Rating: 6.8/10

Lil Wayne; sequestered from the world for months inside Rikers Island, comes back in serious fashion with his newest album, Tha Carter IV. From the months being locked up to being visited with newfound friend Tech N9ne, my expectations for Tha Carter IV were set astronomically high. Especially with the disaster that would make a Casey Anthony-trial look pleasant with Tha Carter III, I couldn’t help but keep my expectations in skyrocketing level. So let’s get into it… Tha Carter IV album review:

The album starts off with the Intro. At best, it sets a solid foundation with how Tunechi presents his album but it lacked some creativity with Wayne’s lazy use of the infamous “#hashtag” rap that made me honestly cringe a tiny bit during my 1st listen. His one-liners are hella slick with his line, “And I don’t need a watch, the time is now or never,” which conveys Weezy’s symbolism for who he is and what he stands for.        Intro             4/5

Lil Wayne officially sets the tone with his next two tracks, Blunt Blowin’ & MegaMan. Quotes ablaze coalesced with an iridescent set of Wayne’s aggressive ear-for-production, he arguably releases his two best solo tracks in the entire album.  His use of metaphors show a flash for which he shined the most since Tha Carter II & Da Drought 3 and this is exactly what I expected the most out of post-prison Weezy.                                                         Blunt Blowin’ 5/5 MegaMan      5/5

Lil Wayne officially put himself back on the map with the release of 6 Foot 7 Foot feat. the lightning-tongued, son of a rap pioneer, Cory Gunz. Weezy with his flurry of wordplay balanced out with Gunz’ flow as hot as a Ghana Queen meshed with a Cuban missile is what got the masses listening and rightfully so. The next track is Nightmares of the Bottom; Weezy’s deepest track in the album. Wayne explains the loneliness of being on top of the rap game and how it can be a complete curse, yet it is still a keen blessing.                                                                                                                                      Six Foot Seven Foot             5/5 Nightmares of the Bottom 4.5/5

Two of the next tracks are some of the weak spots of Lil Wayne. In “She Will,” disapointed enough that Drake didn’t show up with a verse, Weezy didn’t seem a fix up any clever ones for himself. His over-excessive use of sexual innuendos that would complement some of his trashy mixtape tracks did not benefit this song whatsoever and that carried on to the next track “How to Hate feat. T-Pain,” supposedly the antithesis to “How to Love.” The line “2 and 2 together make 4, but not 4-ever” nearly made me cut straight to the next track, ignorance at a high level.      She Will                        3/5      How to Hate              2.5/5

The Interlude was a track that I was honestly looking forward to the most. Independent hip-hop king Tech N9ne officially introduces himself to a broader audience delivering his double-time flow that he’s been known to kick since the early 90’s and with an out-of-left-field feature from Southern legend Andre 3000?! Easily the collaboration of the year. I was surprised as hell that Weezy didn’t jump into this track, well, I guess because that it was an interlude for a reason, or that he didn’t want to get easily outshined by these lyrical giants, point blank.       Interlude 5/5

Lil Wayne continued to kick his witty one-liners and punchlines with the next track, “John” in which it features the officer himself, Rick Ross. Both delivered in this song but it wasn’t perfect because Wayne simply lyrically slacked during his last verse and his flow was at the part in which it was getting dragged out. “Abortion” is a track that explains the current reign of Lil Wayne’s Young Money and how their success can fall at any second. It’s commonplace for an artist to discuss this but with Wayne rapping about pressure with lines that mostly came across as uninspiring, I was clearly uninspired. A humorous storytelling track about Wayne seducing one of his b*tches is explained with “So Special” in which it features the soulful John Legend. It was an awesome treat for what it was and this is the classic Wayne that made me a fan.         John              4/5       Abortion        3/5       So Special      4/5

“How to Love” by Lil Wayne has shown me a valuable lesson while listening to it for the very 1st time… I learned that throwing a straight-out crappy acoustic guitar ballad mixed in with an intolerable snare kick and unnecessary bass would equal to more buzz and that’s how this bland track kept it afloat after 6 Foot 7 Foot. It is just embarrassing. “President Carter,” encompasses Weezy in his truest form; a braggadocious lyrical monster that can captivate a listener’s attention in his average day in the studio. “It’s Good” officially entered Weezy into enemy territory when he dissed Jay-Z. Not a subliminal, but Uzi’s with no human regard. Jadakiss delivered his consistent verse that you just know and love from Kiss and Drake went damn aggressive on it as well. How to Love 2.5/5     President Carter 4/5 It’s Good     3.5/5

The Outro is what shined the most in this entire album, ironically, Weezy is not in this neither. Busta unleashes with swarms of machine gun bullets that he leftover from Tech N9ne’s “Worldwide Choppers” and the douche Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” and brought it into this track with raw intensity. His patented flow is unmatched for the past decade and a half now. Nas & Bun B matches with what Busta had and with nominees of verses of the year from both of them. Shyne was just out-of-place, he has never been the same since his prison release. At this rate, I’d rather switch Bieber’s voice with his voice, it is just completely a nuisance. Though his flow and voice is what makes hip-hop look bad, Shyne’s verse doesn’t not sway the rating of this track whatsoever.   The Outro 5/5

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Aside from the overpowering bass that leaves me constantly ear-raped by Lil Wayne’s beat selection, it’s one of his best to date and it washes up the vomit that is Tha Carter III but it doesn’t sniff his magnum opus that is Tha Carter II. He may not be in his ‘05 form, but I’d take flashes of his skill over nothing all day.