Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne, who headlines KS-107.5's Back to School Jam over Young Jeezy, Drake, Soulja Boy and Jeremih, is in an uncommonly vulnerable position. After the enormous success of last year's Tha Carter III, a recording that managed to make weirdness irresistible, Wayne, apparently stoned on hubris, announced that he'd follow up with a rock album dubbed Rebirth. Unfortunately for him (and his fans' ears), the project's first single, "Prom Queen," which debuted in January, was so weak and hookless that even stations playing III material on tape loop steered clear, and its successor, March's "Hot Revolver," was even worse. After that, Rebirth, which was originally supposed to come out in April, around the time Wayne was on Rolling Stone's cover, was pushed back to June, only to be delayed again until November — and based on those first two samples, he'd be better off calling a do-over. After all, hip-hop needs him far more than rock does.