It's probably the funniest exchange in the movie, even if it plays a drug overdose for laughs, just with the way it juxtaposes the lighthearted way someone like Lil Wayne portrays drugs to the dramatic reality of a scene about a son reckoning with the idea of his 60-year-old dad trying to party like Lil Wayne. It's also a great indication of how famous Lil Wayne really is. Here he is just popping up as a reference in a movie that, yes, has Ludacris in the cast but is wildly outside the world of the 17th Ward.Lil Wayne's raps about drugs really permeated that far into mainstream pop culture. After all, the No Strings Attached plot point is basically just a filtered down version of Wayne's example. And all those images of hard-partying rappers can be pulled straight out of his lyrics. Consider "Dipset," admittedly a mixtape cut, but one of the longer and more all-inclusive pictures of drug and alcohol use in Wayne's music. First there's a reference to lean, "no fast talk, I'm on that syrup, I'm on that turtle-time." Then there's the aforementioned champagne-pouring, VIP image, although with a timely reference rap's boycott of Cristal's racist CEO, "VIP, we be the niggas banging in the red / don't drink Cristal no more, just pour it on white bitches' heads." Then, finally, we have one of the most detailed narrations of doing molly you'll find just about anywhere in music:Ashton: Hey, where is he, what happened?
Vanessa: Don't freak out, okay? Your dad overdosed on cough syrup.
Ashton: What?
Vanessa: The purple drank.
Ashton: The… p-purple drank?
Vanessa: It's Seven Up, cough syrup, and a Jolly Rancher.
Ashton: Why would he do that, Vanessa?
Vanessa: Because he loves Lil Wayne, OK? You don't know everything about your dad.
Ashton: Why are you making him listen to Lil Wayne? You should be taking care of him.
No wonder Lil Wayne became the go-to reference for partying, to the point that Natalie Portman found herself traveling around the country promoting a movie where Wayne's drug of choice was a pivotal joke and plot point. In honor of that, this is a Lil Wayne song that Natalie Portman and Cam'ron and Ashton Kutcher and Hell Rell and Ludacris and Jim Jones and Greta Gerwig and Juelz Santana can all appreciate. Lil Wayne is a legend for that.Photo: Screen grab of Ashton Kutcher in No Strings AttachedFollow Kyle Kramer on Twitter.I'm rolling like the stones
I need a water bottle
And if you need a pill
T.Streetz and Carter got 'em
Supply the whole party
We got the party poppin'
We in New Orleans poppin'
We way in Harlem poppin'
In California poppin'
Them Ed Hardy-rockin' skinny whores with all them problems
Bitch you can eat these pills and chill and tell me all about 'em
Shit, hold up my heart is knocking
Don't worry water stops it
Hold up your mouth is dry
Don't worry water mops it
I got a great idea
We should have sex
Bitch I'm like Dante Hall
I just throw up the X