Hawaiian Punch and Promethazine Codeine Cough Syrup...Yum!

Don't judge me until you meet me -- and you know when we're gonna be meeting? Never.

-- Lil Wayne, quoted in Vibe

Everyone knows I am buddies with John Corbett. In fact, look for him to guest blog later this week, provided he's not too drowsy from all that cough medicine.

;) j/k buddy!


But long before I shared an ultimate trio with the-Applebee's-spokesman-formerly-known-as-Aidan-Shaw (true story)...

Oh shit that probably had trans fats

...I used to kick it with Lil Wayne.

Since all that madness, though, it seems Wayne has fallen further down the rabbit hole. I'm not talking about his music; Jeff Weiss' recent piece in Idolator summed up the hysteria surrounding his "genius" well. My favorite line:

Given the chance to appear on Graduation and American Gangster, two rap albums from 2007 that were good enough to receive burn beyond the turn of the decade, Weezy whiffed—squandering the rare opportunity to broaden his fanbase beyond his key constituency of Southerners, 13-year olds, and white music critics with 180+ IQs, prestigious liberal arts degrees, and questionable taste in hip-hop.

For the record, I remain one of those 185 IQ fans, think "Lollipop" is not bad, and have high hopes for The Carter III.

But will it ever come out? Though we were recently given May 13 as the release date, his publicist just told me it would be "May or June," ensuring the latter month is more likely.

Another publicist told me that Wayne has nearly lost his mind in recent months, having missed important obligations and made impossible demands. When he does show up to where he needs to be, the publicist went on, he's too drunk, stoned and/or medicated to be coherent.

This is not surprising. As Jonah Weiner noted in his excellent March Blender article on Wayne:

It’s 9 p.m. and Wayne is checking in for a night of work. His cup brims with Hawaiian Punch and promethazine codeine cough syrup; he drinks the stuff constantly—for pleasure, for the chronic head-and-chest colds that have given his voice its signature Speak & Spell croak and because he can’t stop. “If I go off it,” he explains, “I go into withdrawal.”

No one can live like that for very long. (Also -- that's disgusting.)

Though Wayne may still seem to be prolific, keep in mind that he recorded most all of this stuff -- as well as much of The Carter III -- last year, and it's just now seeing the light of day. With his jail time and drug habit getting the best of him in recent months, he seems likely to be headed towards burnout.

In fact, if you're on one of those sites where you guess which celebrities are going to die this year, Wayne might be a winning pick.