Aside from Q-Tip's kind of fun idea of borrowing the "The Symphony" concept (please shoot a video), there is some genuine insight to be drawn from this remix, and it comes, of course, with Wayne's verse at the end. No it's not the absence of auto-tune or rock star tropes, and neither is it that he has some great lines ("Ever since I made it up out of Middle America, everybody wanna be up in my genital area."). It's that he truly sons three New York legends at their own game, rapping like he grew up on Linden Blvd wrecking basic beats. This is the answer for old NYC rap heads who screw their faces when a carload of kids drives by blasting Weezy. Kids like him because he kills shit, not because they suddenly love a different geography. As soon as a kid from the boroughs steps up like this, everybody will back him. But it's kind of revealing that on this all-star remix, the Big Apple is represented by three rappers in the twilights of their careers, and the "crazy guy" from Louisiana is the reason Hot 97 has played this song a hundred times over the last two days.
Download: Q-Tip f. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon & Lil Wayne, "Renaissance Rap (Remix)"
**BONUS** Katie Couric's Lil Wayne Interview Teaser:
