Was Lil’ Wayne really pwned by mixtape DJs?

Man, those mixtape DJs fucking showed Lil' Wayne who's boss. Or did they?

This weekend, the Internets went all nucking futs with word that Lil' Wayne's highly anticipated Tha Carter III had just taken a leak. Supposedly, some mixtape DJs had gotten pissed off about some shit Wayne had said about mixtape DJs, during an interview with a mixtape magazine (seriously?) called Foundation, and decided to leak his shit.

I believe Lil' Wayne's exact words were, "Fuck you if you a mixtape DJ. I'm doing Lil' Wayne. I'm against [mixtapes], anti-mixtape dude. I don't know no mixtape DJs. Bitch, I'm flowing from the survival scrolls!"

[Note: I inserted that last bit for my own personal amusement.]

I missed most of this, because I was drunker than a motherfucker. I posted that shit about Fiddy Cent's baby's mother the other day, then I went to work for a few hours, then I went to work on the great American lager.

Work at the day job was especially traumatic at work last week, for whatever reason. I don't know if it was the weather or what. And I'm not gonna lie: I was a little bit broken up about Noz and Maurice Garland having to be let go last week. I'm gonna miss both of them, not so much because I appreciated the work that they did, but because I tend to be emotional like that. I grow attached to shit. Nullus.

So I woke up Saturday morning, and Fiddy Cent's house being burned down was old news. All over the hip-hop Internets, there was shit about Lil' Wayne: people talking about how Lil' Wayne got pwned for having the sheer balls to fuck with mixtape DJs; everyone posting that song he did with Jay-Z, as if it was really all that interesting; mofos congratulating themselves because because they had the album a day before everyone else. It was insane!

Fortunately, a guy who occasionally does album reviews for my own site busted out a review, which I went ahead and posted this weekend; and some other people made sure I got a copy of my own. I downloaded it, but I've yet to actually give it a listen. If I get especially hard up for shit to write about later in the week, maybe I'll complain and make all kinds of sideways comments about people who actually have shit to write about give it a listen and let you know what I think.

For now, there's the matter of what could have been one of this year's best-selling rap albums having been purposely leaked, in retaliation. Supposedly. Frankly, I'm not sure if that's really what happened, or if that's just what a few random-ass mixtape DJs no one ever heard of would like us to think.

This weekend, before I even stopped to consider that this all might be a bunch of BS, it occurred to me that this was so close to the album's release date that it probably wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. Albums get leaked way further than 10 days in advance of their release dates all the time these days, and even albums that are considered a success as far as avoiding being leaked still show up on the Internets the week before they hit stores.

Then, in the next couple of days, a few other things happened, which really caused my bullshit meter to go off. First, there's some guy on MySpace trying to claim sole credit for the leak. But he really could use more people. I don't doubt that the guy had access to the album before, say, I did; but I'm wondering who this guy is that he would even have access to the album before everyone else. Do the labels actually send him shit in advance of release dates because they revere his status as a tastemaker (on MySpace) or did he come across Tha Carter III the same way most album leaks happen? I'm guessing the latter.

In the email blast he sent out with leaks to the album for download, he presents it as if it's some sort of united front amongst mixtape DJs. But again, this guy could use more people. I checked the sites of the few mixtape DJs I could think of (who I look like?), and I didn't see any links to the new Lil' Wayne album, along with angry screeds about how this ought to show him to respect mixtape DJs. If this was really a matter of mixtape DJs, collectively, getting together to teach Lil' Wayne a lesson, you'd think there'd be someone we know of who's in on this.

As if mixtape DJs are really such renegades that they'd have the balls to leak such a big major label release. You know these guys are in the pockets of the major labels - DJ Drama's accidentally getting arrested that time notwithstanding. Speaking of which, Lil' Wayne's handlers had him call into DJ Drama's satellite radio program to clarify what actually went down this weekend, and his official position re: mixtape DJs. According to Lil' Wayne, even though he said fuck you if you a mixtape DJ, what he really meant to say is that he didn't like this guy DJ Empire putting out compilations of shit he originally recorded with other mixtape DJs, like Drama.

Hmm...

So it sounds like what really might be going on here is a sort of class war between mixtape DJs. On the one hand, you've got corporate-approved guys like DJ Drama, who basically function as a promotional arm for the recording industry (regardless of what they'd have you think), and therefore get to have access to guys like Lil' Wayne. Nullus? And then on the other hand, you've got guys like DJ Empire, who's basically a pirate. He gathers together exclusive songs and freestyles meant for guys like DJ Drama and puts them out under his own banner, for his own personal enrichment.

My guess is that this guy from MySpace falls into the latter category, and he took Wayne comments in Foundation as an affront to other bums such as himself, who live in their moms' basements and assemble their own mixtapes from bits and pieces of other peoples' work - not so much guys like DJ Drama. If that's the case, it'd be hard for me to actually cosign some shit like that. But I can't claim I'm too upset to watch Lil' Wayne take an L on this one, regardless.

What do you fruits think? Does this guy from MySpace have a legitimate beef against guys like Lil' Wayne and DJ Drama, or vice versa? Or do all of these assholes form one huge collective stain on hip-hop? Speak on it.