track is heavier on rap than her last song Starships but I don’t find it as catchy. It’s a return to the spitfire verses she started with and really showcases how fast she can spew out her rhymes.
I’m doubly impressed that the song seems to be pretty timely. It even mentions her recent Grammy performance in which she was the star of an exorcism.
Would you rather here more songs like Roman Reloaded or Starships on her new album?
Two years ago, you may remember the rapper being sent to Rikers Island on a gun possession charge. Now, Lil Wayne’s 8 month stint in jail will be immortalized in a memoir to be published later this year.
His upcoming memoir is titled “Gone Til November” and I think Lil Wayne should do more time for stealing this title from Wyclef Jean. The Haitian musician penned a chart-topping song by the same title many years ago.
Billboard reports Lil Wayne’s tell-all will be published via Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, on November 28. The rapper’s latest album, “Tha Carter IV” sold 964,000 in its first week and perhaps the same will follow through with his memoir.
Lil Wayne is expanding his empire even further with a sports show. The weekly talk show will be called ”Weezy’s Sports Corner.”
“I don’t know if you’re familiar, but when I was locked up, I was blogging,” he says in his announcement video.
The show will be unscripted conversation about sports, with other sports personalities each week as panelists.
Do you think Weezy knows anything about sports?
WEEZY’s SPORTS CORNER 12/24/11 1 OF 7 from DERICK G on Vimeo.
Lil’ Wayne is expanding his empire with a skateboard clothing line. He will debut his Trukfit apparel line at the Agenda trade show in Long Beach, California. Wayne is passionate about skateboarding and street culture, so this should be a fit.
“Lil Wayne has long been recognized as a music and pop culture icon,” said Trukfit representative Sarah Cunningham. “He has developed a unique style — both sonically and visually — and extending his brand and vision into apparel was a natural progression. As Lil Wayne is passionate about skateboarding, it only made sense for him to infuse that passion into Trukfit.”
Sarah also says that Wayne is so serious about skateboarding that he often rides at the local park after getting done with a show.
Apparently the Uggs phenomenon is nowhere near over – and it’s just entering its next phase of the life cycle. Assuming Lil Wayne has anything to do with it.
In Drake’s newest video for “The Motto,” Lil Wayne shows off his newest footwear. His choice is the DayGlo green ugg-style boots.
So what do you think. Are they cool or tacky?
Canadian homeboy Drake loves the west coast so much he had shoot his latest video for “The Motto” in the Bay area of California.
Along for the ride were Lil Wayne, Tyga E-40 and Mistah F.A.B. as they all show up in his new video for the bonus track off his new album, “Take Care”.
Drake revealed in an interview the video was made entirely on real film, something most performers rarely do in this digital age.
While the cars in the video are nice to look at, their outfits…not so much. When you have to pay thousands of dollars for such fancy car rentals, there may not be room left in the budget for styling. Drake is seen wearing a cheetah print winter coat and Lil Wayne tried to rock bright green winter boots. I wonder what Anna Wintour of Vogue has to say about this.
The video wasn’t without it’s good moments. For instance, the beginning opens with the mother of the late rapper Mac Dre sending out a heartfelt message to her slain son.
Check out “The Motto” below.
