Lil Wayne
Tha Carter V
***and1/2 out of *****
The Chinese Democracy
of modern hip hop has finally arrived. Scheduled for 2014 Tha Carter V has been released after extended legal battles between
Lil Wayne and Cash Money Records
along with a personal feud with one time mentor Birdman. Wayne has gone through many personal up and downs during
the last four years, including being
hospitalized and shot
at, and after years of promises the album is a long running journey which
proves Wayne is still solidly in the game.
Opening with honest sentiments from his mother the record
was designed to show growth and maturity from the artist and it does,
addressing painful situations, personal failings, and even his 12 year old gun
accident while still lamenting getting fucked up, going to parties and trying
to be the best rapper alive.
Wayne’s verses come out super strong even if the first two
songs “Don’t Cry” and “Dedicated” feature powerful statements from him
personally around dull guest choruses. XXXTENTACION
goes the singing route on “Don’t Cry” with rough results beginning on a bum
note while 2 Chainz ode to Wayne
works (barely) on “Dedicated” which gets a boost from a President Obama sample.
The two best beats on the album come in the form of throwbacks as “Uproar” and “Start This Shit Off Right” by Swizz Beatz and Mannie Fresh respectively just miss being all-time classics surprisingly because Wayne’s rhymes are lackluster on these numbers. Weezy always seems to dive into the tracks with thinner beats that never really want to go anywhere instead of the real bangers.
He successfully falls back into his auto tuned/trap/cheaper
sounding beats safe place for “Problems”, the deeply personal closer “Let It
All Work Out” and the strip club ready “Open Safe” which uses bumping and
slapping from DJ Mustard around
Weezy’s never ending flow. Great word play is everywhere throughout Tha Carter V as Wayne is open, giddy with his voice, flowing
and letting everything hang out, one random example is “Hittas” which has both
“Money in the air/Who said white men can’t jump?” and “I got paper, on top of
paper, we gon' need rulers/I'm effective, been doin' numbers since Roman
numerals”.
This is clearly Wayne’s vehicle but there are a few guest
appearances. Nicki Minaj has the
most eye opening turn, expertly pairing with her old partner in crime to
deliver an unexpected affecting tune on mortality and the afterlife with “Dark
Side Of The Moon” while Travis Scott
gets blown away by an energized Wayne who spits fire on “Let It Fly”. On the
dull side, Snoop Dog doesn’t add
much to “Dope Niggaz” nor does Drake’s
unaccredited appearance on “Hittas”.
Producer Infamous
has worked with Wayne for over a decade now and the combo put together a few of
the best tracks here as “Took His Time” his a rich tapestry of piano, bass and
clicking snares, “Mess” allows Wayne to deal with his pain around gorgeous
guitar lines and the creepy/dramatic music box lines in “Used 2” fires Wayne up
for gangsta laced stanzas.
Infamous gets the hell out of the way with minimalist
accompaniment over the richest word play and stand out track on the record,
“Mona Lisa”. A five and a half minute story, the track is a sex and crime rhyme
tale which is an expertly painted plan of attack regarding love triangles which
could be made into a movie. Kendrick
Lamar hops on board to play the role of spurned, psychotic lover on a track that proves
Wayne and Lamar are par excellence; an instant classic.
The talk of growth is legit as the sex rhyme and dick jokes
are scaled back but the middle of the record drags into softer modern R&B
sounds with a trio of relationship/life slow jams. “What About Me” is a
self-centered woe is me number, before the brokenhearted “Open Letter” and the
piano ballad “Famous” which does showcase the soothing vocals of his eldest
daughter Reginae Carter.
Things aren’t perfect but that is to be expected, for an
album which has gone through such drama as this one; Tha Carter V shows its scars and
Wayne proudly wears them. Four years is longer than most rappers careers and
for Wayne to present a unified sounding record from tracks recorded in wildly
different sessions is a success in itself. Lil’ Wayne manages to remain one of
the most engaging artists on the scene as he continually dives deeper into his
strongest subject, himself.
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