The Brag

Lil Wayne
The Carter IV
Young Money/ Universal
***
When Tha Carter III leaked two weeks before its release date, Lil Wayne shrugged it off and recorded an entirely new album from scratch – and that album has now sold nearly four million copies. Weezy is a prodigious talent and is always pushing boundaries, even when they are a spectacular failure (see Rebirth, his ‘rock’ album) – but much of Tha Carter IV seems restrained in a way that he never has been before, and is somewhat diminished as a result.

Tha Carter IV is probably his strongest album to date, actually working as a whole rather than a collection of singles. But the individual songs aren’t up to his usual standard, and it’s hard to shake the feeling that Weezy seems bored with yet another song about sex, or weed, or sex and weed. While there is some variation in the instrumentals, Wayne’s vocals remain the same – full of tremendous wit and wordplay, but nonetheless limited by the couplet form he favours. He gets by on his way with words, but too often it’s the guest MCs who provide the real spark, with Tech N9ne, Andre 3000, Nas, Bun B and Busta Rhymes all showing up their host.

The best moments on this album occur when Weezy departs from the minimalist thuggery that we have come to expect, and instead tries a different style. ‘Abortion’ has an actual melody (!) and is lifted immeasurably by its gospel sample, while ‘She Will’ has extraordinary space behind it, allowing itself room to breathe, and sounding like the lost track from Kanye’s Fantasy.

Tha Carter IV is a really good listen as a whole, but lacking any genuinely standout tracks. Still, after a couple of really bad albums, it’s great to see Weezy F. Baby back doing what he does best.

Hugh Robertson