Lil Wayne, ‘Dear Anne (Stan Pt. 2) – Song Review

Lil Wayne has re-imagined Eminem's violent (and smash hit) 'Stan,' where Em is addressed by a psychotic, stalker fan, and raps from the point of view of said stalker.

Weezy's version is a bit more creepy, from a sonic perspective, thanks to the child-like female vocal that punctuates Weezy's rap parts, and serves the same role that the honey-voiced Dido did on the original. The girl's high-pitched and innocent tone is eerie enough to cause a few of the finest hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

Overall, though, Lil Wayne's 'Dear Anne' certainly is not a note-for-note copy or a retread of one of Emimen's biggest songs; rather, it follows a similar blueprint and yields great results all its own.

While Eminem's anger (and his voice) escalates through the course of his version, Lil Wayne remains more stable and even-keel, also singing from Stan's perspective, even though the original Stan didn't make it out of the song alive and met a gruesome end. Suspend disbelief -- it's art!

This particular Stan is writing a letter to Anne, his number one fan, yet Wayne appears to be having a little more fun with the song as he exercises his demons. He's got a lot of s--- to deal with and he spills the details in this letter; but he appears to be singing, in a thinly veiled way, about how his fans helped him while he was in jail, saying, "Your support held me up / Like a kickstand / I'm also being more careful / In how I pick friends."

One of the song's key pieces of lyrical science is: "I am trying to stay out of chicks' pants / But I just can't / This is ain't just another note / This is more than a rap / This is more of an oath." It's an open-ended declaration, another of which makes you think Weezy may be speaking beyond the literal.

'Dear Anne' is not as violent or as disturbing as 'Stan,' but it's an appropriate homage and answer to Eminem's vicious, turn-the-world-on-its-ear song that it pays its respects to.

Listen to Lil Wayne, 'Dear Anne (Stan Pt.2)