QD3 will release his documentary on Lil Wayne tomorrow entitled The Carter. After receiving rave reviews at Sundance, QD3 spoke with Hip-Hop Wired exclusively about the film, stating,
“The main thing that the documentary shows… I think a lot of people would imagine that Wayne is hanging out in clubs with a bunch of women and drinking champagne and that sort of thing. But I would say the main thing you learn when you watch the film is that Wayne is a workaholic. Straight up. After seeing this I think a lot of people will respect his process a lot more. We were with him like 7 or 8 months before he went platinum and then maybe two months after. That’s the period we were shooting him for and I remember one day when he got a text from Sylvia Rhone that he went platinum, he was like, “O.K.” He didn’t even flinch. He was “O.K., cool” and “get off my bus, I gotta record.”
QD3 also maintained that Wayne was really focused on being “The Greatest Rapper Alive” and holds no punches to achieve this title. He added,
“His whole thing is he’s like a tireless worker and a lot of people will be very surprised how he’s 100% dedicated to his craft and he’s also daring like when he’s on stage and in the studio, like there’s no boundaries for him creatively. I think when people see it they’re gonna have a whole different type of respect for him seeing him so young and successful yet staying truly focused on being good and becoming better. That’s the main thing and it’s not a whole lot of ego or fanfare about who he is as a star in the film at all. Wayne stays on his bus and he’s got a recording studio up there and that’s his life. So even if he pulls up at a hotel, sometimes he’ll be on the bus just to record.”
Before The Carter was scheduled to be released nationwide, Wayne and QD3 also went through some legal issues as The Young Money boss wanted some of the footage taken out which highlighted his addiction to syrup. After the film was completed, Wayne filed a lawsuit over “scandalous portrayal” and stated that he was supposed to receive final approval over the film before its showing and that some footage could be detrimental to his reputation and career…in particular him sipping syrup throughout the film. The case eventually was rejected. Not focusing on the negative, QD3 maintained, “I can’t really speak on that but I think a lot of that was just miscommunication.”
QD3 has also compared Lil Wayne to another artist that he worked with in the past. Not one to throw around accolades so easy, the producer/ director further stated,
“I really gained a lot of respect for him in that regard in terms of how he approaches his records and then how hard he works. I would have to say…I worked with Tupac a lot and I feel like he may end up with a bigger catalogue than Tupac if he hasn’t already. That kid works, he’s a hard worker, super focused and doesn’t get caught up in the industry like that. He just stays in the studio all the time.”
Check out the video clip from The Carter below.
