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It's almost impossible to translate Lil Wayne's lyrics into the written word. With nearly every syllable on every one of his nearly 1000 songs of this past decade, Weezy is surly and snarly, croaking and crawling, urgent and erstwhile. But there are no accent marks for "Someone should've warned you/R-E-L-A-X like fuckin' California/Or get cornered, or get tortured, or get slaughtered/In that order." The words out of Wayne's mouth somehow sound like an artist beyond his time, even if the words on a page are about as non-sensical as they come.

In the thrillingly intimate documentary, Tha Carter (DVD in stores today), director Adam Bhala Lough however finds a way to make Lil Wayne's lyrics translate into actual words. By subtitling entire mixtape verses -- DJ drops sometimes included -- the New Orleans lyricist is put on a pedestal that was once reserved only for Bob Dylan and John Lennon. And why not? Lil Wayne was one of the three most important rappers of the '00s, a decade where hip-hop inherited and then maintained its place atop the music world.

It's a lofty declaration, but the Quincy "QD3" Jones III-produced film has the artistic and integrity-filled chops to make the premise a compelling one. Whether Wayne's lyricism is spelled out over grainy black and white photographs from live performances or in a quiet hotel room like the video below, The Carter keeps the focus on the music and away from the scandals and constantly retold ... kind of.

The "kind of" comes about because of the honest way in which Wayne's surreal-ly serious addictions -- drugs, recording and himself -- are shown in the film, and in turn will be the easiest to sensationalize. (No doubt, the very reason why Lil Wayne pulled his support from the project at the last minute.) Lough's camera is given an unparalleled pass into Wayne's guarded world, one that the many journalists shown interviewing him can only hope to glimpse in 15 minutes slots.

But Lough, and certainly with the aid of DVD-Mixtape luminary QD3's co-sign, gets weeks with Wayne in at least a dozen locations. The camera gets a guided tour through backstage worlds, tour bus sleeping quarters, endless press junkets, and sleepy-eyed viewings of Sports Center. Even more impressive, is the tour through Wayne's omnipresent Louis Vuitton bag, whose contents include a six inch stack of cash, a container of liquid codeine cleverly camouflaged in a grape Vitamin Water bottle, and a coffee-table book praising the form of the naked female body. It's the most physical example of the trust Lil Wayne bestowed upon the process, but perhaps not the most telling. That example isn't even allowing his daughter to be interviewed -- and her rap about "stuntin like her daddy" may be one of the film's most precious moments -- but it's the access to the New Orleans rapper's recording process.

While it's not discussed at any length in The Carter, it's hard not to think about Wayne's impending prison sentence when watching the film. The only time that Lil Wayne doesn't seem to be recording in his travel studio -- which literally goes everywhere he goes -- is when he's in a proper studio. He sets it up in hotel rooms and on the tour bus and puts in hours and hours every single night. It's what the man does. And while he has an affinity for the liquid codeine charmingly known as "syrup," it's easy to imagine that he'll be okay without it when he serves his time. And a little infliction of the real world might help tame his ghastly addiction to self...but this man is going to go insane without a studio. His passion for the process borders on a physical addiction and he says in the film that he has to record so often just to release the pressure in his head from all the rhymes building up throughout the day.

While the quotables and memorable scenes in The Carter are endless -- from grouchily ending an interview after only 90 seconds to Cortez Bryant's tears recounting the story that got the embittered manager kicked off the tour bus -- it's Lil Wayne's commitment to his art that truly resonates. And that The Carter found a way to translate that beyond the headphones makes it one of the top-five greatest hip-hop documentaries of all-time.

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LOS ANGELES – The first interview with Rihanna about Chris Brown's assault on her is airing this week on ABC.
The network says the pop star's one-on-one with Diane Sawyer will air Thursday and Friday on "Good Morning America" and Friday evening on the news magazine "20/20."
Brown's attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna occurred in February. He was sentenced in August to five years' probation, six months of community labor and a year of domestic violence counseling after he pleaded guilty to felony assault.
Rihanna's ABC interview coincides with the debut of her new single, "Russian Roulette," from her upcoming album, "Rated R." It's her first CD since 2007's multiplatinum "Good Girl Gone Bad."

