Lil’ Wayne and Asher Roth: Millionaire vs. Middle Class

“A Milli” – Lil’ Wayne vs. “A Milli Remix” – Asher Roth

How do the POV of a rapper who makes “a milli” and a dude from the burbs who never made “a millie” differ?

A milli is a lot of money. You can go on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Or you can write a song that other famous rappers remix. But if you can’t boast about your money, your car, or your chick… It must means your middle class and got no swag.

Lil’ Wayne making quite a bit of money, at just 28 years old.

Millionaires have diamonds for teeth.

He's got it going on, according to himself.

“A millionaire, I'm a young money millionaire
Tougher than Nigerian hair”

Do you know how tough Nigerian hair is? Me neither.

I wonder what salon they went to...

Asher Roth is 23 years old, and is just now beginning to get his career in gear. 

He liked college so much, he wrote a song about it.

Here’s what he’s got to say about makin’ millions.

“A million here, a million there
Yeah you got a mil, but for real dog, nobody cares”

These two aren’t seeing eye to eye on something. 

Weezy:

“My criteria compared to your career this isn't fair
I'm a venereal disease like a menstrual bleed”

Ok, so Lil’ Wayne has managed to make the cover of Rolling Stone.  Twice. But comparing your musical fame to that of a disease is still just a lil’ gross. Infectious beats indeed.

Asher:

“Heard Asher’s Millie he ain't talking ‘bout me though,

Yes I am, yo, you call yourself a man

But it ain't about the money, it's about what you stand for,

This is for my people who can't afford pampers,

Wake up in the morning got my clothes out the hamper”

Preach, you pamper-advocate. Nothing wrong with doing your own laundry. Weezy just got called out.

Lil' Wayne impersonator trying to coerce a lil' kid to the dark side.

His audience obviously shops at Walmart and believes there’s more to life than money. Ideals are all they can afford. Get it?

Weezy:

“I go by dem goon rules 

if you can’t beat ‘em then you pop ‘em, 

You can’t man ‘em then you mop ‘em, 

You can’t stand ‘em then you drop ‘em, 

You pop e’m cuz we pop ‘em like Orville Redenbacher”

Lil’ Wayne plays by gang rules. He’s been known to wear lots of red, to rep’ his gang of choice: the Bloods. Wether or not he’s actually in it, is up for debate. 

Hopefully this pic made it into their "College Yearz" photo album.

This is still a form of product placement that someone with money and influence should’t be  promoting. And I don’t mean the part about popcorn.

Asher: 

“A million dead, a million scarred,

A million bars till' you realize you took it too far,

With your cars and your guns, ha, hardy-har-har”

Asher is getting to the serious stuff now. Why turn on CNN when you can just listen to him rap about gun control? 

But seriously folks, he’s got a point. Guns don’t kill people, out of control people do.

Weezy:

“Motherfucker I'm ill, not sick

And I'm o.k., but my watch sick

Yeah my drop sick

Yeah my glock sick

Am I not thick?

I'm it

Motherfucker I'm ill”

This is the part where he gets to show off all the cool stuff he’s bought. He’s got a snazzy rolex, he can spit well,  and he’s got a nifty firearm. He’s also ill, which is a superior level of sick, if you didn’t know.

Asher: 

“Yo they get to the pros and don't do shit,

Like they Reddick,

When I get that check,

I'm gonna take it right to the medic,

Cause these sick kids need it more than I need a necklace”

Gettin’ nifty glocks is not his perogative when it comes to making money off his music. It’s nice to want to give back. Lil’ Wayne has given to charity, specifically to his home of New Orleans. But he also has a grill shinier than my grandmother’s wedding rings.

One has to wonder if they purposefully chose to make both cartoon characters caucasian...

Weezy:

“I do what I do and you do what you can do about it, bitch”

I hope what he’s saying here is: “I’m a lil bit street, and you’re a lil bit urban. We can still be friends.”

Here’s the final word on these words:

“When I wrote my ‘A Milli’ freestyle, that was me listening to 10 years of hip hop and not relating to it at all. Like, damn, I don’t sell coke. Damn, I don’t have cars or 25-inch rims. I don't have guns. I finally got to a point where I had the confidence to do this thing myself, and I was making music for me. And it turns out, a lot of people feel the same way I do.” - Asher Roth

The content matters when it comes to lyrics.