Backstories as part of music criticism, especially in the case of an artistic icon, are often wholly unnecessary. But in order to frame the release of Free Weezy in its proper context, one must look to the past. On a personal quest to become the best rapper alive, Lil Wayne escorted the world into a metaphorical house named after his surname — “Tha Carter.” Coupling unprecedented stamina on the mic, a voice literally cracking with emotional gravity, and an inherent desire to prove, Wayne chaperoned listeners through all the crevices of his inner world, and subsequently rose atop the mainstream ranks. His unquenchable ambition even spilled over into a plethora of critically acclaimed mixtapes. Even in 2005, when Louisiana underwent the turmoil of Hurricane Katrina and the Hip Hop game became flooded itself with Wayne clones, he raised the stakes even further with Tha Carter II, and achieved a scintillating three-peat with Tha Carter III. By 2009, the house he had worked so diligently to build became unable to house his colossal appetite, and the ceilings were deservedly removed.
But whereas the first Carter albums were pervaded by a desire to be legendary, once he ventured into the pit for his eight month bid at Rikers, a voice once bursting with intensity and magnetism slowly became drowned in auto-tune and purple elixirs. Wayne’s DIY artistic renovation too often led to syrupy, uninspired ventures, even though his premium talent produced fleeting moments of genius. His spiritless Tha Carter IV was a hollowed out museum with plastic on the couches; related in name only to the hypnotic music that inspired a legion of rappers currently dominating the airwaves. But in light of his unceremonious split with Birdman, positioning him once again as an artist longing to prove, the logical expectation that his first studio release be guided by the lifeblood that sculpted his most ingenious moments is not a flight of fancy. Meant to symbolize not only his split with Cash Money but the creative unshackling of an undisputed legend, Free Weezy is not the monumental testament the world had hoped for.
The album commences with “Glory,” a hoodwinking lyrical onslaught that surpasses the majority of the content to follow. We briefly witness the demonic intensity that infused past classics like “BM Jr” and “Tha Mobb.” He teams up with frequent collaborator Kane Beats “He’s Dead” for an inflamed eulogy to the “Cash Money Weezy” on an appropriately funereal-sounding instrumental. Supplementing these snapshots of the artist’s true form is the somewhat muted, harmonious lyricism on the instantly catchy “London Roads,” and the predominantly impassioned essence of the finale “Pick Up Your Heart.” Notwithstanding these heights, the bulk of the album is rooted in an artistic pitfall Wayne has managed to avoid for the majority of his career. In a word, it feels contrived.
Throughout Free Weezy, Wayne is merely drawing in the spaces on a coloring book rather than in unique hues. The most sublime moments of Wayne’s career were impregnated by a voracious flow, often exhausting his vocal chords in lyrical acrobatics that struck the casual invective “inauthentic” from the most hardened detractor’s vocabulary. Even his leisurely cadence on “Shoot Me Down” was marked by an unequivocal passion. But with an amateurish instrumental and flimsy rhymes, “I’m That Nigga” runs rampant in all the wrong ways until HoodyBaby provides a brief respite. Enlisting Bibi Bourelly on the chorus, “Without You” is even more cataclysmic, with Wayne’s bars lacking any semblance of fervor despite the austere nature of the remorseful topic.
Breakneck drum cadences and indefatigable vocals are usually prime indicators of a memorable Wayne release, but his directionless bars ultimately blemish his spasmodic instances of lyrical finesse, and the sparse presence of Euro’s high octane flow doesn’t usher anything in the way of deliverance. Historically animated when he rhymes alongside other esteemed emcees, Wayne is unambitious in the presence of his guests.
Instead of posturing himself as an insatiable force with his back against the wall and tapping into his phenomenal well of creativity, Wayne rests on his laurels, unfortunately comfortable with the knowledge of the inevitable groundswell of radio enthusiasm and the undying support of his legions of fans. While he stated previously of Tha Carter V’s intended release that he had poured all of his creative resources into the project, one can only hope that Free Weezy is a dim holdover for more luminous releases on the horizon. If not, the sober-minded fan must pray that the vault will be lifted, and Tha Carter V will contain the remnants of the ingenious house that Wayne built long ago.
fire!
Heard it once, and I still don’t get the praise for this guy. This album is really bad, like everything else he’s done since 2007.
Further proof that this dude needs to just put down the mic.
Die and go suck on some hot dick hoe
The album is bad. Non sensical lyrics, corny metaphors/punch lines, wack content about bitches and money, generic beats, wack autotune….
Tell me what’s good about this album, please. Break it down, now.
Show us old school heads that you new generation fans know anything about rap.
Yes and maybe ur father should step up and run the rap game yes fuck u Weezy a goat hate ur mom for bringing u in this world bitch n**
Who Tf Is Fuck Kellan Miller??? Fuck You Kellan You Obviously Dont Know Good Music! FWA Is The Best Album Out!
I really Liked it.
