Lil Wayne Tha Carter III Review

I’ve been contemplating on this one for a while now. Weiss likes it. Pitchfork likes it. And many others feel the same way.

To begin with, its a good record. The fact that weez has been spittin more nonsense than bill o’ reilly over the last few months has been unsettling for sure. But I’m not gonna dismiss the entire effort because of a few stabs at the pop charts. “Milli” “Get Money” “Phone Home” and “Lollipop” are cheezy, overblown, and out of place. Lots of people are gonna love those tracks, and talk shit on me for dissin em. But think about how good those tracks would be without five shots of Jagermeister.

I wouldn’t expect complete greatness from C3 if it weren’t for the songs that knocked my socks off. “Milli” and “Lollipop” were only as disappointing as they were because “Mr. Carter” and “Dr. Carter” were fat as rick ross (and deserving of more inventive song titles).

In hopes of legitimizing my comments I’m gonna break down my thoughts on C3 song by song.

1. 3 Peat (Produced by Maestro):

He opens up the record showcasing his lyrical ability. His flow is interesting (nothing new), and some of the rhymes made me pause with pleasure.

“Got a million duffled up/ for the, fuck, of, it”

Admittedly a fucked up line, but it was delivered with excellence. And his gruesome metaphors can yield some provocative scenarios.

“Swallow my words, taste my thoughts. And if its too nasty spit it back at me.”

The song was a good start. He spit about his abundance of money and his inherent greatness too much, but at least he established that theme early.

2. Mr. Carter feat. Jay-Z (Prod. by Drew and Infamous):

One of the most noticeable disparities in this album is that some of the producers dug deep for just the right sample. Drew and Infamous are in this camp. The sound is lush and complete, and it surprisingly cradles weezy’s sound just as effectively as Jay-Z’s. W drops numerous quality lines, and I think he put out a better performance than Jay.

“Blind eyes could look at me and see the truth/ wonder if Stevie do?”

Something amazing about Lil’ Wayne is that he can make not-that-great-of-lines sound ballin like MJ.

“I call em April babys cause they fools.”

3. A Milli (Produced By Bangladesh):

When I first heard this song I thought, okay, maybe it will be less annoying with a fat sub. So I listened to it with a decent system and, wow, was I wrong. The bass ends up smothering the instrumentals (which is kind of a good thing) and there isn’t much left except wayne trying to turn a decent club beat into a legitimate rap song.

If you enjoy this song, I’ll agree with you if you wish to say it shakes your balls like a motha fucka and its cool when your drunk; other than that this is not good music.

Take a look at what the producer himself had to say:

Bangladesh: This girl I produced for, Shanell, got it to him. But I never went to the lab with him. If I had my way, I would like it more. But I wasn’t around, so what he felt, he put on there. I just thought he would make more of a song out of it, honestly. He’s just rapping. If it was going on the mixtape, it’s cool, but not on no album or single. It’s saying, “A milli.” He needs to pop about being a millionaire. He switched it up and tried to make it “ill.” If that was somebody else, it wouldn’t be on the radio. They just f*ck with Wayne regardless. That right there makes me like that sh*t, because it’s against the grain and it’s working. That sh*t’s no format. A n*gg* went in, freestyled, and that sh*t’s all over the radio. And it’s the hottest beat in hip-hop right now. Every time I turn on Rap City, they in the booth rapping to the beat…

4. Get Money feat. T-Pain (Produced by Play-n-Skillz)

Got Money/ You Know It/ Take it out your pocket/ Show It and throw it

LIl Wayne cannot claim to the be the greatest rapper alive and make songs like this. If he was touting his ability to blow up the radio, or get a party started, “Get Money” could be his first piece of evidence. Its just that, to me, Wayne has become as good as he is because he has played the rap game on his own terms. This song makes it seem like he is succumbing to the myth that a track needs to be usher-esque to be popular. It seems so out of place. First of all, the song is called Get Money (I’d love to have been in on the convo that led to that decision*). More importantly, the instrumentals are annoying and repetitive. If you don’t believe me listen to this song eight times in a row (as I just did in order to write this), and tell me you don’t feel like using your headphones to decapitate T-Pain.

In the end, this one shows Wayne trying to fit the mold and get rich quick. The greatest rappers don’t play the game like that, and somewhere under that disgusting hair/octopus on his head, Weezy knows just that.

Andre 3K: Why in the club you don’t make it precipitate/ you know make it rain when you could make it thunderstorm/ im like why the world needs sun/ the hood needs fun/ and theres a war goin on and half the battle is guns/ how dare I throw it on the floor when people are poor/ so i write like Edgar Allen to restore.

Well said, Andre…well said.

5. Comfortable feat. Baby Face (Produced by Kanye West)

The rapper love song is a delicate procedure. Lil dub was right to bring in Kanye. As many noted in our recent Kanye Beat Drop, Kanye brings the soul. The synths are groovy and soothing, and the guitar sample is a wonderful detail.

The rapping is also very well done; Wayne sounds sincere, but he doesn’t lose his swagger.

