The reason? His follow-up record, Tha Carter V, has spent five years in stasis, teased and prepped for release but nowhere to be seen. That’s not far off Yeezy and Jay’s number-one streaks, but while their rap notoriety has continued to grow, Lil Wayne has spent the past half decade fading into the hip-hop backdrop. The four records that followed the chart topping, award winning Tha Carter III were well-received, if not by critics than by his fervent fans each album nabbing a number one or two spot on the Billboard Hot 100. He was, for all intents and purposes, a rapper at the top of his game. The "Lollipop" hype lasted for the year, gaining Weezy four Grammy wins, and nominations for four more. Lil Wayne seemed like the most influential figure in hip-hop for the first half of 2008, his face seemingly everywhere while the reigning kings – Yeezy and JAY – were waiting in the shadows to debut major projects towards the end of it. We were witnessing the marathon career of a hip-hop stalwart edge towards the first place podium. In a statement in response to his recent hospitalization, in which the rapper reassured everybody of his health and well-being, Lil Wayne reminded his fans of the album’s release, stating, “You can get that shit if you want.” He followed that up by saying, “If not, it’s whatever.”Ĭontact Rahul Pandya at. The album doesn’t even seem to be all that important to him. The few brilliant moments on IANAHB2 are overshadowed by utterly basic ones. His abilities are now lackluster, his peculiarities less interesting. But it turns out Lil Wayne isn’t an alien anymore. The album’s title refers to the image of an alien, which Lil Wayne has playfully taken upon in recent years as a way to justify his eccentricities and musical choices. Call it penis colada”) that would make even the biggest Wayne apologists cringe. It is filled to the brim with awful jokes and graphic sexual metaphors (“Suck this dick and swallow that nut. Referring to his 2010 stint in prison on “Rich As Fuck,” Wayne raps, “And then I went and got locked up, and every night I dreamed I broke out.” This album as a whole, though, is sloppy and frustratingly unnecessary. There are, too, rare showcases of vulnerability on this album. The production and guest appearances drive the single “Bitches Love Me,” while Wayne coasts comfortably in the spaces between.
The melodic delivery and inflection in Wayne’s voice transform the mediocre writing on “Curtains” into menacing braggadocio.
Much of what is enjoyable on this album has nothing to do with his lyrics. Rapping is something he just happens to do, and there is no impetus for him to do it especially well. At this point in his career though, Lil Wayne seems to have no greater agenda.
The next few years found Wayne experimenting with song structures, finding new inspiration in singing and even rock music to push the boundaries of what was acceptable in pop music.
With his incredible music run in the second half of the last decade, Lil Wayne fulfilled his personal quest to become one of rap’s greats. There’s the essential canon of Lil Wayne’s extensive discography, and then there’s I Am Not A Human Being II.
0 kommentar(er)
