Opinion Brief

The Super Bowl song faceoff: Lil' Wayne vs. Wiz Khalifa

"Black and Yellow" or "Green and Yellow"? Never mind the Packers-Steelers game on Sunday — which team's rap anthem comes out on top?

The video: Wiz Khalifa's smash hit "Black and Yellow," a tribute to the Pittsburgh Steelers' distinctive colors, has become the team's de facto anthem this season. The undeniably catchy track, which is currently No. 3 on the Billboard charts and has racked up 31 million YouTube views, has already spawned a raft of imitators (including 9-year-old rapper Lyrikkal's "Pink and Purple"). Now, avowed Green Bay Packers fan and rap superstar Lil' Wayne has created his own strategic remix, "Green and Yellow," which celebrates his beloved football franchise while taking shots at their Steel City rivals. (Watch videos for the competing anthems, below.)
The reaction:
"As an avowed member of the Cult of Weezy [Lil' Wayne] I'll say up front — it's not his best work," says Andrew Sharp at SB Nation. Still, it's nice that he has spoken up for Packers fans by "taking the beat we love so much, and using it" to poke fun at Pittsburgh's "terrible towels" and famed "Steel Curtain" defense. But Dave Bry at The Awl says that, while Wiz Khalifa may be a "perfectly likeable pothead," Lil' Wayne "is a virtuoso, and he just completely eats Khalifa alive over his own beat." Compare the two versions for yourself:

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