Lil Wayne ain't even in jail yet -- his one year sentence has been postponed for a third time -- but it's definitely not too early to order your "Free Weezy" shirts.
There's an insane amount of "Free Weezy" merchandise out there, of course. With Mr. Carter likely headed to Arizona to stand trial at the end of this month, you'd better get ahead of the curve or risk being the only person in town who doesn't want to free the well-armed New Orleans rapper.
Here are seven good and bad options.
Option 1: The $28 Harry Potter Hoodie.
OK, a hoodie is probably a bad bet in Arizona. You've got, what, another two weeks to wear it at night before we all start sweating our asses off? But, even if you are into the hoodie thing, this is a pretty poor design. It relies way too heavily on Wayne's forehead tattoo thing from Tha Carter III record cover instead of the other physical attributes responsible for his Weezyness. Seriously, squint a bit and you'd almost think this is some Harry Potter shit. Do. Not. Buy.
Option 2: The $21.99 Ironic White Boy.
The last thing you want in a good "Free Weezy" shirt is something obviously ironic. This shirt isn't terrible -- if it was written in Helvetica font it'd be a lot worse -- but the clean, simple look is obviously designed for suburbanites who want a little urban flava without all that tacky bling. Pass on this one.
Option 3: The $14.99 'Mumia' Special.
This is a solid option. With a badass stencil-style font, a rough photo that doesn't seem to match the vibe and a variety of available colors, you could do a lot worse than this bad boy. However, this militant-style shirt could be for pretty much any imprisoned rapper. It's just lacking a certain Weezyness. Actually, it pretty much looks like an old Free Mumia shirt, which is pretty lame. Hold out for something better.
Option 4: The $21.99 Ransom Note.
Wait... Is Weezy headed to prison or has he been kidnapped? This ridiculously awful interpretation of the classic "Free Rapper X" shirt seems to be made of cut out newsprint. Is it a ransom note or what? Super lame.
Option 5: The $15 Mugshot.
Simple and straightforward, this is a very, very solid bet. Honestly, it'd almost be better without the "Weezy" at the bottom though, since "FREE [PHOTO]" pretty much says it all. This isn't a very stylish shirt, but it does send a clear message. Is that really what Weezy is all about though?
Option 6: The $16.99 Artsy Bars shirt.
While the previous shirt might be diagnosed as suffering from a "lack of concepts and originality" this one has a little more panache. The look -- all bars and fancy typography -- is pretty cool.
Option 7: The $14.95 'Free DMC.'
There's not much of a connection between Weezy and Run DMC -- other than the fact that they both record hip-hop songs, however different those songs might be. This logo is too much of a classic to diss outright though. It ain't Wayne, but it ain't ugly either.
