We still don't have a firm release date for rapper Lil Wayne's oft-delayed, rock-oriented "Rebirth" album. Yet that didn't stop this Grammy-winning MC from New Orleans from shifting into rock-star mode Thursday night at Blossom Music Center.
He strapped on a bright red electric guitar for a few songs, including "Walk This Way." OK, so his rudimentary stab at the Aerosmith oldie wasn't about to put Steven Tyler & Co. out of business. Still, you have to give props to Weezy (as friends and fans call him) for stretching his hip-hop horizons.
In another unconventional yet welcome twist, Lil Wayne was backed for much of his 100-minute performance not only by the requisite turntablist (DJ Four Five), but also by a four-piece band. Lil Wayne didn't skimp on the production, either, with eye-popping video presentations and pyrotechnics enhancing the music.
"A Milli," an early highlight, found Lil Wayne expounding about his personal fortune and lyrical prowess, over a stuttering beat. "My name ain't Bic / But I keep that flame," he rapped. Teens and twentysomethings packed Blossom to welcome Lil Wayne back for his second Northeast Ohio appearance this year, following a concert at The Q in January.
"I'm in this [expletive]!" Lil Wayne declared as he took in the bucolic scenery at the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra. Roll over, Beethoven, indeed.
Blossom doesn't host many hip-hop shows, yet it served Lil Wayne well. The venue's superior acoustics seemed to add extra bounce to his speaker-rattling grooves.
Lil Wayne (whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.) isn't the most enlightened rapper in the game, but a perpetual jokester with a weakness for crude sophomoric humor. Leave it to him to take a reference to N.W.A.'s controversial "[Expletive] tha Police" and -- via the lascivious "Mrs. Officer" -- completely twist its meaning.
All the same, Lil Wayne can spit rhymes with the best. As he paced restlessly around the stage, it wasn't a stretch to imagine his handheld microphone as a mini-vacuum, hoovering one-liners and stream-of-consciousness observations straight out of his hyperactive mind.
We got a taste of his upcoming album via the catchy single "Prom Queen" (a duet with singer Shanell), although the set list favored proven crowd-pleasers such as "Got Money," "I'm Me" and "Lollipop."
The concert doubled as an extended infomercial for Young Money Entertainment, with appearances by Nicki Minaj, Gudda Gudda, Mack Maine and other artists signed to Lil Wayne's record label. Keep an eye on Lil Twist, a teenage up-and-comer with a frohawk -- part Afro, part Mohawk.
Crowd-warming duties were handled by Pleasure P, Jeremih, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Young Jeezy, whose high-octane set included a scene-stealing cameo by LeBron James. The show went on without Drake, the Canadian rapper with the Top 5 hit "Best I Ever Had," who dropped off the tour after injuring his knee last week.