Rock Star of the Year: Lil Wayne

Photograph by Tina Tyrell

"Lil Wayne is the new rock star," says Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz. "When he came on FNMTV, it was the equivalent of Elvis doing the hip shake. The crowd went crazier for him than the Jonas Brothers."

As of early November, Tha Carter III had sold more than three million copies worldwide and was on pace to be one of the biggest sellers of 2008. This fact is all the more impressive when you consider that in the two years preceding the album's release, Wayne's hazy croak was so ubiquitous that, by all rights, the world should've been well sick of it. He'd released hundreds of tracks for free both online and on such acclaimed mix tapes as Dedication 2 and Da Drought 3. When tunes slated for Tha Carter III leaked late in 2007, he released an EP of the songs straight to iTunes, which sold more than 200,000 copies. Add that to the dozens, if not hundreds, of verses he's spit on other artists' songs, and you can understand why Universal Motown, the label he's signed to through his longtime home, Cash Money Records, was worried there was just too much Lil Wayne out there. "There was concern," says Universal Motown president Sylvia Rhone. "Most artists can't really take the overload of product in the marketplace. But Wayne has the genius to flip his style every time he puts his voice on a record, so he's not like a lot of other artists."

According to Cash Money cofounder Bryan "Baby" Williams, the barrage of gray-market music in the years between Tha Carter II and III was not simply a useful outlet for Wayne's workaholic ways but also an acknowledgement of how the music industry has fundamentally changed. "That was how it was planned: Take it to the streets and let it grow from there," says Baby, who is so tight with Wayne they consider themselves father and son. "In today's economy, you have to do a lot to be relevant. You've got older people running these companies; they're stuck in the old ways. You can't just hold Wayne down and think, 'You can do an album every two years.' If you're riding like that, you're in trouble."

Far from it undercutting the sales of Tha Carter III, Wayne is convinced all the free music was actually responsible for the album's huge numbers. "That was my claim to fame," Wayne says, kicking back with a blunt and an ever-present Styrofoam cup of iced promethazine cough syrup, several hours before the session at the Hit Factory. "I had no star power, no financial backing, nothing in place. The world knew nothing of me. They just knew the rumors." Many of the rumors were of the romantic variety, including one that suggested he and Baby were more than friends (supported by a photo of the two kissing that set the blogs abuzz). "That's when I had to take a step back. I was like, 'Whoa, hold up—people are worried about how I kiss my father more than they're worried about this verse I just spit?' "

So Wayne redoubled his efforts in the studio and redirected his considerable energy. He spent nearly every night recording. If anyone wanted him on their song, he'd do it. (For a substantial fee, of course.) And every track he recorded, he released. If the commercial success of Tha Carter III proves anything, it's that consumers don't care about market saturation or competing sales models. If the music is good, they'll gladly fork over 15 bucks, even if the artist has plenty of other material available online for free.