Rap image more important than quality music?

You may have heard recently that Lil Wayne has released his highly anticipated ninth album, Tha Carter IV.  It probably wouldn't surprise you to hear how many records the album sold in its first week.  Although it didn't top the sales of its predecessor, Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne did pretty well for himself the week of August 30th.  Tha Carter IV sold 964,000 copies through retail and internet outlets in its first week, making it one of the year's best selling albums and one of the biggest releases in hip hop history. On the surface this isn't much of a surprise — Lil Wayne is a celebrity and his face and voice have been seen and heard nearly everywhere in promotion of The Carter IV's release.  He recently closed out the MTV Video Music Awards with a soulful serenade of "How to Love," his biggest crossover success to date, and a rock themed rendition of "John." The rapper then left the stage minutes before his album would release worldwide through iTunes. Tha Carter IV should stand right alongside the other Carter releases in cementing Lil Wayne's place atop Rap's throne, no matter what Jay-Z and Kanye West have to say, right?  The only problem, one that the 964,000 people who paid admission into Lil Wayne's spectacle of The Carter IV don't seem to realize, is that Lil Wayne stopped making good music a few years ago.  Sure he has had songs, "I'm on One" with Drake and Rick Ross off DJ Khaled's We The Best Forever release this summer or the aforementioned "How to Love" come to mind, but for the most part Lil Wayne has found a formula and stuck to it, unfortunately that equation doesn't always equal quality music.  But to show how exactly he fell from grace musically we must first breakdown his transition from Hot Boy to Hottest Out. Lil Wayne started as a member of the four-person group, the Hot Boys. They released a couple albums and as usual with groups, things didn't work out and they broke up.  But instead of falling out of the public eye and into oblivion like his group mates, Lil Wayne modeled himself after Jay-Z, the self proclaimed "Greatest Rapper Alive," in an attempt to take the title from him with The Carter.  It didn't work obviously, but it set the groundwork for Wayne and his growth as an artist.   He then released Tha Carter II, his best album to date and the first time he and other rappers like him from the South garnered real recognition as talented throughout the rap community.  He followed this breakthrough by releasing Dedication 2 and Da Drought 3, two mixtapes that were acclaimed and heralded by both media and fans alike, released an album with his "daddy", Cash Money Records owner Baby, and appeared on what seemed like any and everyone's song for about a two-year span.   At this point Lil Wayne was receiving buzz like no one before and he capitalized on it with Tha Carter III.  The album, which featured Wayne's biggest hits at the time "Lollipop", "A Milli" and "Got Money", was an overwhelming success, selling one million copies its first week and made Lil Wayne a celebrity. Rapper just wasn't a suitable enough title for this monstrosity anymore.  And since the release of The Carter III, Lil Wayne's position atop rap music has been basically unchallenged.  Jay-Z left retirement and tried rapping again, Kanye West tried singing and T.I. tried, and failed, to stay out of trouble, all the while Lil Wayne was still on top.  Not even a year in jail could derail Wayne's train; he came back just as hot as before and took back his spot as Rap music's king, for apparently no reason at all. Somehow a short, tattooed criminal from Louisiana became a celebrity in the same vein as Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, but without the quality music to back him up.  So while quality rappers plead to have their albums sell or even released, Lil Wayne has and continues to flourish like few before him.  He has not only made himself successful, but has also directly aided the stardom of Drake and Nicky Minaj, two artists under his Young Money label. And while other rappers have taken his style, expanded it and in many instances are doing it better, Wayne continues to be Wayne. He convincingly croons on "How to Love" that, "You've had a lot of crooks try and steal your heart." Well, it appears that Wayne is the one that has stolen America's heart.