10/06/07, Eugene

For some inexplicable reason, Lil’ Wayne, the self-proclaimed (and ear-endorsed) “best rapper alive,” hits Eugene this weekend, in what promises to be the easiest way to get really, really high without actually putting any sort of piece to your lips. Seriously, the cloud of smoke Weezy and crew will undoubtedly inspire will probably be visible from space.

All jokes aside, Lil’ Wayne has basically solidified that outrageous claim, putting out album after mixtape after album, and filling them with some of the finest, funniest and most original flow in mainstream rap.

Considering he recently transcended the aforementioned boast by very publicly declaring “I am hip-hop,” you really have no excuse to skip this (unless you’re like the ear, and made it rain a little too hard this past month and are low on, uh, stacks). Yeah, floor tickets are running north of $60 (to say nothing of the fifth of Hennessy you’ll need as well), but if you can swing it, the chances of such an important figure in rap coming up this way again in the near future are pretty slim.

Plus, with Fat Joe, Sean Kingston and Charlie Murphy in tow, you know you’ll get to hear at least a half-dozen versions and remixes of “Make It Rain,” Kingston’s unavoidable hit “Beautiful Girls,” and Murphy talking about drugs and somehow being less successful than Pluto Nash.