Review: Carter IV Album Review

It has been just under a year since Lil Wayne’s album I’m Not A Human Being was released and a little over three years since the platinum-selling Tha Carter III. Has the self-proclaimed “greatest rapper alive” improved, fell short, or delivered just what the fans were expecting with his latest offering? Read our review of Wayne’s newly released and ninth studio album, Tha Carter IV, below to find out what we think.

Wayne kicks off the album with, “It’s been awhile.” We hear the infamous lighter spark, and his signature laugh, and with that, Lil Wayne is back. Over a slowly growing, Willy Will produced beat, we get a playful Weezy doing his thing and making references to a number of people including: Helen Keller, Dusty Rhodes, Rudy Huxtable, and Grace Jones. “Blunt Blowin” is up next and is one of the albums standouts which showcases Weezy’s “not give a f*ck” attitude.

“Megaman” follows, with a beat very similar to an older Wayne track, “Ransom,” and also features no chorus. An intense lyrical delivery over a Megaman sampled theme song makes this another homerun in terms of the tracks provided on Tha Carter IV so far. With the familiar “6 Foot 7 Foot” featuring Cory Gunz following, Wayne starts off the album four for four. The Bangladesh produced banger is one of the best tracks on the album, despite how long it has been in rotation for at radio.

The album slows down for the piano-laden next song, “Nightmares of the Bottom.” Wayne goes from introspective to boastful pretty quickly with lines like: “I’m searching for today, instead I found tomorrow / I put that s**tright back, like I’ll see what I find tomorrow” to “I’m so cold I’m hypothermic / ask your girl she will confirm it.” He continues the back and forth throughout the song which leads perfectly into “She Will,” which features Drake who provides chorus duties over a “made-for-radio” song. T-Minus provides the perfect beat for Wayne and Drake to create mainstream magic on. It is the first of three songs about women found on the album.

“How to Hate” featuring T-Pain is the album’s first misfire. Skip. The superior, “Interlude,” featuring Tech N9ne and a hidden verse from the illustrious Andre 3000 follows. Using the same beat as “Intro,” Wayne is absent on this superb track provided by two of Lil Wayne’s favorite lyricists. Andre closes the song with: “It’s important that you are more than, welcome to Tha Carter IV and y’all enjoy it, I will go head, and I’ll kiss y’all on y’all forehead / Out.”

The next song is another familiar one, as it’s been in heavy rotation for months now at radio. “John” featuring Rick Ross is a gem, created from a reworked, former Rick Ross song, “I’m Not A Star.” The two lyricists are right on home on this Polow Da Don produced track.

“Abortion” is a decent Wayne song. He’s doing his usual thing with lines like: “I woke up this morning, d*ck rock hard / ashed my blunt in my Grammy award” and ”Life is a gamble, better check the point spread / when life sucks, I just enjoy the head.” “So Special” featuring John Legend is the next song for the ladies and casually does the job over Cool & Dre’s production. Legend rarely makes bad songs, so his feature alone makes this worth the listen.

The Taylor Swift sounding “How to Love,” starts off the last third of the album followed by “President Carter” which features a looped sample from an old Jimmy Carter speech. The eerie harp in Infamous’ production sets the scene for Wayne, who has already declared himself the “best rapper alive,” to truly dominate all by anointing himself “President.” After “How to Love,” this song creates a great ending for Wayne’s latest studio effort followed by two star-studded collaborations: “It’s Good” featuring Jadakiss and Drake, and “Outro” featuring Bun B, Nas, Shyne, and Busta Rhymes.

On “It’s Good,” Jadakiss kicks things off, followed by Drake, with Wayne taking the song’s third and best verse which includes the much talked about “shot” at Jay-Z. “Outro” which features the four previously named “heavyweights” is grand finale, not just to the previous “Intro” and “Interlude,” but also to the album itself. And with that, the curtains have closed and Tha Carter IV came to an end.

Has Wayne created something memorable enough that people will still be talking about in a few years? I would say no. Did he create a solid album that has a large amount of reply value? Absolutely! But I believe that this is not what fans have been waiting three years for. There is, for the most part, nothing new, fresh, or innovative about Tha Carter IV, and most frustratingly, the album pretty much teeters out after the first half. This album will not help convert any “haters,” but it is overall, a mostly solid addition to Weezy’s catalog.

Watch The Throne Review

Even before Jay-Z and Kanye West announced plans to undertake a collaborative project, the notion always seemed like a realistic possibility considering their active past that dates back to 2000’s “This Can’t Be Life” off of The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. Each artist has evolved from that time in their respective careers, however their chemistry of creating music together has become a significant component within Hip Hop. Watch The Throne continues this tradition as the duo stake their claim for Rap supremacy.

Despite the slightly contemporary style early singles “H•A•M” and “Otis” depicted, the album-opening “No Church In The Wild” takes a sharp left as Frank Ocean’s voice emerges over haunting, pulsating synth and brooding drums. Asking, “What’s a king to a god? What’s a god to a non-believer”, Jay-Z and Kanye West lay out confessional rhymes, each pausing during their deliveries for added effect. “Murder To Excellence” also takes the experimental route as separate beats provided by Swizz Beatz and S1 chronicle two contrasting sides of the African American narrative.

With a title like Watch The Throne, hearing Hov and ‘Ye revel in their prosperity is a necessary avocation as the two trade bars about their wealth via “Gotta Have It,” while “Niggas In Paris” has them stuntin’ on a hundred thousand trillion. Add a cold Otis Redding Soul sample and neck-breaking drums to the aforementioned “Otis” and it’s evident that the two emcees have a knack for the braggadocio. In each instance, Jay-Z (“I’m planking on a million”) and Kanye (“I made ‘Jesus Walks’ I’m never goin’ to Hell / Couture-level flow it’s never going on sale”) provide quotable lines, although Kanye’s phrase “that shit cray” may be one that you can already expect to be overused this year.

In all its glory and jubilation production-wise, “Lift Off” feels hollow as Beyonce takes center stage with an otherwise forgettable chorus. Jay and Kanye follow suit with shortened, impassive verses. Similarly, “Welcome To The Jungle” lacks the type of execution and creativity found on the rest of the album with Swizz Beatz’ familiarly sharp, bouncing production falling to the wayside. Not much can be said about “That’s My Bitch,” other than that it sounded better as a My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy leftover than an add-on here.

The most compelling aspect of Watch The Throne, and it’s one that we’ve come to appreciate, is the lyrical dynamic between Jay-Z and Kanye West. Whereas Jay’s methodically complex rhymes over the flourishing double-time dubstep “Who Gon Stop Me” makes us hit rewind, Kanye’s lyrics exhibit an individual perpetually wearing his heart on his sleeve. His verse on “New Day” best exemplifies this, where in a self-reflective moment of clarity ‘Ye mulls over disheartening events in his life with hopes that his future son will learn from his mistakes.

Today’s Hip Hop scene has a rotating cast of notable stars, yet Watch The Throne simply wouldn’t have felt the same had it been two different rappers converging for something this monumental. Truth be told, each emcee has produced better solo material, but that doesn’t take away from the quality found on Watch The Throne, nor does it change the fact that crowns rest assuredly on their heads.

in cooperation with Hip Hop DX