by SHANE SINNOTT

A lot of time can be spent debating the merits of online music downloading—whether and how it hurts the industry, whether or not it helps artists, etc. And the majority of performers, it seems, do basically exactly what they’d do if the internet didn’t exist, and then hope for the best in terms of sales or whether their album leaks. Then there are also guys who completely give ’er, as is the case with Lil Wayne, the more or less most-acclaimed rapper going right now, who hasn’t released an official album in almost two years. What Lil Wayne (née Dwayne Carter) has been doing instead is recording an assload of songs and sending them out on the information superhighway, to mostly fawning results. Guy isn’t just trying to boost record sales by giving away some treats, he’s basing his career around exposing as many people as possible to his music. In the past year alone, he’s released far too much material to cover completely in this space, but here are a few notable ones:

“Help” (tinyurl.com/2f4nq8): It’s unlikely that this will ever be officially released, what with its use of a prominent sample from the most popular and profitable music group in history, but it’s worth checking out for the honesty that’s often foreign to Lil Wayne’s genre. To wit: “I gets hotter by the tock/ when I sizzle to death,/ I just tell that clock, ‘give me a sec.’” And at the end, “I need y’all to arch ya hands, and pray for me.”

“It’s Me Bitches (remix)” (tinyurl.com/3ctqfp): If you can get past the requisite misogyny, this track is pretty funny; not only does our pal Dwayne try out his French, but does his best imitation of a Jamaican accent.

“Getting It” (tinyurl.com/2n69gm): Technically, this is a DJ Benzi track featuring Lil Wayne and the Cool Kids, but it’s Dwayne’s part that is memorable, containing his oft quoted line that he’s so high he “saw spaceships.” After quick references to computer programming and sneakers, he asserts he’s got a safe full of money for his “babies’ babies’ babies’ babies’ babies’ babies’ babies.” So there you go.