Tha Carter II [PA]

Performer: Lil Wayne
Engineer: Fabian Marasciullo; Andrews Correa
Producer: The Heatmakerz; Tmix & Batman
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: A one-time member of New Orleans's Hot Boys, rapper Lil Wayne attained a new level of confidence and skill on 2004's THA CARTER. That album featured only a few guest shots (as opposed to typically star-studded hip-hop records), and this 2005 sequel once again keeps things focused on Wayne, with the MC flying solo on almost every track. This uncluttered scenario, which relies on a spare, yet distinctly Cash Money-style musical backdrop, gives Wayne the freedom to let his laid-back rhymes stretch out, as best revealed on the ominous "Fireman" and the boastful "Best Rapper Alive." Clearly Wayne knows how to work a winning concept, since THA CARTER II stays true to both its predecessor and the relentless, unapologetic spirit of Southern rap. Although his first studio album in three years has been long-awaited and repeatedly delayed, Lil Wayne has been anything but absent. Since THA CARTER II, Weezy has left an impressive mass of recordings--from mixtapes (authorized and otherwise) to guest appearances--in his wake as he blusters through the rap industry. In the third installment of the THA CARTER series, Wayne shows he's earned the right to ego-trip as he lets his off-kilter flow, freak-out lyrics, and vocal acrobatics run wild over 16 tracks. Scaling the heights of hubris on "Dr. Carter," he plays an MC/doctor treating a certain music genre diagnosed as lifeless and closes with a quintessential Weezy snarl: "Welcome back hip-hop/I saved your life." Wayne then shifts to alien-mode for the E.T.-inspired "Phone Home." Later on, he details his sexual conquest of a female cop on "Ms. Officer." As expected, THA CARTER III is rife with big name producers (The Alchemist, Kanye West, Wyclef Jean, David Banner, Swizz Beatz, will.i.am) and guest artists (Jay-Z, Babyface, Busta Rhymes, Juelz Santana, Fabolous, T-Pain) from all coasts.

Rolling Stone (p.74) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "He really is the best rapper alive....As usual, Wayne's tumbling freestyle rhymes are full of imagination and surprise, but his voice itself is half the fun." Rolling Stone (p.88) - Ranked #3 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "Lil Wayne's greatness lies not just in what he says, but in the way he says it..." Spin (p.96) - "[T]he purest product of the most transformative, chaos-inducing man-made disasters of the 21st century -- New Orleans, hip-hop, and the Internet." Spin (p.53) - Ranked #2 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "[With] rapping, Auto-Tune crooning, groping guitar strings, and rasping for air over a digital patchwork of beats and synths..." Entertainment Weekly (p.88) - "[W]ith a handful of sturdy funk-blues tracks that offer genuine value." -- Grade: B Entertainment Weekly (p.66) - "There's some intricate art here: 'Dr. Carter' and 'A Milli' have bursts of spectacular rhyme..." The Wire (p.64) - "Wayne's album is a surprisingly coherent assemblage of rags, riches and a bit of doubt-me-now rage." The Wire (p.64) - "'Misunderstood', based around the Nina Simone track, has lines that come straight from the heart, and the vital signs are strong..." XXL (Magazine) (p.98) - "Wayne's supreme confidence as an MC dominates the album....His songwriting skills continue to get more thoughtful and focused..." Blender (Magazine) (p.80) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "His taste in beats and sounds is omnivorous, his crushed-charcoal rasp equally indebted to crisp East Coast complexity, Southern sing-song and his own warped imagination."

Along with fellow Cash Money Click labelmate Juvenile, Lil Wayne is one of the most important MCs in the unfairly overlooked early 21st-century New Orleans rap scene. Blunt ghetto narratives about the hustler's life and woozy nearly psychedelic free associations fill Wayne's albums, but it's his allegiance to his home town that makes him a unique and forceful presence in hip-hop, and an important reminder that there is more to the Big Easy than Fats Domino and Dr. John.

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