Thursday, September 5, 2013

The literary devices of Lil Wayne


Too often we take the brilliant nuance of Weezy's raps for granted. His literary and rhetorical devices enhance his literature by making it rich with connotations and double entendres. We all know that Weezy F Baby is not your average Trinidad John James Doe. So what makes him so special? Well, let's find out.

For purposes of this list, definitions for literary devices were found on Wikipedia and the dictionary.

Metonymy: A figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated. 

Weezy Example: “But I swear with these 50 shots I’ll shoot it out with 5-O.” – Rich as Fuck

Metonymy is when you use a part of a whole to describe a whole. It’s like saying The White House to describe our whole body of government, or “lend me a hand” to mean “I need your help.” Here, Weezy is referring to all of law enforcement by calling them the names of what their patrol cars used to be. This originated with Tu-Pac’s lyric, as he described the cars cops drove in California in the late 80’s with 5.0 engines. Many also believe 5-O originated with the 70’s television show “Hawaii Five-O” about a fictional division of cops in Hawaii whose section was named after the state becoming the 50th of the U.S.

Antanaclasis: The stylistic scheme of repeating a single word or phrase but with a different meaning.

Weezy Examples: “But it’s like as soon as I cum, I come to my senses.” – Love Me ft. Drake, Future

Weezy uses the word "come" to mean two distinctly different things - to "cum" during sex and to "come" to his senses. He employs this antanaclasis to emphasize the contrasting parts of orgasm: the build up, which is a foggy haze of euphoria, and the climax, which presents the opportunity to return to reality.

“I’m rollin’ on a pill, rollin’ up some reefers.” – 30 Minutes to New Orleans

Here, "rollin'" first connotes an intense high, a word usually associated with Molly, a purer form of ecstasy. Then it means the literal act of rolling up a joint of marijuana. A teachable moment here: Weezy shows us that antanaclasis is the perfect way to express that one is under the influence of multiple drugs at once.

“Shawty say she wanna lick the wrapper, and she gonna lick the rapper.” – Lollipop

Once again, Tunechi hits the jackpot with an antanaclasis. He utilizes a candy "wrapper" to suggest fellatio - both activities that require the use of the tongue. This example doubles as a homophone, as "wrapper" and "rapper" sound the same but have different meanings. Interestingly enough, it could be argued that through the use of this antanaclasis, Weezy has set up direct ties between himself, the "rapper" and a lollipop, essentially objectifying himself. Has Lil Tune turned hip hop's objectification on its "head," telling chauvinism to go "suck it," or is he simply "lolli"gagging around? Jk, the song's totally sexist.



Anthimeria: The use of a noun as if it were a verb.

Weezy Examples: “I, I, I all night it, I every day it.” – 100 Million, Birdman ft. Weezy

An anthimeria has the power to create anthems. You can "every day" anything you fucking want, and like, in my opinion, "every day"ing anything is way cooler and more profound than just doing something every day. But that's just my opinion. Thanks, anthimeria. You're some Space Jam shit.

Antimetabole: The repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order (e.g., “I know what I like, and I like what I know.”)

“All my bitches loves me, and I love all my bitches.” – Love Me ft. Drake, Future

“I tried to pay attention, but attention paid me.” – She Will ft. Drake

Clearly, the second example is the more accurate antimetabole of the two. Here, Weezy F. Babiecakes expresses his failure to concentrate in school, which resulted in his stardom and eventually being paid by fans who totally appreciate that he is a literary genius.

Epanalepsis: A figure of speech in which the same word or phrase appears both at the beginning and at the end of a clause.

W.E.: “Bitch, I’m hood, bitch.” – 100 Million by Birdman ft. Weezy

Without the last bitch of this exclamatory sentence, Weezmaster would not be nearly as hood. Epanalepsis to the rescue.

Epizeuxis: Emphasizing an idea using one word repetition.

W.E.: “Weezy F., Weezy F., Weezy F. Baby.” – Every song ever

WEEZY F BABY WEEZY F BABY WEEZY F WEEZY F YA YA YA YA WUTUP I wonder who was the first rapper to use epizeuxis? #probablythefirstrapperever



Non Sequitur: A conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement.

