Lil Wayne
Tha Carter VI
*and1/2 out of *****
If you thought waiting four years between Lil Wayne's major artistic statements, Tha Carter series, was long, you may have completely forgotten about him by now. Arriving seven years after Tha Carter V, comes Lil Wayne's fourteenth studio offering, Tha Carter VI. Unfortunately, Lil Wayne hasn't presented anything worth seeking out with this offering.
Of course Wayne has been busy with mixtape offerings, collaborative albums and more, and in reality at this point in his career those tossed off efforts are more representative of him and may have always been. Tha Carter V seemed a long time coming, and it was an OK- solid offering, showing a deeper, more grown up Wayne who can collaborate with a wide range of artists, but it never made a major impact.
The idea of collaboration is still key to Wayne for the Carter series and he goes A-list with Bono, Jelly Roll, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Wyclef Jean and even Andrea Bocelli. However, the best offering is kept in the family this go around. "Rari" has Kameron Wayne on the chorus with Wayne giving his most energetic/funny/intriguing lines on the record.
Wayne was never one to luxuriate around the best beats, and always seemed to bring his A-game over the cheapest musical offerings. That was part of the charm, but on The Carter VI both the diamonds ("Bein Myself") and cubic zirconia ("Peanuts 2 N Elephants") are left flat. "Banned from NO" finds Wayne directly going back to "Banned" from No Ceilings and all that does is remind how powerful Lil Wayne was on that record, one of his best. Back in 2009 he was able to slam you over the head with metaphors, similes, humor and heart, aging has not improved his game.
Now Wayne delivers chock full stanzas and rarely gives memorable lines or the sense he cares very much. He can can raise a smirk, but things feel awfully sluggish throughout. Big Sean's stanza on the otherwise tepid "Sharks" shows real energy that Wayne doesn't match, "Cotton Candy" feels musically slap dash behind non-stop Wayne never matching up while 2 Chainz feels more natural on the track. Bono just sounds oddly out of place, or maybe it is Wayne who does, on "The Days".
"Island Holiday" is better to never be heard again, sounding like a Black Eyed Peas failed outtake but Wayne's pop/singing style has always been rough, look no further than "If I Played Guitar" while "Loki's Theme" mixes in his love onto bad alt-rock. "Bells" feels like Wayne is giving maybe 25% at best and that seems to be an overarching theme of this record.
This is the first of Tha Carter's series to fall completely flat as Lil Wayne needs to recharge, revamp and reassess before VII comes out, if it ever does.
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