Word is that Lil' Wayne was hunched over a writing pad to lay down his first rhymes at his post-incarceration studio recording session. Being confronted with the inability to simply record every thought he had, and using mix tapes as his primary form of rough drafting and revising, Wayne sacrifices a reputation of sorts by "writing" music. What is the significance of not writing?
On one hand, Lil' Wayne represents a rhetorical strategy that goes back to Athens and Galilee. Brilliant minds that are capable of influencing millions without having to write anything down are significant. Socrates never wrote, he merely had a habit for dialogue that engaged countless minds. Socrates' revision was in his conversation. One can imagine Christ establishing a similar ethos. Granted, Plato created the legend that is Socrates, so who can say for sure if such a man intended to be a rhetorical masterpiece. The point I am trying to make here is that Milton's Paradise Lost stands alone as a textual phenomenon; how much more impressive is it that he was blind and had to dictate the entire thing to his daughters? Despite the accusations of child abuse, it's impressive that a man is capable of the mental fortitude and memory that revising such a piece demands.
Now, substitute Wayne's studio mic for Milton's daughters, and imagine the disappointinng turn Milton's reputation would take if we found evidence of written manuscripts suggesting Milton had his sight all along. I should probably, of course, be crucified for comparing Lil' Wayne to Jesus, Socrates, and Milton, all while presuming at least the pretext of a serious conversation. Nonetheless, a blow has been dealt the romantic image of the writer. Is the Muse dead?
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