I got game like EA/ But I wanna let you play/ and don’t I treat you like souffle/ don’t I look at you like a new day

6. Dr. Carter (Produced by Swizz Beatz)

I think this song will be looked back on as one of Wayne’s greats. In the same vein as Busta’s new masterpiece Don’t Touch Me the beat is simplistic, uncharacteristic of the rapper, and completely bad ass. It makes it seem like Wayne is rapping with the Daptones.

See, this is where I struggle to like all of C3. This song feels so original and inventive that it makes me yearn for that type of effort in every song. All I’m saying is that when a guy is wearing big gold chains and a diamond studded belt its more obvious when his fly is down.

7. Phone Home (Produced by Cool & Dre)

This song is just straight creepy. Like some sort of outer space Akon track. Some of Wayne’s lines are undoubtedly witty and sometimes pretty funny.

I’m rare like Mr. Clean with hair.

But its hard to get past the incredibly annoying chorus, and the fact that the listener is being asked to do the weezy weez. Is that a new swagger dance for asthmatic children? Or is it just something lame that was thrown out at the last minute. Hmm.

8. Tie My Hands feat. Robin Thicke (Produced by Robin Thicke)

I wonder if thats Weezy playing the guitar. If it is, im gonna guess there was about 524 takes. Ha, jokes aside, this song is very enjoyable. Its nice in that I-just-broke-up-with-my-girlfriend-and-this-song-really-touches-me kind of way. At the end Weezy proclaims “we got soul yall, we got soul.” And its nice that he’s not afraid to show it.

Robin Thicke: way more pimp than he sounds.

9. Mrs. Officer feat. Bobby Valentino (Produced by Deezle)

Another one with an R&B type feel. Its kind of boring. Lets move on.

10. Let the Beat Build (Produced by Kanye West and Deezle)

This one should have been included in the beat drop. Its a cool concept that played out really well. By the time the kick comes in the listener is already engrossed in the song, mostly because the sample is fresh and Wayne kills the verse.

I pay the dues/ you keep the difference

It ends up being one of the dopest beats on the album.

Approvin million dollar deals on my iPhone

Oh Weezy, I wonder what you think when you look at yourself in the mirror.**

11. Shoot me down feat. D. Smith (Produced by D. Smith)

D. Smith (I’m gonna say he’s the one on the right, but I could be wrong) has a very cool voice. Its eerie. And it blends in perfectly with the spaced out beat from Yeez.

The sound is driving and forceful which is a perfect construct for Wayne’s rapping. If only he could rap about something besides a variation of why he is the best in the world.

12. Lollipop feat. Static Major (Produced by Jim Jonsin & Deezle)

Ah, lollipop. You are the bane of my existence. I’ve decided to write a short poem to express my feelings.

The vocoder hides in shame

as drunk girls go insane

for this fuckery from lil wayne

and every respectable man knows

but in hopes of getting laid never shows

that this song blows.

13. La La feat. Brisco and Busta Rhymes (Produced by David Banner)

This song is all over the place. It randomly gets louder at some points, and the deepening of the voice effect was overused in the Mike Jones era. Plus, Busta’s verse is weak.

Why in god’s name would he put this on and exclude La La La. If you haven’t heard that one do yourself a favor and take a looksy, its the best Lil’ Wayne song. No doubt.

Lil’ Wayne: La La La

14. Playing With Fire feat. Betty Wright (Produced by Streetrunner)

It took me a few listens to dial in my feelings about this one. I’m still not completely sure how much I like it. It is definitely overproduced, and Wayne just doesn’t make any sense most of the time. For example:

Im doing the same shit Martin Luther King did.

A dubious comment, to be sure.

15. You Aint Got Nuthin feat. Juelz Santana and Fabolous (Produced by the Alchemist)

An interesting effort from Alc. To me, it sounds really fake. I’ve just never been into this kind of sound. I mean, its a rap song not the soundtrack for a Vin Diesel movie.

Wayne does run shit at the end of the track. He sounds vicious, and thats the only time that the beat feels somewhat appropriate.

16. DontGetIt (Produced by Rodnae & Moussa)

Devo used this Nina Simone sample to create “Misunderstood” on Finding Forever. It fits well here, as Weezy spits from the heart for a long nine minutes and fifty two seconds. Its slightly drawn out; it seems like he just sort of runs out of things to say. Sweet track, though.

He somewhat eloquently speaks on politics, and his distaste for Al Sharpton. Word up, Weezy.

Fuck Al Sharpton

So there it is. There are a few other tracks that were on deluxe editions and the iTunes version and what not. But at this point do you even care? I sure don’t. Because to me Lil’ Wayne is just not that exciting. The album has its shining moments but the low points are painfully low and they make me want to set the record on fire.

The wave of hype never quite peaked into the epic onslaught that Wayne had promised. Suprise suprise.

Download: Lil’ Wayne-Mr. Carter (featuring Jay-Z)

*Lil’ Wayne: What should we call this song T-Pain

T-Pain: Well Weezy who do you think will like this song?

Lil’ Wayne: Crack Whores

T-Pain: Exactly, and what do Crack Whores like?

Lil’ Wayne: Money

Both Together: GET MONEY!!

**Weezy covered all his mirrors up with money for inspiration. true fact.