Lil Wayne "Tha Carter IV"

A lot has happened to Lil Wayne between "Carter" albums, he's released a couple of mixtapes, 1 was outstanding "No Ceilings" the other was good, not great "Sorry For the Wait" and he released a rock album that I wasn't crazy about, an EP which was pretty good "I Am Not a Human Being" and a Young Money collaboration which honestly I didn't listen to because other than Wayne and Drake I can't stand the rest of Young Money. But Wayne's "Carter" albums are what his legacy is being built on, and after the first 3 "Carter" albums expectations are monsterious to say the least. As far as a lot of people are concerned "Tha Carter 3" may be the biggest Hip-Hop album of the last 10 years, and it was really amazing, and we may look back as that being the peak of Wayne. "Tha Carter 3" was Wayne with a lot to prove, he made several statements claiming to be the best rapper in the world before that album, he released several mixtapes before its release which were on par with the album, and he made 100 guest appearances in a span from 2007-2008 to help promote "Tha Carter 3" which has to be a record. All of the work paid off, not only was it a brilliant record, with critics, fans of Hip-Hop and fans of Pop music, it sold incredibly, at a time when people were saying no one could sell CDs anymore, Wayne sold 1 million copies in just the first week, that itself in this era is impressive. "Tha Carter 3" was the Top Selling album of 2008, selling about 3 million copies, and was also the most illegally downloaded album. Wayne was then deemed by many people to indeed be the best rapper in Hip-Hop by many people. I remember at one point if I saw one more magazine cover in 2008 that had "Wayne's World" printed on it as if that was clever I was going to scream, but looking back to 2008, it was Wayne's World. 

Before I start actually reviewing the new album I'll say this. People are going to be very hard on Lil Wayne, because "Tha Carter 3" is going to be a very hard act to follow, both from a sales standpoint and with fans. Every time Wayne has released something people have been saying the exact same thing, "He's saving his good music for Tha Carter IV", so now that its out is that true? Also, this is the last album coming out in one of the greatest months in Hip Hop History, First there was the Game mixtape "HoodMorning", then Ace Hood's "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" and the Kanye and Jay-Z collaboration "Watch The Throne" came out the same week, and just last week, the album I think is going to end up being the album of the year came out Game's "RED Album", so not only does Wayne have to follow his own tough act of "Tha Carter 3" but with the other great albums already released this month everyone is going to be comparing "Tha Carter IV" to what everyone else has come out with.

The big question is, is "Tha Carter IV" as good as "Tha Carter 3" and the answer is absolutely not, I would say its not even close, but I never expected it to be as good as "Tha Carter 3". As I said before, Carter 3 found Wayne trying to prove something to everyone and he did that. This is a different Lil Wayne than Carter 3 Wayne, that version of Lil Wayne was a rapper, who found popularity with Pop music fans, as a result a lot of Wayne since tried to appeal to a more Pop fan base, like the Rock album or the song "How to Love". However, as far as I concerned, this is the best Lil Wayne I've heard since the "No Ceilings" mixtape, while its not exactly what a lot of people will expect, its still really good.

I'm going to do another track review for the album, this one should be a little more entertaining than the "RED Album" review, which was nothing but praise for one track after another.

1. "Intro" (produced by Willy Will)

I really like this Intro, its not a typical Hip-Hop Skit-style Intro, its a regular song, basically called Intro. I was surprised by it actually, because it goes hard, which made me happy, I was very curious about the style of the album, and this put me at ease. Rating 4/5

2. "Blunt Blowing" (produced by Develop)

This is a pretty cool Wayne style song, full of a lot of typical clever Wayne worldplay. Rating 4/5

3. "Megamind" (produced by Megamind)

I liked this song, it has a similar feel to "6 Foot 7 Foot" Even the beat by Megamind has that feel, minus the sample playing behind it. Rating 4/5

4. "6 Foot 7 Foot" featuring Corey Gunz (produced by Bangladesh)

At this point everyone has heard this song, its great. The song goes hard, its clever, is funny, its super catchy. The beat is crazy, its just a great song. Rating 5/5

5. "Nightmares of the Bottom" (produced by Snizzy)

The first 4 tracks are what I would call Classic-Wayne, this one not so much. It slows the album down for the first of a few times. Slow doesn't necessarily have to mean boring, but in this case it kind of does, nothing to remarkable about this song. Rating 2/5

6. "She Will" featuring Drake (produced by T-minus)

And this is how you do a slower-song. This isn't Wayne in "6 Foot 7 Foot" mode, which is my favorite Wayne style, and yet this song is Awesome, there is something about the hypnotic beat, the chorus, Wayne is on point, maybe his best verses on the album, and Drake again makes another great feature appearance. Best Song on the Album for me. Rating 5/5

7. "How to Hate" featuring T-Pain (produced by Young Frye)

Well, this song is definitely better than "How to Love". This is a good song, not great. It kind of has a dated sound to it. Its a kind of paint by numbers "She broke my heart" song, but not terrible. Rating 3/5

