The Long-Awaiting, Tha Carter V is Here!

Fans have been waiting for this moment for several years. After finally wining his dispute with Birdman, Lil' Wayne released his 12th album, "Tha Carter V". The artists appearing on this album are, Snoop Dogg, XXXTentacion, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Ashanti and more. Let's not forget that Lil' Wayne finished Tha Carter V a long time ago, and it was supposed to be his final album before he retires at the age of 35 years old. Lil' Wayne just turned 36 on September 27th, one day before the release of Tha Carter V. The cover of the album, is a young boy Wayne with his mother.

The album starts with an introduction called "I Love You Dwayne", featuring Lil' Wayne's mother, Jacida Carter, where she expresses her love and how proud she is of her son's life and career. The following song, "Don't Cry" is featuring the late young rapper, XXXTentacion on the hook. This song is where Weezy talks about his emotions, and him falling off in his life but he thanks God to give him a second life which put him back on his feet which makes him humble on this song. Even though the beat might sound depressive to some, the song is pretty deep and emotional because of X not being with us anymore, R.I.P. young man. "Dedicate" has a sample hook from 2 Chainz praising Lil' Wayne. The instrumental is pretty good , and Weezy uses a trap flow a la Migos which follows the tempo of the beat well. Lil' Wayne talks about his influences in the hip-hop game and the inspirations he has on the new generation of rappers. The only thing I dislike about this song, is the reference of Suu-Whoop which is a gang call from Bloods and Pirus which Lil' Wayne is not, and he has nothing to do with the influence of it. The song finishes with a speech of Barack Obama, where he speaks about Lil' Wayne and Lebron James being inspirations. "Uproar" is a Swizz Beatz produced track where the instrumental is a sample of G. Dep's "Special Delivery". I put this song as a club banger category, and I won't be surprised if some people will be doing the Harlem Shake. "Let It Fly" is featuring Travis Scott, and the instrumental fits well with Travis vibe and the way that Wayne went hard on his verse, I'm pretty sure he freestyle on it. The next song is "Can't Be Broken" where Lil' Wayne raps about how he did not fell off and how his haters cannot affect him. The song has a nice piano to it but overall, it was ok.

The 7th song of album is "Dark Side of The Moon" featuring Nicki Minaj. The two Young Money label mates did a beautiful collaboration on the song, the vibe is really nice and Nicki did a very good job with her singing. "Mona Lisa" featuring Kendrick (K. DOT) Lamar, is for me the 2018 "Renegade". This is another track where Lil' Wayne goes hard on his verses and the hook itself, and just like Eminmen on Renegade, Kendrick steals the show on the third verse with his sick rapping skills. Bravo to both rappers for Mona Lisa. "What About Me" is a love song featuring Sosamann. "Open Letter" is a 4 and a half minutes one verse song, where Lil' Wayne raps the way he is known for; freestyle wise. On this track, Weezy is opening up on different aspects of his life, and the love he has for his children. The next song is called "Famous" featuring Lil' Wayne daughter, Regina Carter. "Problems" is a trap music type of beat, where Lil' Wayne raps like the new generation of mumble rappers. Even though I understood what Wayne was saying while mumbling, I did not like this song that much.

We are now on the second half of the album with the song "Dope Nigga" featuring Snoop Dogg, which samples the song Xxplosive by Dr. Dre. You already know you can't go wrong with a sample from a Dr. Dre beat with Snoop Dogg, well you can, anything is possible, but not here, good vibe, great song. "Hittas" is a party anthem type of beat. The following song is "Took His Time", where Lil' Wayne talks about being blessed and being a gift from God where he says on the hook; "Momma said God Took His Time When He Made Me." Next track is a DJ Mustard production called "Open Safe". This is another track where Lil' Wayne spits the way he is known for again. The instrumental has definitely DJ Mustard's bouncy signature all over the track. Now, if you don't know who Mannie Fresh is, and you considering yourself a Lil' Wayne fan, I don't know what to tell you and I'm not even a Lil' Wayne fan myself. "Start This Shit Off Right" is produced by Mannie Fresh featuring Mack Maine and the beautiful Ashanti. The song has a nice vibe into it and is very enjoyable. This is more of a relax party type of song, and this is the first time since Tha Carter album in 2004, that Mannie Fresh and Lil' Wayne has worked together, aside from the song "Hate" in 2016 from Mannie Fresh featuring Lil' Wayne and Juvenile.

"Demon" is the 18th track of the album. The instrumental has a church choir vibe, I felt like the beat was a bit all over the place and I felt Wayne was a bit off. "Mess" and "Dope New Gospel" are the following songs, and "Dope New Gospel" is featuring Lil' Wayne's ex-fiancee and R&B singer, Nivea. "Perfect Strangers" is another love song, produced by Mannie Fresh. On the next song "Used 2", Lil' Wayne raps about his old habits and his new habits. Lil' Wayne spits on the track while doing a lot of wordplay, and we also have a little featuring speech from Wayne's mother. The track is produced by Infamous, Prince85 and Metro Boomin. The album finishes with the song, "Let It All Work Out", which I feel is a nice ending for the album. F.Y.I., at the beginning of the song and several other songs on the album, we can hear Lil' Wayne who lights up either a smoke or a joint before he starts spitting.

To conclude this review, I'm pretty sure Lil' Wayne's fans are satisfied with Tha Carter V, which they have been waiting for a long time. There were a lot of good songs, a couple fillers, and Wayne proved that he can still spit good rhymes and his wordplay and famous metaphors are still here, he hasn't fell off. There's some couple tracks I felt Lil' Wayne was off key and sometimes he felt out of breath. Otherwise, if Lil' Wayne wants to retire after Tha Carter V, it will be a good and deserving retirement. With 12 studio albums and a bunch of mixtapes, it's a good catalog and resume for his 22 years hip-hop career since the age of 15 years old and he has definitely left a mark in the hip-hop game among other greats. Even though Lil' Wayne hasn't done any mention about it, on his behalf, The Hot Boys (Juvenile and Turk) behalf, The Big Tymers (Birdman and Mannie Fresh) behalf, FREE Christopher Dorsey aka B.G.

Album grade: 3.6/5

Favorite song: Mona Lisa

Least favorite song: Demon