Fuck whoever wrote this
This almub was fire
This album is dope best from wayne in a long time only album better th
Album is dope Love Story from Yelawolf is the only album better so far this year IMO
you must be white. swag
You must have heard B4Da$$, The Album About Nothing, Summertime 06, or Lucky 7
youknow nothing about Weezy. His work only got better, so sub-average minds like u think he fell off.
good shit
This his best work of art I’m awhile
Fire
Weezy is back
Only the haters gon’ dislike this
He sounds focused again
but wayne came thru
Dope
Fire
This traitor to Cash Money should be hung for his crimes against Birdman.
Come back to reality. In fact, Wayne should be applauded for speaking out against the abuse he got from Birdman.
This album took atleast 2-3 months. And overall its fucking awsome. One of his best projects to date. I hate seeing reviews like this. Ppl like this praise kanye and kanye shits and always crying. Wayne is the GOD in the industry. No one has more musuc or features nor been on the billboard. Grammys dnt mean shit, if so, Nas wouldve had a few and kendrick as well. Wayne for President. This album the truth mane.
The album was dope.
Whoever reviewed this looks like they read a dictionary and tried to find the biggest words but I see through that shit.
I’d give is a 4/5.
it* a 4/5..
You’re really smart though young gator. I’m glad you could see through it for us and his pretentious erudite vocabulary nonsense. Good thing you’re here to give us the proper score too.
No. its NOT 4 out of 5. this review is spot on. it started out strong as hell and just went downhill. For real. You trying to tell me “thinkin bout you”, “I’m that nigga”, “post bail ballin”, “living right” and “white girl” were hot? those tracks were garbage. I’m sitting here hopeful for the day wayne comes back to make good shit. “glory” had me hyped, he killed it, but then it was downhill from there. Don’t be a mindless wayne stan. This was 3.5/5 at BEST. id go with 3.
Honestly, wasn’t feelin this one. It seems that for the past 7-8 years, Lil Wayne has just dropped the typical Wayne bullshit. His voice is annoying, his lyrics are stupid, and he’s not even being creative anymore. He’s doing the same shit fucking YOUNG THUG is doing. I can’t even separate them anymore.
What happened to 2004-2006 Lil Wayne? Where is that guy? This dude has fallen off so bad. His shit is so wack now and these brainless undeducated fools keep eating it up. SMH.
this is a great album
dopeeeee
This is one of th nest reviews ever, you really broke everything down. Lil wayne is my fsvorite rapper, n i know every song he has ever put out. The person that wrote this review, you can tell that they are also a wayne fan because only a real wayne fan could break his career down like that. yes your right wayne hasnt put anything good out since no ceilings. The good thing is he realizes that now and is attempting to make good music again, but this music just isnt good enough for the true fans who knows what he should be sounding like. I would give FWA 2.5/5 based on waynes standards, this album jus sounds like a better version of sftw2 and s4tw2 was horrible. i see hes binging the lyrics back and trying to have sharper metaphors, but he needs to stop that amilli style rapping, it only worked on amilli because that was the only somg like that. He never used to use a metaphor every single line, he jus used to use it here and there which really made the listening cringe and feel the bar. If wayne wants to get back to wayne from 2009 back, he needs to lose this stupid ass high pitch voice, n use his raspy carter 3 voice again, believe it or not that is 60% of the problem, then he needs to stop metaphoring every single line because obviously 90% of the metaphors are gonna be overlooked bevause there is just soooo much. He needs substance in his music again and he needs to stop that singing shit,YOURE NOT DRAKE, and you cant pull it off, i dont have a problem with the autotune only when hes singing with it or using that high pitch voice, autotune wayne with the raspy voice used to kill shit, like on both demolitions. Wayne needs to take a month and listen everything from no ceilings back and try to capture that sound again. Carter 4 was pathetic after listening to it rightt after 2 and 3. if carter V sounds anything like fwa wayne is in big trouble. if wayne wants to make a comeback on the carter V he needs to put mostly unreleased shit on there from 2010 back and maybe only 1 or 2 recent songs. wayne still has it in him , i sometimes hear a glimpse of his 09′ self, but je realli needs to lose this high pitched voice , it water downs his lyrics and it make u not tske him seriously.
Its dope
It was definitely different but I felt Wayne was more personal than he has ever been on this album and he def stayed on topic which I know is a major complaint from critics.
But overall I would say this was a solid step forward for Wayne.
With this kind of attention to his music, put him back in the studio with Mannie Fresh, Kanye West, 40, and throw in one or two other a-listers or people he has had bangers with like a Bangladesh, Kane Beatz or Cool N Dre, Carter V would be a real problem.
