After a slow summer in the rap music world, the self-proclaimed “Best Rapper Alive” is back with a new album.
Lil Wayne is almost 30 years old and if “Tha Carter IV” gives us any indication of his mental state, he’s a grown man and he’s got a lot on his mind.
Two years ago Lil Wayne was coming off the multi-platinum smash hit album “Tha Carter III,” and it seemed like you couldn’t turn on a radio without hearing his trademark lighter flick followed by his bullfrog voice croaking out classic lines. He was riding a tidal wave of success, and it seemed like he could do no wrong.
A year later, Lil Wayne’s stranglehold on hip-hop culture was slipping through his fingers. A year-long prison sentence was looming, and his rock-rap album “Rebirth” was hitting the shelves and underwhelming critics and fans alike.
Upon his release from prison he quit his longtime codeine syrup habit and stopped trying to be a rock star, and his newfound creative energy brought innovative focus to “Tha Carter IV”.
“Tha Carter IV” (which hits shelves Tuesday) explores Lil Wayne’s newfound maturity and his growth as an artist. There are still remnants of the goofy swagger and playful lyricism that made him famous, but for the most part the album feels like the first album from a new chapter in Lil Wayne’s career.
There are themes of regret on “Nightmares at the Bottom,” lost loves on “How to Hate (feat. T-Pain),” and his recipe for brushing off the haters on “Abortion.” Plainly stated, this isn’t the same Lil Wayne CD that you jammed out to in high school. It’s Lil Wayne for adults.
“Devil on my shoulder/The lord is my witness/So on my Libra scale I’m weighing sins and forgiveness,” Lil Wayne proclaims on “She Will (feat. Drake).”
These kinds of self-defeating contradictory lyrics define what separates this album from the previous three installments of “Tha Carter.” There are fewer party songs than the Carter’s past, and I’m sure that will divide some of his fans, but the raw and ferocious lyricism is still present, and in hip-hop, that’s all that matters.
With that said, the hit single “How to Love” feels out of place on the record. Had it been left off the final track list I would have proclaimed “Tha Carter IV” the best rap album of the year.
Two of the stronger tracks on the album don’t feature Lil Wayne. The interlude and outro carry one continuous beat and features blistering verses from Tech N9ne, Andre 3000, Nas, Bun B and Busta Rhymes. It’s not very often that you find a rapper willing to give up six minutes of his album to other rappers, but he did it for the greater good of the music. Weezy is a different breed of rapper, and even more so than before, he’s confident and willing to take risks.
“Tha Carter IV” reveals Lil Wayne’s ability to rise above the youngsters of the rap world. His lyricism and originality proves that even though hip-hop is a young man’s game, Lil Wayne is a grown ass man.