Tha Carter III

I had always liked Lil Wayne and had always loved his mixtapes such as Da Drought and Lights Out was a real good album. I took notice of Lil Wayne when he was a hot boy. Listening to him now compared to this cd was very interesting. He had changed his style so much so now he is of an MTV status which can consider him to be a "pop/rap" artist. I understand that h is trying to attract a wider audience base but seriously, I am so tired of people who don't even follow rap think he is the best rapper alive, as he says. They all base it off this album only and never even had heard any of his other stuff. this shows how tainted rap music is now these days. What Lil Wayne came out with the album was his big hit "Lollipop" which while was catchy and had a good feel, it was horrible when you settle down and hear the lyrics. Same goes for all his other songs on this album. Makes not much sense and puts too much vocals in his tracks like if he can sing or something. Dr. Carter was really good considering the fact he exploits the rap music coming out today and how he will fix it. Pretty hypocritical when you hear the rest of this album. He still has not yet shown me he's the best rapper alive.

Lil Wayne has always had a problem of proving himself as "best rapper alive". Sure he can bust a dope freestyle now and then but he has never made a classic album. Lights Out, The Carter and Carter II were good but they were far from classics. If you are going to call yourself the greatest the least you can do is make a great album. The Carter II was great lyrically(for the most part) but the production was suspect. The production on this album is better than the production on Carter II but lyrically its not better than Carter II. There are some good songs to be found on here: A Milli feat Corey Gunz is a banger. 3Peat, Let The Beat Build, Tie My Hands(feat Robin Thicke) are passable. Mr Carter feat Jay-z is pretty good and Dr Carter is probably the most creative track that Wayne has ever made Comfortable feat Babyface(which samples the ending of Alicia Keys' You Dont Know My Name) is a good track for the ladies. Despite these tracks, the album is weaighed down heavily with garbage tracks. P**** Monster, Phone Home(nice beat but WTF???) and the deadly dull Shoot Me Down are prime examples of what I'm talking about. The ringtone classic Lollipop(feat Static Major RIP) should have been slammed in the trash. Fabolous FLOORS Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana on You Aint Got Nothin. Mrs Officer is a waste of Bobby Vantentino's talent and our time and probably has the dumbest chorus on the album(weeoooweeweeoooweeeoooweee?). La La feat Busta Rhymes and Brisco sucks point blank period. Got Money feat T-Pain is a failed club banger and Dontgetit is ruined by Wayne speaking his mind on why he hate Al Sharpton. Now we all know that Al Sharpton is of questionable character(unless you're sheep) but Wayne isnt bright enough to defend his position so he ends up sounding stupid as hell. At any rate if this was the album that was supposed to prove that he was the greatest then that remains to be seen. The production for the most part is not bad but sometimes Wayne's rhymes were either mediocre and sometimes he sounded like he didnt even finish his punchlines. Wayne should get rid of the ego and just concentrate on making a quality album because this one is far from his true potential.

I will agree most of Wayne's best works are on his mixtapes but this was still a decent album. I was not disappointed. The lyrical wordplay, flow, and beats never let me down. Weezy F. Baby is a lyrical beast and I know alot of northerners or just plain haters will not give him the credit he deserves. They'd rather Jay-Z wear he crown because he is from NY, but there is hip hop beyond NY.

My Favorites:
Lollipop
A Milli
Mrs. Officer
Got Money
Mr. Carter
3 Peat

There comes a time where we all have to be judgmental and not follow a crowd, or not praise or slander something or someone because it's cool to do. For those few people who've been following my reviews, I'm sure I have an idea what you're thinking. You're probably thinking, "What Chandler?! You gave Wayne 8 out of 10 stars? You must be on that down south type ****." Or could it be "What? 8 out of 10 stars? No way Chandler! I stuck by your reviews for so long, and this is how you repay me. You gave Masta Ace, and Immortal Technique 8 stars. Is Lil' Wayne just as good as them?" Whatever reason you're thinking why I didn't give Wayne a low score, because he's overrated and proclaims himself as "The Best Rapper Alive", I have a few words for you: Get a life! Just like EJ Rupert said in his review, is it cool to listen to underground and mainstream artists, without slamming one or the other (this goes for half of you people who are on those Amazon threads as well).

Well, as for Lil' Wayne himself, he hits what he proclaims as a "3 Peat" with his third follow up in "Tha Carter" trilogy. I admit, he has stepped is game up since back in '04 when he came out with Tha Carter 1, which was mediocre (admit it, you only liked it because it was the cool thing to do). But in late '05/early '06 he came much harder on Tha Carter II. So can Wayne live up to the hype that he has been swimming in for the past year. When you hear how he rips on "Mr. Carter" featuring Jay-Z, the answer is apparently "yes". No matter how you match him up with the beats, he'll put them to good use. Just check out "A Milli" on how he handles it (and thank you every rapper popular and non-popular for freestyling that beat into the ground). "Dr. Carter" has a good concept as Wayne plays a doctor to rappers who are not good. Further down the album is the great and deep song "Tie My Hands" featuring Robin Thike. And then is the hilarious "La La" with Busta Rhymes and Brisco.

Songs that I don't like in particular is the second single "Ms. Officer" (that song get mass amount of airplay, and that "weedle weedle weedle" sound is VERY annoying). Some songs just don't make sense, such as "P***y Monster" and "Phone Home" (trying to be E.T. there huh?)

Overall, a great album. Wayne has hit a high mark in his career. Is he the best rapper alive? No, but he getting up there with everybody else. Which brings me to another thing: Record sales do not determine how great a rapper's skills are. Just becaue Wayne sold "A Milli" in a week, does no make this album the best ever made. Many albums have leaps and bounds over this and barely hit platnum (ex: Nas' Illmatic was relesed in 1994, but didn't go gold until '96 and platnum until 2001). Lil' Wayne may have done his job as an artist with an excellent album. Just like The Rolling Stone Magazine said in their review "Believe The Hype" (and gave this 4 1/2 stars). For me, it's 8 out of 10 in my opinion. Peace.


Lyrics: B+
Production: B+
Guest Appearances: B
Musical Vibes: A-

Top 5 Tracks:
1. Mr. Carter (featuring Jay-Z)
2. Tie My Hands (featuring Robin Thike)
3. Let The Beat Build
4. Dr. Carter
5. A Milli

Honorable Mention:
1. Lollipop (featuring Static Major)
2. 3 Peat

this is the future???
wht is this world comin to this is
a POP album NOT hiphop
lil wayne needs to re-find himself!!!