Album: Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III

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WEEZY F. BABY! ‘The Best Rapper Alive’ has returned with the final installment of his Tha Carter trilogy, with Tha Carter III. Despite the countless criticism balanced with the many praises Lil’ Wayne garners, this piece of work may potentially be a classic. The first thing any fan would ask themselves, conscious or subconscious, is “Is it better than Tha Carter II?“ Well, yes it is… it certainly stomps Tha Carter II into the ground as the beats are not only bigger and better (and not always in the “I GETS MA MONEY” way either), but the lyrics are much more creative and diverse, making them great to explore.

The album kicks off with an undeniably huge cut with Jay-Z to be remembered, Mr. Carter. This collaboration between the ‘Mr. Carter’s is produced by up and comers Drew Correa and Infamous, and is rich with big bass and drums while the piano chords hit are on point and certainly add to the weight of his lyrics … which you know only serves justice to lines like “Summer hatin’ on me cause I'm hotter than the sun/Spring hatin’ on me cause I ain't never sprung/Winter hatin’ on me cause I'm colder than y’all/And I would never, I would never, I would never Fall”, definitely matching up to Jay’s verse.

Kanye West-produced beats are also common on this album, and both did their thing on Tie My Hands, featuring Robin Thicke. With this heart-filled, emotional ode to those affected by Hurricane Katrina and life’s general hardships, Wayne reaches out to your soul and reveals a side of himself almost never seen by the public, because who would expect “I, knock on the door, Hope isn't home/Fate’s not around, Luck’s all gone/Don't ask me what’s wrong, ask me what’s right/and I’ma tell you what’s life…” from Weezy? Another track extremely deserving of praise is the Swizz Beatz-produced Dr. Carter, which may be the epitome of Lil’ Wayne’s lyrical creativity over a jazz beat sampling David Axelrod’s Holy Thursday. Saying anything more is a MAJOR spoiler.

There are really only two tracks you can go wrong with on this monster of an album, Phone Home and A Milli. Although the latter has very intense lyrics, the beat is just ridiculous (no, no praises here). This is one of those songs where you feel gypped that you get given great lyrics but a horrible beat to tolerate, so you’re forced to skip. Phone Home is also a track which makes you question the substances in his system at the time; potentially creative, but not executed well. These two could’ve easily been replaced with any of the countless tracks he originally recorded.

Despite those two, Tha Carter III is overflowing with the kind of fluid missing in the mainstream game. You will hear mentions of gettin’ money, but to a much lesser extent than you would expect – refreshing, isn’t it? One would be a fool to completely criticise the mainstream game without having listened to this album, because this right here is hope that there still is talent and creativity present in mainstream Hip Hop.

“And next time you mention Pac, Biggie and Jay-Z/Don’t forget Weezy, baby.” - Mr. Carter.

Available through Cash Money/Universal Motown Records