Lil Wayne Brings Home 4 Grammys

No one at the Grammys had swagger like Lil Wayne. The New Orleans rap giant, who led the 51st Annual awards ceremony with eight nominations, took home four trophies at last night’s event.

Weezy’s Tha Carter III took home the Rap Album of the Year award, which was presented by T-Pain and will.i.am, beating out Jay-Z’s American Gangster, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, T.I.’s. Paper Trail and Nas’ self-titled project. His single “Lollipop” won for Rap Song of the Year, “A Milli” won for Rap Solo Performance of the Year and his effort on “Swagga Like Us” earned him a gramaphone for Best Rap Collaboration.

Wanye joined his “S.L.U.” partners in rhyme Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I. as well as a very pregnant M.I.A. for a blockbuster performance of the hit song. Dressed in black tuxes with white button ups, each lyricist spit his verse while a live band worked the instrumentals. M.I.A., whose baby was due the same day as the ceremony, bounced around the stage and hyped up the crowd.

Each artist, with the exception of M I A, had their own sets. Kanye assisted Estelle’s “American Boy,” Jay-Z teamed up with Coldplay for the remix to “Lost,’ Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke gave a sincere dedication to New Orleans and Katrina victims on “Tie My Hands,” while T. I. and Justin Timberlake tore the stage down with their performance of “Dead and Gone."

On the R&B side, Ne Yo, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson all performed at the awards gala. Whitney Houston presented J.Hud with the award for Best R&B album as the tearful songstress thanked both her family in heaven and her family on earth.

In a strange turn of events performances by both Chris Brown and his girlfriend Rihanna were canceled at the last minute, according to Billboard. Brown was charged with a domestic battery charge of an unidentified woman early Sunday morning and later turned himself in to local police.

The Grammys were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles California. - Shariff Duncan