Tha Carter III [Revised Track Listing] [Clean] [PA]

Performer: Lil Wayne
Artist: Jay-Z; T-Pain; Babyface; Robin Thicke; Kidd Kidd; Bobby Valentino; D. Smith; Static Major; Brisco; Busta Rhymes; Fabolous; Juelz Santana
Engineer: Gina Victoria; Angel Aponte; Miguel Scott; Pro-Jay; Julian Vasquez; Darius Harrison; Joshua Berkman; Ed Falcor-Iidow; Angel Aponte; Pro-Jay
Producer: David Banner; Kanye West; Pro-Jay; Robin Thicke; Swizz Beatz; Jim Jonsin; Vaushaun "Maestro" Brooks; David Banner; Kanye West; Shondrea Crawford; Swizz Beatz; Jim Jonsin; Play-N-Skillz; Andrews Correa; T-Pain; Rodnae
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Eddie Montilla (strings, keyboards); Ludas Charles (keyboards); Darius Harrison (drums). Additional personnel: Sha Ron Prescott (vocals, background vocals); Pro-Jay, Robin Thicke, Cool & Dre, Jim Jonsin. Audio Mixers: Miguel Angel Mendoza Bermudez; Andrew Dawson; Edward Lido; Fabian Marasciullo. Recording information: Blue Jay Studios; CMR, Miami, FL; SouthBeat Studios, Atlanta, GA; The Record Room, N. Miami, FL; Tree Sound Studios, Atlanta, GA. Photographer: Jonathan Mannion. 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. How Tha Carter III came to be "the most anticipated rap album of 2008" is a story that involves the usual delays and promises of a masterpiece, plus a whole lot of bullet points that could only exist in the absurd world of Lil Wayne. There's his complete annihilation of the mixtape game, the ridiculous amount of guest shots he granted since Tha Carter II made him a hip-hop superstar, that photograph of him kissing his mentor, Birdman, rumors of addiction to the sizzurp, plus the gargantuan ego and aggravating aloofness (Wayne will ignore all incoming beefs and infuriate challengers even further by offering the lethal "I don't listen to your records"). His "best rapper alive" quote is discussed to death, but if that claim includes creating perfectly crafted full-lengths in a 2Pac style, the evidence won't be found here. Tha Carter III is instead a surprisingly casual album that takes numerous listens to sort out, and only part of a puzzle that is scattered across mixtapes, guest shots, and Internet leaks. Had he included another easy-access single like "Rider" from The Drought Is Over, Pt. 4 -- just one of his mixtape series that made it to a Pt. 5 -- the "classic" argument could be considered, but figuring out what to sacrifice from this high-grade jumble is difficult. It wouldn't be the electro-bumpin' "Lollipop," an infectious track that contains the wonderfully Wayne line "I told her to back it up/Like burp, burp." You certainly wouldn't want to lose key cut "Phone Home," where the maverick adopts an alien voice and drops "I could get your brains for a bargain/Like I bought it from Target." Another Weezy special from way outside the hip-hop universe comes in the striking "Dr. Carter," when the football reference "And you ain't Vince Young/So don't clash with the Titan" dances on a David Axelrod sample and an unexpected jazzy production from Swizz Beatz. Giant meets giant when Jay-Z stops by for the velvet-smooth hangout session "Mr. Carter," and with Babyface laying the stylish swagger all over "Comfortable," Wayne gets the opportunity to convincingly vibe in the land of true class. Just like on Tha Carter II, Robin Thicke ends up the most complementary guest, coating Wayne's post-Katrina tale "Tie My Hands" in warm buttery soul. As the track flows from political commentary ("My whole city's underwater, some people still floatin'/And they wonderin' why black people still votin'/Cuz your President's still chokin'") to despair and onto some moving "keep your head up"-styled verse, it proves Wayne can go deep and connect with his audience if he chooses. You can fault him for not connecting enough on the album and further complicating his unmanageable body of work with this disjointed effort, but Wayne's true masterpiece is the bigger picture and how he's flipped the script since the first Carter rolled out. Filled with bold, entertaining wordplay and plenty of well-executed, left-field ideas, Tha Carter III should be considered as a wild, somewhat difficult child of Weezy's magnum opus in motion, one that allows the listener an exhilarating and unapologetic taste of artistic freedom. [A clean version of the CD with a revised track listing was also released.] ~ David Jeffries

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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