Lil Wayne – “Tha Carter VI” review

New Orleans, Louisiana emcee, singer/songwriter, record executive & entrepreneur Lil Wayne continuing one of his most beloved sagas on his 14th studio LP. Signing to Cash Money Records at the very age of 9, he would go on to become 1/2 of The B.G.’z as well as 1/4 of the Hot Boy$ & 1/6 of the Cash Money Millionaires. His first 3 solo albums Tha Block is Hot, Lights Out & 500 Degreez were average at best but we then found him improving in the mid 2000’s with Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, Dedication, Dedication 2, Da Drought 3 & my personal favorite Tha Carter III. He then started his own label Young Money Entertainment & followed his magnum opus up with a God awful “rock” album Rebirth along with the mediocre I Am Not a Human Being. He was able to bounce back in 2011 with Tha Carter IV, but things looked rough once again with the horrendous I Am Not a Human Being II in 2013 & then being entangled in legal issues with Cash Money from 2014-2018. Wayne eventually broke free from Birdman & was able to release Tha Carter V in 2018 to celebrate his 36th birthday returning to form. Funeral however was a step-down in comparison & Tha Carter VI has finally come over 5 years later.

After the “King Carter” intro, the first song “Welcome to Tha Carter” was a soulful boom bap intro eating rappers he’s already heard as if they’re appetizers whereas “Bells” samples “Rock the Bells” by LL Cool J to boast how hot he’s been on the mic for 2 decades almost. “Hip Hop” featuring Jay Jones works in a trap instrumental from Infamous & Einer Bankz with a vocal sample for a representation of the culture that I’d like more without Jay’s verse while “Sharks” featuring Big Sean & Jelly Roll finds the trio talking about snakes not always hiding in the grass over a guitar-based beat from Boi-1da.

“Banned from New Orleans” featuring Nicki Minaj on the remix gets in their dirty south bag flexing that they’re sellin’ chromes to bricks out here leading into “The Days” recalling being in a hospital bed after one of the countless epileptic seizures he’s had since childhood blending rap rock & boom bap together. “Cotton Candy” by ColleGrove interestingly fuses jazz, trap & pop rap all into 1 for a collab that’s primarily compared to most of what was on Welcome to ColleGrove even with the reference to former IWGPヘビー級王座 as well as a 10-time WWE world champion & former UFC Heavyweight Champion in both TKO Group Holdings divisions Brock Lesnar just before “Flex Up” continues with a mildly boastful cloud rap cut.

One of my least favorites easily has to be “Island Holiday” & not because of the subject matter of getting away on vacation, but rather because of the performances heavily slathered in auto-tune. “Loki’s Theme” turns up the rap rock influences courtesy of DJ Clue? of all people to my surprise talking about getting it out the mud while the acoustic “If I Played Guitar” throws it back to “How to Love” down to the sung vocals a little except not as good.

“Peanuts 2 N Elephant” links up with Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame for a spiritual successor to “6 Foot 7 Foot” featuring Cory Gunz with what sounds like a Crash Bandicoot level while “Rari” hops over a joyous trap instrumental from Wheezy talking about driving around Los Angeles in a sports car. “Maria” featuring Wyclef Jean hooks up an opera sample from the latter discussing a party girl waking up in the underworld while “Bein’ Myself” stays true to himself over a soulful Mannie Fresh beat.

The song “Mula Komin’ In” featuring Wayne’s son Lil Novi has little to no presence from Weezy F. Baby other than his verse at the backend of it although I very much appreciate what he was trying to do giving more exposure to Novi’s own music career while “Alone in the Studio with a Gun” featuring Kodak Black & MGK sticks out as the worst collab here since Young Money General washes both of the guests on it. “Written History” finishes C6 with spoken word passages from the late WWE Hall of Famer Muhammad Ali speaking on his legacy in hip hop while “Momma Don’t Worry” featuring Lil Baby advises their mothers not to stress out since they birthed real ones over an ATL Jacob instrumental.