W.E.: Better turn to God, ‘fore I turn to Godzilla/how the fuck you gon’ talk shit to diarrhea/Muthafucka it’s on, I’m just rubbing ‘em wrong/Put a bug in my ear, but not in my phone. – Trigger Finger

Ok, so, I'm not exactly positive that this is a non sequitur; Tunechi has a purpose for everything. But, I just have no idea what it means or how the verses are related to each other.

Paramoisos: Parallelism of sound between the words of two clauses approximately equal in size, i.e. “Open to gifts and open to words.”

W.E.: “Got a red ass bitch with a red ass pussy.” – Rich as Fuck ft. 2 Chainz

A red ass bitch should always have a red ass pussy, hence the paramoisos. These two clauses are, indeed, parallel in sound and equal in size, aka importance. 

Metaphor: A figure of speech that desribes a subject by asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated object.

I'm sure Weezy would agree that metaphors are like breasts: they come in all different forms and they can be in different positions, and they have the potential to be super beautiful, even when you have no idea why they're there.

W.E.: “I let two women ride me, that’s car-poolers.” – 4 My Town by Birdman ft. Drake and Weezy

“She ride this dick, her titties jiggle, that’s my pillows/That’s because I sleep in that ho.” – Tapout by Future ft. Weezy

“They throw dirt on my name, well that’s why they still dig me.” – No New Friends by DJ Khaled ft. Rick Ross, Drake, Weezy

“And you already know you’re too fly/But baby, don’t get your hair caught in the propellers.” – Beware by Big Sean ft. Weezy

Doubles as homonym and metaphor: “These hoes want that hose pipe, so I give all these hoes pipe.” – Rich as Fuck ft. 2 Chainz

Barely a metaphor: “Met a female dragon, had a fire conversation.” – HYFR ft. Drake

Simile: A figure of speech that directly compares two things through come connective, usually “like,” “as”,” “than,” or a verb such as “resembles.”

Similes are like the double-D breasts of metaphors: they're more obvious and explicit, also they need some more support from the body, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful.

W.E.: “Pussy like a sea shell, dick like a V-12.” – Tapout by Future ft. Weezy

“She get on that dick and stay on, all night like porch lights.” – Rich as Fuck ft. 2 Chainz

“What goes around comes around like a hula hoop.” – She Will

“My nuts hang like ain’t no curfew.” – HYFR ft. Drake

“She give me brain, brain like trivia.” – Cashed Out

“Put that bitch out like a house fire.” – Rich as Fuck ft. 2 Chainz

Rap Genius says this house fire line could reveal 2 similes:

1.) “Wayne is implying that this “white girl” is so hot, he had to put her fire out by spreading his “juice” on her.
2.) Also, he is suggesting that she had to leave his house right after the blow job, hence “put that bitch out.”

A personal favorite: “We pop ‘em like Orville Redenbacher.” – A Milli

Paraprosdokian: A figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part.

W.E.: “We fucked up, we truk’d up, no ifs, ands or butt fucks.” – Rich as Fuck ft. 2 Chainz

Weezy throws us off with this one. This paraprosdokian also serves to emphasize the idea that there so strongly are no buts allowed that they have morphed into the painful human counterpart of their lowly grammatical standing. Weezy reminds us that we might as well be penetrated anally if doubtful conjunctions get in the way of our self fulfillment. 

Epiphora: The repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.

W.E.: “I feel her heartbeat, I chest to chest with this bitch/Now turn around, face down, I’m arrestin’ this bitch.” – Love Me

“It’s Weezy F., the monster, even F your mama/Even ex your mama, leave you next to mama.” – 30 Minutes to New Orleans

Hope you enjoyed this bitch/It took a long time to research bitch/Now log off, go to sleep and fucking dream about Lil Wayne's genius, bitch.

But wait, no, we're not done. Here's 3 analogies in a row about pussy:

“Pussy like a oven, too hot to put my tongue in
All I had to do is rub it, the genie out the bottle
Pussy so wet, I’mma need goggles.” – High School ft. Nicki Minaj


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