Pitchfork

As if Lil Wayne's endless parade of guest verses wasn't enough, recently the New Orleans rapper has been showing up on other artists' tracks without even having to come up with fresh lean-assisted verbiage. In the tradition of David Banner's newish "Shawty Say", Los Angeles' Flying Lotus, aka Steven Ellison, samples Wayne's voice on "Robo Tussin", another surreal, exotica-flavored track from the Warp-signed hip-hop producer. The Wayne sample in question is basically the entirety of his verses from free-flowing Tha Carter III single "A Milli". The concept puts a clever twist on what has become something of a hip-hop rite lately; everyone from Jay-Z to your grandma has rapped over the Bangladesh-produced "A Milli" instrumental, so why shouldn't Ellison, who trades in instrumentals, redo "A Milli" as part of a different soundscape? Recognizing that the grain of Wayne's voice can be as distinctive and enjoyable as his highly allusive lyrics, Ellison plays with the pitch, rendering Weezy F. Baby less goon-- or goblin-- than gremlin. Pulsating tones and hallucinogenic squiggles drift over languid organic beats. "Robo Tussin" has a sense of humor, too, letting Wayne's "you ain't got shit" float on repeat to complete his simile about how "you're like a bitch with no ass." Walking and sitting would probably be as difficult as shitting, but "Robo Tussin" may be best heard lying down, super-supine.

MP3:> Flying Lotus: "Robo Tussin"
[from MySpace; original track from Tha Carter III, out now on Cash Money/Universal/Young Money]