Some will argue that him signing Drake & Nicki has tainted Wayne’s legacy considering “Big Foot” & “The Heart 6” have both been mocked equally as much as “Ghoulish”, to which I understand completely. Anyway, I went into Tha Carter VI with fingers crossed that it would reach the level of quality as Tha Carter V did 7 years ago & it makes me sad to call this the weakest installment of the series. Weezy can very much rap his ass off & I won’t deny that, my issues are more towards some of the guests & production choices.

Score: 1.5/5

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B.G. – “Freedom of Speech” review

B.G. is a 44 year old rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana known for being 1/2 of The B.G.’z with Lil Wayne prior to forming the Hot Boy$ with Juvenile & Turk along with the Cash Money Millionaires supergroup with the Big Tymer$. His first 5 solo albums Chopper City, It’s All on U, It’s All on U 2, my personal favorite Chopper City in the Ghetto & Checkmate all came out on Cash Money Records until he wanted to his own label Chopper City Records. The next 5 Living Legend, Life After Cash Money, The Heart of tha Streetz, Tha Heart of tha Streetz 2: I Am What I Am & Too Hood 2 Be Hollywood would all be distributed by MNRK Music Group aside from Atlantic Records providing further distribution for the latter. He would later spend a little over a decade in prison for 2 counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm & 1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, returning after over 15 years for his 11th studio LP.

The title track is a guitar-driven trap intro talking about him only getting greater whereas “Rock-A-Bye-Bye” works in a vocal sample reminding us that those who’re already familiar with him know his story by now. “1st Question” featuring Birdman dabbles with the Detroit trap sound reuniting with his mentor by having the better verse while “Go Live” featuring Boosie Badazz & Juvenile brings the trio together to rep their home state.

“Thank You” profoundly thanks everyone for still standing by him after being incarcerated going through it behind bars just before “Saved My Life” gets on the Detroit trap tip again talking about how trapping is the reason that he’s still alive today. “My Hood” hooks up pianos & hi-hats to clap at all the suckas out here with no style leading into “Live from the Gutta” featuring E-40 finds the duo taking us to the trenches.

Reese Youngn’s hook on “Know Your Worth” is hilariously awful despite the average beat & the genuine message within the lyrics, but then “Been a Dog” featuring Fredo Bang is one of my least favorite collaborations on the entire album. “Real Life” makes up for it with Gizzle solemnly looking back on the way he grew up & refusing to cap as a result while “Get It Poppin’” featuring Finesse2tymes doesn’t really get it poppin’ for me all that much.

“All Nite” shows a more romantic side to the original Hot Boy to begin the final leg of Freedom of Speech keeping this woman in his mind during the evening & giving it to her all day while the song “Real as It Gets” talking about still maintaining his legitimacy even if it was ruled last summer that his future songs have to be approved by the government. “When You Come Home” featuring Fiend jazzily ends with the former No Limit Soldier teaming up with the Cash Money Millionaire.

Starting the deluxe run, “Firebomber” by The B.G.‘z featuring Busta Rhymes makes it a mission to fuck up everything in existence while “Louisianimal” comes through with an anthem to his home state. “Lost Lives” featuring Juvenile warns that no one wants to be in the jungle when it’s war time while “We in Here” takes on a more celebratory attitude. “A Long Time” looks back on his career up to this point & the final bonus track “When I” finishes with a mediocre pop rap joint.

His collaborative mixtape with Gucci Mane called Choppers & Bricks marked the first of 8 projects that the Baby Gangster had written during his time behind bars, except the 2nd albeit his first solo effort in 16 years is a tad more decent in comparison. Other than a few guests faltering with their performances & some of the production being a little spotty, it’s somewhat refreshing to hear him holding down an entire body of work by himself again & am confident he can improve with the other 6 albums he has coming down the pipe. The deluxe however improves upon itself.

