CD Reviews

Lil Wayne

Tha Carter III | Young Money/Cash Money/Universal

By BEN WESTHOFF | June 17, 2008

3.5 Stars

Since 2005’s Tha Carter II, rap’s boy king Lil Wayne has released a flurry of inspired mixtapes, and that’s made the long-delayed Tha Carter III the most eagerly awaited rap album of the year. It does not disappoint, combining the free-association marijuana musings Wayne perfected on Da Drought 3 with the disciplined structure a studio album requires. It helps that nearly every track has an in-demand guest (Jay-Z, Babyface, T-Pain), a hot producer (Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, StreetRunner), or both. It’s also fun to hear about Wayne’s trips to outer space (“Phone Home”) and his blunted reveries (“Misunderstood”). But what holds the album together is Weezy’s particular brand of self-awareness, which channels his braggadocio into a sense of hip-hop responsibility. “Gotta work every day/Gotta not be cliché,” he tells us on “Dr. Carter,” and he adds, in the ode to Katrina victims “Tie My Hands”: “Take away the football team and the basketball team/And all we got is me to represent New Orleans.” All rappers ride on the claim that they’re the best, but on III Wayne makes his case.

The Big Hurt: The week in beef (in brief)
A recessed economy means fewer chains to go around, so it's been a fine week for a-fussin'-and-a-feudin'.
The Big Hurt: Checking the Billboard Hot 100
As usual, I won't be able to make it through the full 100, but seven is just as good, right?
Lil Wayne’s world
On his mixtapes, Wayne is the most playful, experimental artist in mainstream hip-hop
Quitters, tinklers, tacklers, and whoppers
David Berman of Silver Jews intends to quit the music biz and concentrate on writing prose, says a post on the Drag City Web site.
All mixed up
Brzowski’s Blooddrive Vol. 2: The Wreckage Between, a mixtape released earlier this summer, is full of all kinds of ear candy.
The Big Hurt: Reed goes to the dogs
More evidence of the sickening barbarity of America’s penal institutions: Lil Wayne is being hassled because officers found headphones and the charger for an MP3 player in his cell.
The Big Hurt: Weezy unplugged
Our dream of a post-racial America moved one space closer to "king me" on the checkerboard of terrible metaphors this week
David Banner
It would be a stronger statement if it weren’t for the conflicting cornerstones of conscientious-rapper soapboxing and standard-issue gangsta themes he’s laid at its foundation.
The Big Hurt: Aussie asses sued off
MEN AT WORK — best known for their 1983 hit "Down Under" — have just had their pants sued off by a dead schoolmarm and her 78-year-old Girl Scout song.
Freestyle fellowships
Although crunk partisans probably won’t care for the comparison, LA rapper Busdriver might be thought of as the indie hip-hop analogue to Lil’ Wayne.
35. Lil Wayne
He may be the best rapper alive, but Lil Wayne’s starting to look like an extra from the “Thriller” video. And now, on the heels of his awful “Let It Rock” collabo with emo wannabe Kevin Rudolf, the erratic N’awlins spitter is threatening to morph into a guitar hero — even though his ill-fated SNL foray into shredding was hailed in the blogosphere as the worst solo, ever.
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