8. "Interlude" featuring Tech N9ne, Busta Rhymes and Andre 3000 (produced by Willy Will)

I like the song, odd thing is, it features some great performances, including the always outstanding Andre 3k, yet there is no Lil Wayne on the track. Still a good song. Rating 3/5

9. "John" featuring Rick Ross (produced by Polow da Don, Rob Holladay, Ayo The Producer)

Why is it, anytime someone does a "Hard" song they put Rick Ross on it? This was the 2nd single off of the album, its a really good song. Rick Ross is really strong, as is Wayne. The song is a little overproduced, but Wanye and Ross are so strong together that it doesn't matter. Rating 4/5

10. "Abortion" (produced by StreetRunner)

I really like this song, again, kind of like "She Will" this isn't typical Wanye, it has a unique sound to it, especially on this album, and I would dare say this is Lil Wayne in story teller mode, which I haven't heard since about "Carter 2" Era. I think this is the best produced track on the album as well, I like the beat a lot. Great Song. Rating 5/5

11. "So Special" featuring John Legend (produced by Cool & Dre)

Another slower song, this one isn't bad, just a little on the boring side again. I would expect more from John Legend and Wayne. The weird thing is the song is really well produced by Cool & Dre, its just a boring song lyrically. Rating 2/5

12. "How to Love" (produced by Noel "Detail" Fisher)

I HATE this song, I get what he was going for, but for me this is the worst song Lil Wayne has ever done, everything about this song is terrible. This isn't just a case of not meeting expectations, he can switch his style up and it still work, look at "She Will" this song is just boring, not interesting, sugary sweet. If you read my review of Game's "RED Album" one of the things I liked so much about it was it was a classic Hip-Hop album, he wasn't trying to do R&B or Pop and appeal to Tweens and girls who frequent the mall the way this song is trying to do, when someone does a song like this it normally doesn't appeal to its target audience, and just pisses off the real fans of your music...like me. This song just angers me I hate it so much. Rating 0/5

13. "President Carter" (produced by Infamous)

Truth be told I just wrote this track review so I could unload my hatred of "How to Love" so now that thats over, lets continue. On the last "Carter" he was just "Mr. Carter", clearly Wayne has moved up to presidential status. Not a bad song, not great either. Rating 3/5

14. "It's Good" featuring Drake and Jadakiss (produced by Young Ladd and Cool & Dre)

This song created a crazy-stir on Twitter, saying it was a diss aimed at Jay-Z. I've listened to several times, and if it is a diss, it is the most unassuming diss I've ever heard, its a good thing when dissing someone to name them occasionally so they know who you are talking about. I'm convinced its not a diss track, but it is a good song. Jadakiss and Drake are really strong, and I like the way Drake sets the table for Wayne's verse. Rating 4/5

15. "Outro" featuring Bun B, Nas, Shyne, and Busta Rhymes (produced by Willy Will)

A strong outro, if for no other reason than Nas' verse, this is a classic and the strongest Nas I've heard in a while, it makes me hope for a new Nas album. Busta's verse is great as well, he basically thanks Lil Wayne for making "Tha Carter IV", its a good way to end the album...or is that the end? Rating 4/5

Bonus Tracks:

16. "I Like the View" (produced by Cool & Dre)

There was a reason this song was a bonus track, not that is bad, its really not a bad song, its just average, nothing really stands-out about it. Rating 3/5

17."Mirror" featuring Bruno Mars (produced by The Smeezingtons, REO of The Soundkillers)

Something tells me this song was a rejected single, it has that feel to it. The verse's are really strong, Wayne is really strong and the production through the verses are impressive, the chorus however is overproduced and Bruno Mars, who has a quality voice, is actually over-modulated, there was no need for that, still the verses are strong. 3/5

18. "Two Shots" (produced by Diplo)

This song should have made the album, its much better than several songs that did make the cut. The beat is simple, but really cool, and this is Classic Wayne, fun and clever. It boggles my mind that "How to Love" made the official album, and this is the last bonus track. Rating 4/5

After 3 years of waiting for another "Carter", arguably the greatest month of new music in Hip-Hop history, and all the Wayne-haters out for blood, Wayne had the odds stacked against him. In my opinion he delivered, however my standards were not nearly as high as others. As I said earlier, this is a different Wayne, it would be almost foolish to expect something like "Tha Carter 3" from him now, that would be like Nas doing "Illmatic" now (which a lot of people still compare everything he does to). Is Lil Wayne the best rapper in Hip-Hop, absolutely not, (after hearing the "RED Album" my answer is Game} but Lil Wayne is one of the best entertainers and the most polarizing performers out there, so maybe this wasn't "Tha Carter 3", we will probably never hear an album like that from Wayne again, but when you listen to "Tha Carter IV" without trying to compare it to everything he's done in the past or what everyone else is doing, its a really strong album. 

Final Rating 4/5