Album Review: A Revival of Lil Wayne
Written by Mandie Meier
It’s hard to talk about Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V without mentioning his tumultuous past four plus years. In 2014, a lengthy battle with his ex-mentor Birdman and his label Cash Money started. Essentially, Wayne’s career was held hostage, as was the album. The dispute ended in June 2018, granting Wayne to finally get ready to release the extremely anticipated album.
Tha Carter V is unlike any of the projects Wayne has put out since his career began. He got the chance to age with this album. This doesn’t feel like the swaggering Wayne who told us he wishes he “could f--- every girl in the world.” Wayne has nothing to prove now. He’s already been deemed the best rapper alive, gone through hell and made it back. This album is his autobiography, detailing the professional and personal chaos he experienced.
The opening track “I Love You Dwayne” is an emotional one. Wayne’s mother spills her heart out in a recording speaking directly to Wayne. Calling him “her rock”, it’s hard not to feel like the prelude to the album is one to set the tone. But he doesn’t stop there with the family ties. Wayne’s daughter, Reginae Carter, is featured on “Famous.” This familial essence is something that the Carter franchise seemed to be lacking.
Astroworld rapper Travis Scott makes an appearance on “Let It Fly.” Scott tweeted in 2014 regarding the song. “Me and Wayne did something crazy for C5 on my mama ima cry if that album don’t come out,” the tweet reads. Parts of the chorus gives the listener nostalgia for Scott’s old sound. However, it appears that Scott recently recorded a new part of the chorus. It goes in and out from the 2014 feel to the new sound listeners experienced on Astroworld.
The album also includes features from rap heavyweights Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar.
“Mona Lisa” featuring Kendrick Lamar debuted at No. 2 on Billboard. The song, more oriented to storytelling than previous tracks, gives the world another theory about the famed Mona Lisa’s smirk, but with a dark and graphic twist. The song is effectively split into two parts, one detailing Wayne’s perspective and the other Kendrick’s. The ‘Mona Lisa’ of the story uses a fake smile, literally and metaphorically, to betray her significant other by setting him up to be robbed and murdered. The song is somewhat frustrating to follow because of it’s frantic undertone; it is one you have to listen to over and over to decipher, but it’s compelling in its own right.
Throughout the 23-track project, almost every song feels deep and dark. “Uproar” is an exception from the album that doesn’t go to that solemn place. With a contribution from Swizz-Beats and a sample from G. Dep’s “Special Delivery,” the track is sure to make you get up and dance. In the era of mumble rap, Wayne made a breath of fresh air that doesn’t feel like what every other rapper is doing. He’s not jumping on that train, and he doesn’t have to.
Although Carters III and IV may never live up to the first two, Carter V was worth the wait.