Score: 3.5/5

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Lil Wayne – “Funeral” review

This is the long-awaited 13th full-length album from New Orleans veteran Lil Wayne. Who signed to Cash Money Records at the age of 9; becoming 1/2 of The B.G.’z, 1/4 of the Hot Boy$ & 1/6 of the Cash Money Millionaires. His first 3 solo albums Tha Block is Hot, Lights Out & 500 Degreez were average at best but we then found him improving in the mid 2000’s with Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, Dedication, Dedication 2, Da Drought 3 & my personal favorite Tha Carter III. He then started his own label Young Money Entertainment & followed his magnum opus up with a God awful “rock” album Rebirth along with the mediocre I Am Not a Human Being. He was able to bounce back in 2011 with Tha Carter IV, but things looked rough once again with the horrendous I Am Not a Human Being II in 2013 & then being entangled in legal issues with Cash Money from 2014-2018. Wayne eventually broke free from Birdman & was able to release Tha Carter V in 2018 to celebrate his 36th birthday. But to end the first month of 2020, Weezy is coming back with Funeral.

The title track that kicks the album off is a proper introduction as Wayne makes numerous references to death over some strings, but then it transitions into a grimy trap beat. The next song “Mahogany” gets braggadocious over a soulful trap beat from Mannie Fresh while the track “Mama Mia” continues to flex over an abrasive beat. The song “I Do It” with Big Sean & Lil Baby sees the 3 describing their work ethics over a bland instrumental while the track “Dreams” talks about his fear of losing it all over an atmospheric instrumental.

The song “Stop Playin’ with Me” speaks for itself over a weary instrumental while the track “Clap for ‘Em” is an ass-shaking anthem with a Jahlil Beats instrumental that sounds vaguely similar to T.I.’s “Ball”, on which he was featured on. The song “Bing James” with Jay Rock sees the 2 showing off over an eerie instrumental as well as a 24-second tribute to the late Kobe Bryant at the start while the track “Not Me” talks about his haters over a somewhat-cloudy StreetRunner beat. The song “Trust Nobody” has a great message about backstabbers & the guitar instrumental is pretty, but Adam Levine’s hook is just ok.

The track “Know You Know” sees ColleGrove getting together to talk about this hoe over a keyboard-inflicted trap beat while the song “Wild Dogs” talks about how much of a savage he is over a luxurious instrumental. The track “Harden” talks about how he isn’t the perfect lover over a grand instrumental while the song “I Don’t Sleep” with Takeoff sees the 2 talks about their grind & I really like the woodwinds in the production.

The track “Sights & Silencers” is an awkward love ballad with The-Dream & a buttery Mike WiLL Made-It instrumental while the song “Ball Hard” with Lil Twist sees the 2 talking about their hustle over an ominous trap beat. The track “Bastard (Satan’s Kid)” reflects about his childhood over a cavernous beat while the song “Get Outta My Head” with the late XXXTENTACION sees the 2 talking about fighting their inner demons & the instrumental has this horror-esque feel that fits in pretty great. Although Wayne’s lyricism gets more annoyingly repetitive on “Piano Trap”, I do like how it lives up to the title as he’s delivering these bars over a trap beat that later switches into a piano instrumental.

The song “Line ‘Em Up” gets confrontational over a Murda Beatz instrumental with an organ & a sample that gets so played out once the joint ends whereas the track “Darkside” talks about going to war over a grim instrumental. The song “Never Mind” compares himself to that of a pimp over a mellow acoustic instrumental & while the penultimate track “T.O. (Terrell Owens)” talks about selling coke over this lifeless trap beat, the O.T. Genesis feature is the most awkward part about it easily. Then the album ends with “Wayne’s World”, where Weezy talks about partying hard over a rubbery instrumental.

I thought Lil Wayne redeemed himself with Dedication 6 & Tha Carter V, but this was SUPER disappointing. He still has his passionate & witty moments on here, but it’s overloaded with filler & the production choices are pretty weak as well. If this is the way he’s going out, then I’d say it’s a mediocre one.

Score: 2/5

Lil Wayne – “Tha Carter V” review

Lil Wayne is a LEGENDARY rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana who was signed to Cash Money Records at the very age of 9. He then got started as 1/2 of The B.G.’z, 1/4 of the Hot Boy$ & 1/6 of the Cash Money Millionaires. His first 3 solo albums Tha Block is Hot, Lights Out & 500 Degreez were average at best but we then found him improving in the mid 2000’s with Tha Carter, Tha Cater II, Dedication, Dedication 2, Da Drought 3 & my personal favorite Tha Carter III. He then started his own label Young Money Entertainment & followed his magnum opus up with a God awful “rock” album Rebirth along with the mediocre I Am Not a Human Being. He was able to bounce back in 2011 with Tha Carter IV, but things looked rough once again with the horrendous I Am Not a Human Being II in 2013 & the legal issues that’s been tangled in with Cash Money for the past 4 years. But now that he’s free from Birdman, he’s finally delivering his long-awaited 12th full-length album to celebrate being the sole owner of Young Money.

