Lil Wayne says Drake's work on Aaliyah's posthumous album is 'awesome'

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Lil Wayne thinks the late Aaliyah's music is better than a lot of music out today — and he's confident that Drake's plan to produce unreleased Aaliyah songs will be an "awesome collaboration."

Drake — a huge Aaliyah fan — has announced that he is working on a posthumous album of Aaliyah music, and he's already released the song "Enough Said" featuring himself and the singer-dancer, who was killed in a plane crash in 2001.

Some who were close to Aaliyah have not expressed support for the album. Missy Elliott and Timbaland, who produced most of Aaliyah's music, are not involved, and DMX, who co-starred with Aaliyah in the movie "Romeo Must Die" and recorded a song with her, has been critical of the project.

Lil Wayne said he hasn't heard any negative feedback, and added when he first heard that his Young Money protégé was a part of the project, his first thought was: "Good move."

"Everybody knows what Aaliyah did and done for music and culture, period, and it's always good to do that, for not only for people like that, just for her fans — you know what I mean?" he said in a recent interview. "Drake's a very thoughtful person. Everyone knows that. It's an awesome collaboration."

So far, "Enough Said" has peaked at No. 55 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart. Aaliyah is known for hits like "Try Again," ''If Your Girl Only Knew" and "Rock the Boat," and Lil Wayne said her music has stood the test of time.

"Her music is still awesome. It's still better than a lot of music out right now," he said.

As far as his own music, Lil Wayne — who's expected to release his 10th album, "I Am Not a Human Being II," this winter — said it's harder and harder to come up with new things to say: the 30-year-old has been rapping since he was a teen.

"I've said everything in every situation in every way, so it's almost interesting to go into the studio and find new things to talk about and new ways to talk about them and hear it back and say, 'Wow, you figured it out again,'" he said.

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