Lil’ Wayne is the Al Green of rap: He could recite the phone book and have listeners hanging onto each of his curvaceous vowels and smoldering consonants.
On The Carter II, Wayne more or less does just that, injecting familiar rap tropes (sample chorus: “Get money, fuck bitches, get money, fuck bitches”) with his own rhythms. Though his voice is somewhat slight by nature — nimble and exact, rather than full and forceful — he handles the busy bombast of “Best Rapper Alive” with the sort of finesse not seen since Jay-Z, circa Vol. 2.
And while many of the sentiments amount to little more than rehashed lifestyle fantasies, there are notable exceptions: On “Get Over,” which mourns the death of Weezy’s father, his voice is little more than a grisly whisper as he raps, “‘Stay strong, be tough,’ that’s what the preacher tell ya/He never really felt ya, so he can’t even help ya/Ya need a shoulder to lean on, somebody to cry to/Standing onstage in front of thousands/Don’t amount to not having my father.” It’s a seductively sad performance from one of the finest hip-hop albums of the year.
This article appears in Dec 21-27, 2005.
lil wayne is the s*it and people be hatin on him i love him his music like what tha hell wayne is crazy bad!!!! who ever dont like it can kiss his azz