Album Review: Lil Wayne - Dedication 6

Lil Wayne

Dedication 6

**and1/2 out of *****

The sixth installment of Lil Wayne's mix-tape series Dedication comes while his fan base are still waiting for the elusive Tha Carter V to drop, something that seems more and more likely to never happen at this point.

Wayne has been through a lot, too much to really mention here, with labels, shootings, arrests, etc. however the good news is that Weezy's rhymes and flows on Dedication 6 are (for the most part) strong and prove that he still possess a ton of ridiculous word play and shit to say. All verses, few choruses, Wayne opens his mind and dumps it out on these beats of current popular songs.

When he rambles it is something to behold and it often moves into kooky places on Dedication 6, with the same areas being explored again and again (sex rhymes, drug rhymes, bathroom humor and boasts) while rarely sounding tired or rehashed. In fact he outshines every single guest he invites to join him including mega stars Drake on "Family Feud" and Niki Minaj during "5 Star", their version of "Rockstar". The best guests are Euro and Cory Gunz showing up to twist "Phone Jumpin'" into "Let Em All In" that features Wayne's least inspired verse on the mix-tape.

Overall Dedication 6 fails to these ears, not because of Wayne, but because of the sorry state of hip-hop beats. Nothing here is exciting, engaging or remotely memorable. If these are the best beats the master (all be it aging master) of the mix-tape has to currently work with, the industry has an issue.

However, Tunechi is an artist who never really needs bumping, inventive or even good beats. Wayne himself does all of the heavy lifting with these lines from "Bank Account" using a lackluster 21 Savage beat:

Wait, I just popped a Perc/ Another for dessert/ I washed it down with syrup/ I just left planet Earth/ Ran into Captain Kirk/ I pop a Perc, I'm trippy/ Call me Perc Nowitzki/ Just call her Lewinsky

or "Fly Away" his take on Kendrick Lamar's "DNA":

Shark bite to a flounder/ Bar fight to a bouncer, wait/ All Franks like Sinatra/ Face been painted, they ain't never clowned him/ Everybody rakin' cash like it's autumn/ Y'all boys sweeter than Whatchamacallit/ All y'all take a seat on this toilet

This isn't his best work by any stretch (for RtBE's money that is No Ceilings) but fans of Wayne  will take these moments of smile inducing hilarity as a step in a positive direction.

While the Free Weezy Album had the amazing "Glory" on it and very little else, Dedication 6 is a more solid listen with regards to Wayne's rhymes, but nothing comes close to that high point; in fact no song here is must listen. Unlike past mix-tape efforts, Wayne doesn't claim any of these beats as his own. It does however keep Weezy breathing and relevant until the next mix-tape, because we all know V isn't coming out in 2018 right? 
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