After the 2 minute spoken word intro, we go into the first song “Don’t Cry”. Here, Weezy talks about the afterlife over an atmospheric beat & the posthumous XXXTENTACION vocals on the hook don’t sound that bad at all. The track “Dedicate” is about his influence on today’s hip hop landscape over a trap beat with some plinky keys, the sampling of the 2 Chainz song with the same name as the hook was pretty cool as was the reference to The Walt Disney Company-owned Marvel.

The song “Uproar” is filled with clever battle bars & while I kinda feel like Swizz Beatz’ heavily sampling of the classic G. Dep song “Special Delivery” was too much, it does do it’s job. The track “Let It Fly” with Travis Scott is a modern day club banger with a moody beat with both parties complimenting each other very well while the song “Can’t Be Broken” is a middle finger to his haters over a piano & a BEAUTIFUL vocal sample.

“Dark Side of the Moon” is a romance anthem over a moody beat that works pretty well & I actually find Nicki Minaj’s singing throughout the 2nd half to be pretty empowering. The song “Mona Lisa” is about unfaithful women over an atmospheric beat & the Kendrick Lamar verse really makes it hard to decide who outrapped who. Especially with lines like “They started French kissing so he didn’t see moi” as well as that one about waking up to The Great Gatsby & then dogging it like Lassie.

The track “What About Me” is a dedication to his ride or die chick over a decent moody trap beat & even the Sosamann verse doesn’t really do much for me personally. The perfectly-titled “Open Letter” is Wayne venting to the listener over a spacey beat with punchy drums while the song “Famous” is a piano ballad reflecting on the Lil Wayne’s feelings of fame & the hook from his daughter Reginae Carter worked out much better than I had anticipated.

“Problems” talks about the issues he’s having with this woman over a bass-heavy Zaytoven instrumental while the song “Dope Niggaz” talks about growing up in the streets over a banger beat that constantly from that I to a killer sample of the classic Dr. Dre track “Xxplosive”. WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg’s hook is charismatic too, but I really wish he had verse. The track “Hittas” talks about having shooters over a chilling vocal sample & the song “Took His Time” picks up where the previous joint left off albeit in a more introspective fashion over a trap beat with some piano chords & harmonious background vocals.

“Open Safe” sees Weezy flexing & it’s not bad, but the DJ Mustard instrumental sounds like any other instrumental that you’d hear from the guy. The song “Start This Shit Off Right” sounds like a vintage Early 2000’s club banger down to the Mannie Fresh instrumental & the Ashanti hook while the track “Demon” vents about all the demons in his life over a soulful trap beat from Cool & Dre. The track “Mess” is pretty much A Day in the Life of Lil Wayne over an spacey acoustic trap instrumental that’s very pretty while the song “Dope New Gospel” sees talking to himself in a mirror over a celebratory trap beat & the hook from Wayne’s ex-fiancé Nivea is beautiful.

The track “Perfect Strangers” is about switching women over an a trap beat from Mannie Fresh with somber piano chords while the song “Used 2” talks about his evolution over a spacey beat from non other than Metro Boomin’. The album ends beautifully with “Let It All Work Out”, which has a prominent Sampha sample throughout. Also, the final verse where Wayne recalls a suicide attempt at age 12 is damn-near heart-wrenching.

It’s been a long time coming but at the end, this was a strong return to form for Lil Wayne. I was a bit worried given that we’ve had many disappointing 20+ track albums this year, but the production is his best in years & Wayne himself has A LOT to say throughout it’s 87 minute runtime. It’s very remarkable & refreshing to hear him at his strongest in years after he went through so much. Welcome back, Weezy!

Score: 4/5