WASHINGTON – Frustrated by court decisions that blocked the suspension of two football players who tested positive for banned substances, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is asking Congress for help.
"We believe that a specific and tailored amendment to the Labor Management Relations Act is appropriate and necessary to protect collectively bargained steroid policies from attack under state law," Goodell said in testimony prepared for a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing Tuesday.
Recent court decisions "call into question the continued viability of the steroid policies of the NFL and other national sports organizations," Goodell said. A copy of his testimony was obtained by The Associated Press.
The NFL had attempted to suspend Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams for four games, but the players sued the league in state court, arguing the league's testing violated Minnesota laws. The case was moved to federal court, and the NFL players union filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of the Williamses and New Orleans Saints players who were also suspended.
In May, a federal judge dismissed the union's lawsuit and several claims in the Williamses' case but sent two claims involving Minnesota workplace laws back to state court. A judge there issued an injunction prohibiting the NFL from suspending the players and has scheduled the trial for March 8. In September, a federal appeals court panel agreed with those decisions, essentially allowing the Williamses, who are not related, to continue playing while the case proceeds in state court.
The Vikings players tested positive in 2008 for the diuretic bumetanide, which is banned by the NFL because it can mask the presence of steroids. The players acknowledged taking the over-the-counter weight loss supplement StarCaps, which did not state on the label that it contained bumetanide. Neither player is accused of taking steroids.
The court ruling led the NFL to allow New Orleans defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, who had also been issued four-game suspensions, to continue playing. Both players tested positive after using StarCaps.
DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL players union, said this case differs from others. He said Dr. John Lombardo, who oversees the league's steroid policy, learned that StarCaps contained bumetanide but did not inform the players.
"Frankly, the fundamental failure of that doctor to ensure immediate disclosure of the fact that StarCaps included bumetanide violated his paramount duty as a doctor — to protect patients, in this case, our players," Smith said in his prepared testimony, also obtained by The AP. Smith called for changes to the league-union steroid policy that would mandate the NFL notify players when it learns that a product contains a banned substance.
Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of labor relations, also discussed a legislative remedy in his testimony, saying "a narrowly drafted statute could solve the problem faced by professional sports" while preserving the role of collective bargaining in drug programs without interfering with states' prerogatives.
But Michael Weiner, general counsel at the Major League Baseball Players Association, said that legislation is unnecessary. A bill to pre-empt state law, he argued, "would stand for the unusual proposition that parties to a collective bargaining agreement can contract for that which is illegal under state law."

WASHINGTON – The health care bill headed for a vote in the House this week costs $1.2 trillion or more over a decade, according to numerous Democratic officials and figures contained in an analysis by congressional budget experts, far higher than the $900 billion cited by President Barack Obama as a price tag for his reform plan.
While the Congressional Budget Office has put the cost of expanding coverage in the legislation at roughly $1 trillion, Democrats added billions more on higher spending for public health, a reinsurance program to hold down retiree health costs, payments for preventive services and more.
Many of the additions are designed to improve benefits or ease access to coverage in government programs. The officials who provided overall cost estimates did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss them.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has referred repeatedly to the bill's net cost of $894 billion over a decade for coverage.
Asked about the higher estimate, Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said the measure not only insures 36 million more Americans, it provides critical health insurance reform in a way that is fiscally sound.
"It will not add one dime to the deficit. In fact, the CBO said last week that it will reduce the deficit both in the first 10 years and in the second 10 years," Daly said.
Democrats have been intent on passing legislation this year to implement Obama's call for expanded coverage for millions, curbs on industry abuses and provisions to slow the rate of growth of health care costs nationally.
"Now, add it all up, and the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years," the president said in a nationally televised speech in early September.
Whatever the final cost of legislation, the calendar is working increasingly against the White House and Democrats. While a House vote is possible late this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., may not be able to begin debate on the issue until the week before Thanksgiving. Additionally, the Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has hinted at efforts to extend the debate for weeks if not months, a timetable that could extend into 2010.
One casualty of the time crunch and threatened Republican delaying tactics may be formal House-Senate negotiations on a final compromise. An alternative is a less formal hurry-up final negotiation involving the White House and senior Democrats.
Pelosi and her lieutenants worked on last-minute changes in the measure to ease concerns among opponents of abortion and a contentious provision relating to illegal immigrants. Conservative Democrats have expressed concern about the cost of the bill, and an evening closed-door meeting gave Pelosi and her lieutenants their first chance to hear their response.
The bill includes an option for a government-run health plan.
The leadership can afford more than two dozen defections and still be assured of the votes to prevail on the bill, one of the most sweeping measures in recent years.
Republicans put the cost of the bill at nearly $1.3 trillion.
"Our goal is to make it as difficult as possible for" Democrats to pass it, House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said at a news conference. "We believe it is the wrong prescription."
One day after announcing Republicans would have an alternative measure, Boehner offered few details. He said it would omit one of the central provisions in Democratic bills — a ban on the insurance industry's practice of denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. Instead, he said the Republicans would encourage creation of insurance pools for high-risk individuals and take other steps to ease their access to coverage.
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the third-ranking leader, said that Democrats looked at their bill as a way to advance universal coverage. In contrast, he said, Republicans "believe the real issue back home is cost" of insurance, and said their alternative would be designed to tackle it.
Democrats have made elimination of the industry's practice a linchpin of their drive to overhaul the health care system. The industry has said it would not fight the change, and an accompanying restriction on its ability to charge higher premiums for certain groups, as the legislation includes a requirement for individuals to purchase insurance. Lacking that, the industry says millions of relatively healthy individuals would refuse to pay for coverage until they became sick, and the cost of premiums would rise sharply for everyone else.

Republicans oppose any government requirements for individuals to purchase insurance or for businesses to provide coverage.

The Congressional Budget Office is seen by lawmakers as the arbiter of claims about the costs and effects of proposed legislation, and the agency has been under intense pressure in recent weeks to compete assessments on several bills circulating in House and Senate.

In a letter last week, the agency's director, Dr. Douglas Elmendorf, said the net cost of expanding coverage in the House measure was estimated at $894 billion over 10 years, a figure reflecting a gross total of $1 trillion in federal subsidies as well as other spending.

The letter contained no similar assessment for the balance of the legislation and it was not clear when or whether one would be forthcoming.

In a letter last week to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., on the general subject of health care, Elmendorf cautioned that some provisions in legislation have elements that raise costs and elements that lower costs.

"Tabulating all of the aspects of the proposal that would, in isolation, increase federal outlays would be complicated and would require somewhat arbitrary judgments" about calculating overall costs, Elmendorf said.