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Wayne is the undisputed King of the mixtape. He took time off after the critically acclaimed "Tha Carter II" to change the game, and the medium was an array of innovative pilot mixtapes with crazy flows and interesting wordplay. In my humble opinion he revived hip-hop (after Nas prematurely pronounced it dead) and created so much buzz that he sold over 1 million copies in his debut week of "Tha Carter III"... which is unheard of in today's age.
So, fittingly, Wayne drops off this tape with "Tha Carter IV" on deck Aug.29. Is he still the King? Does it compare to Da Drought 3 or any of the Dedication series? Let me first unequivocally exclaim, No, on all accounts.
In loose terms, the mixtape is a poorman's No Ceilings. He raps exclusively over popular beats as if he drunkedly and highedly and codeine syrupedly closed his eyes and played pin the tail on the billboard top 25. He keeps his flows similar to the original artists' and honestly doesn't do them justice in most cases. What made this acceptable on No Ceilings was the punchlines and delivery that no one in the rap game could come close to touching. I didnt expect a whole lot from this mixtape or any (except for J.Cole), but at least I assumed Wayne would kill the lyrics. He doesn't. At his worst: "my house is a hoe house" "drink like a goldfish" "kidnap the baby and the babysitter" "flag red like bruises" and the countless amount of times he mentions he is the dope dealer.
There are definitely bright spots, namely 'Sure Thing' where he takes a heavy r&b ballad from Miguel and transforms it into a catchy, emotional song. My favorite song on the tape is its title track, where he raps over the now-famous Adele - Rolling in the Deep. Rapping over this beat was a great choice; the song is very powerful and catchy, yet doesnt appeal to rap due to it's female country vocals. The song builds and Wayne follows the beat getting energetic and fast-paced. I think this song also is his best lyrically ("this shit is magic, Stan Van Gundy" "hard like cialis").
With the bright spots, Wayne proves he is still partially Wayne, yet has he fallen off? He has recently said that he himself doesn't believe he is 'the best rapper alive' anymore. He also said that he might retire very soon.... Is his passion (which made him so great) gone? "Dear Anne" brought a refreshing perspective to an eerily catchy Swizz Beatz production. Still this song won't be on the album because he said it was out-dated. Personally, I think Wayne is trying to re-invent himself with many new hungry artists on their way. He needs to figure out where he wants to go. I dont know if Wayne can keep up lyrically with Cole and Drake, or creativly with Kanye and B.o.B. He needs to tap into his quirky, gangsta insanity swagger and put it together for "Tha Carter IV". His fans span all ages and genres, so expectations are high.
I love Wayne and appreciate how much he has added to hip-hop. It would be a shame for him to create a trend after a sub-par release of "Sorry 4 The Wait".
-JOBeezY
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