Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III Review

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 06.11.2008

Lil' Wayne's Tha Carter III is the most anticipated hip-hop album in years. Can it possibly live up to the insane amount of hype that has surrounded it? 411's Patrick Robinson checks in with his full review of the brand new album that hits stores this week!

In 2004, Lil Wayne released Tha Carter and began to turn heads as his lyrical abilities and flow had substantially improved over his previous releases. Tha Carter II released in 2005 was a further affirmation of his skills. Amidst a whirlwind of mixtape releases, guest appearances and even unofficial remixes, a rumor surfaced that Wayne was having a lot of his material ghost-written for him.

Since then, and the public denial of this claim, we have seen Wayne’s lyrical abilities take a roller coaster ride in terms of quality; some verses being the best of the year, some being the absolute worst of the year. After continuing to claim he was the ‘best rapper alive’, despite the sub par lyrical performances, he continued to churn out mixtapes like none other before him.

With his recent outburst, criticizing mixtape DJs, effectively burning his bridges to that medium for the future, Wayne is using the hype he’s created through the mixtapes and placing all his eggs in one basket: Tha Carter III.

Being one of the most anticipated albums in years, can it possibly stand up to the hype surrounding it?



Tracks:*

1. 3 Peat
2. Mr. Carter Ft. Jay-Z
3. A Milli
4. Got Money Ft. T-Pain
5. Comfortable Ft. Babyface
6. Phone Home
7. Dr. Carter
8. Tie My Hands Ft. Robin Thicke
9. Shoot Me Down
10. Playin’ With Fire
11. Lollipop Ft. Static Major
12. La La Ft. Brisco & Busta Rhymes
13. Good Girl Gone Bad Ft. Bun B
14. Nothin’ On Me Ft. Juelz Santana & Fabolous
15. Let The Beat Build
16. Mrs. Officer Ft. Bobby Valentino
17. Misunderstood

*A quick note on the track listing: this is the version I received and is identical to the one on Amazon.com. However, I understand that there is a bootleg version floating around that has the tracks in a different order, and some are named differently, such as “Mrs. Officer” being called “Whip It” or the exclusion of “Good Girl Gone Bad”.

So, what makes this album so enjoyable? First and foremost, I find it extremely entertaining. Tracks like “Phone Home”, “Lollipop” and “Mrs. Officer” aren’t going to win any Lyrics Of The Year awards, but it’s obvious that he’s not trying to win any awards. “Phone Home” has Wayne at his most off-kilter best, jumping from topic to topic, seemingly rhyming words for no apparent reason, other than the fact that they rhyme. The beat by Cool & Dre has a dramatic sci-fi vibe to it, helped along by Wayne’s hook.

“Lollipop” has been around for a while now, and you either love it or hate it based on the auto tune performance Wayne turns in. Personally, I find it pretty amusing, as it makes songs like 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” look ridiculous in the over-the-top presentation Wayne gives with the lollipop metaphor. “Mrs. Officer” would have been better if somebody had told Bobby Valentino that singing like a police siren was a bad idea. There’s a pretty funny line though:

”And she know I’m raw, she know it from the street
And all she want me to do is f*** the police”

There are a couple of standout tracks in particular, for the reason that quite simply, Wayne’s showing off his best lyrical outings. “Comfortable” would have made a significantly better lead single than “Lollipop” due to it’s more radio friendly nature and Babyface’s hook adding to the track. “Playin’ With Fire” again has Wayne jumping around, but he plays around with his voice at the same time, changing the way he delivers his lines half way through a verse.

The best track on the album though is “Let The Beat Build”. With production from Kanye West and Deezle, Weezy uses the five minutes as a pure lyrical exercise, not only playing around with the words, but the beat as well as each element drops in after every few bars. This is a track that Wayne fans will really love.

Two more tracks that are notable are “Mr. Carter” and “Nothin’ On Me”. The first, featuring Jay-Z was a little disappointing to be honest. With names like Wayne, Jay and Just Blaze on the beat, you’d expect something truly special, but what we’re ultimately left with, is a good track, which could have been better. It would have been nice to see some more interaction between Weezy and Jay on the track and Blaze’s beat isn’t one of his best.

“Nothin’ On Me” features some of the better verses Fabolous and Juelz Santana have done in recent times whilst Wayne goes nuts on the track changing his flow every few bars as well as his rhyming scheme, even wrapping things up with the auto tune effect.

“Good Girl Gone Bad” has understandably been left off some track lists as it features verses from Wayne and Bun B that were on a remix to “Apologize” from last year. Nevertheless, they still hold up really well against a new backdrop and lyrically, it’s the strongest performance in terms of actual content from Wayne on the album.

The worst track on the album would have to be “La La”. The beat from David Banner doesn’t do the three emcees any favors as it sounds like something from a kid’s show. Surprisingly, given the extremely basic and simple nature of the beat, it’s even more puzzling as to why the three have trouble at points staying on beat. All three seem to just drift off or stop for no apparent reason in each of their verses, particularly Busta Rhymes who seems to end one line in the middle of the bar.

The final track on the album, “Misunderstood” sums up the way Wayne is perceived by the hip-hop community. You see, people expect him to be some kind of lyrical equivalent of Andre 3000, featuring the swagger of T.I. and the insight and introspective nature of Scarface. But he’s not, and I don’t think he ever will be. He’s honest in the unapologetic nature of his lyrics, and lyrical in his own way. He uses his voice and flow in different ways, and the comparisons to Jay-Z in that sense are easy to see on this album. The sooner people stop stressing his ‘best rapper alive’ proclamations, and embrace the carefree nature of his songs, the sooner people will understand, he’s not only a good rapper, but an extremely entertaining one as well.

The 411: Is this album the classic it promised to be? To be honest, no, but I don’t think even Wayne could have possibly lived up to the hype he created. Wayne’s ‘rhyming words for the sake of rhyming them’ method can be off-putting, along with his rapid changes in flow and vocal delivery, which will make this an album that won’t convert many minds to Wayne’s music. However, if you’re open to some fairly unconventional mainstream rap (such as “Lollipop”) you’ll probably appreciate Lil Wayne’s bizarre album, Tha Carter III, I sure did.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]