Wayne drippin with wack juice as usual. These kids need to put this swag shit away. Wayne needs to retire.
man that was one well written review……I applaud u Kellan Miller
wayne proves once again he can still hang with the big dogzzzzzzz. i love it. i fucking love it.
best album since C3. not a classic but a strong album,
great work
There might be something wrong with the editors here in dx. Giving this score which is slightly to high for me, it should have been a 2.45 in my opinion. But what set me off is why is this album get the same score as CzarFace.. The editor need to filter out their hiphop from there trash.
dope
Amazing piece of work
DOPE ALBUM COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER THO BUT DOPE ALL THE SAME
Decent album 3,5/5. Wayne drop this high pitch voice and it’s 4/5 easy. Hope C5 won’t have this because its fkin annoying
3-4 filler tracks imo, but overall very dope project from tunechi!
TRASH
He’s on his way back. This album shows promise and a return to being focussed. He’s reminding us that the Carter 2 & 3 weren’t that long ago. He can still be that dude.
this review doesnt even address directly all of the music on the album, despite the editors glaring over use of of a thesaurus he does not even reference half of the music that he discusses by name, and seems to completely ignore some of the songs. and when you discuss his career at length but seem to overlook the fact that he had 4 albums before the carter 2 im doubtful of how big of a wayne fan, or hip hop head this guy even is. If you are familiar with waynes music and career youll know that he is pretty in line with what he is good at and what he got popular for which is acting a fool on beats, being able to say what he wants how he wants and being creative and at times hilarious with it, the delivery on this album was careless but never sounded forced, The lyricism on this album is drought level and the song vibes are all great. Im a wayne fan and a stan by no means in fact ive thought he was pure garbage since the carter 3(which was also half garbage) with the exception of No ceilings and SFTW2( which was still half garbage) this album is solid. in the musical climate where editors on this site give young thug 4 out of 5 stars for making inaudible sounds on beats, its refreshing to me for somebody to put out a rap album full of bars that i can repeat but still have fun, or get over a break up with. This album could be a 3/5 simply as a motivator for wayne because he can obviously grow further, but given how they score stuff on this site and how harsh the editor is attempting to be id call this review Rubbish. Thank You Lil wayne. #FWA
I concur…. well said!!!
Lil Wayne represents all that is wrong with hip hop. And this album just further sinks the art form. Stupid lyrics, annoying voice, only talking about women.
You represent all thats wrong with the people listening to hip hop
I love this album. Perfect!!!
This album is perfect from start to finish. Wayne we back to drought is over days and to imagine he got all this for free is amazing. The beats fit him perfectly. He didn’t need a huge lineup of big producers. He really went back to the basics and all the features fit perfectly. From sampling james brown to sampling unlv in thinkin bout you. This classic new Orleans.
You love to hate… Thank God mama didn’t have an abortion..! #FWA
amazing weezy
I still don’t get what people are hearing. It gets worse on each spin.
Haven’t heard the album yet but the review was impressive
hot garbage….like usual….
For the kids and newbies.
Just trash period. He brings absolutely nothing new and the songs don’t even sound as good as his old stuff. Young thug on the other hand is different and brings something new to the table. He van rap and sing as well and his music is dope and creative.
you are fucking retarded
Wayne will always be the most overrated artist in history dropping wack shit like this one of the worst uses of auto tune I have heard. His high pitched squeely voice and yelling on a few tracks is so dam annoying this album sounds like it was rushed together. Dude should have retired a long time ago he is not even trying any more and he knows it SMH.
#WAYNEWASHED
Shits fire fuck yall Wayne is comin back maybe if you paid attention to his lyrics you would know
The album is fire songs wayne shined on was my heart races on, London roads, post bail ballin, pull up, white Girl, pick up my heart I feel like the Carter 5 is gonna be earth rocking when it drops besides wayne doesn’t have to prove anything else
That high pitched annoying voice alone makes this album wack. Wayne is trying to hard to be trendy. Production is very generic. Typical swaggy new generation production. Wayne really needs to retire.
This album is super awesome!
This is sooooooooo awful it’s nauseating. I mean, how corny can Wayne get?? This is so bad it’s laughable.
Lmao nauseating isn’t that a word wayne uses in a song in this album
Great album very proud of lil Wayne on this one.we see a different side of Wayne on this one love it! Always a Wayne fan!
i don’t like Lil Wayne much but ”FWA” is in my opinion a seriously solid album. I went into this LP not expecting much at all but ended up enjoying enjoying a lot more than i thought i would. ”FWA” is definitely better than ”Sorry 4 The Wait 2” (i still haven’t listened to it all i think it’s that bad) and i think this is his first project i’ve listened to the whole way through without skipping songs.
I was really impressed with the songs ”Glory” & ”London Roads” i heard probably the most emotion wayne has ever put in a song in the last few bars of ”London Road” and i was genuinely moved they left me thinking ”Wayne said that ?!?!?!” here they are:
I remember when I was no one Lord
When I couldn’t find jack in no ones cards
Ms. Cita I remember goin’ in your gun drawer
Puttin’ it to my chest and missin’ my heart by centimetres oh Lord
I remember dyin’ on her room floor
And wakin’ up in some police’s arms
He died recent, so I hope heaven made more room for him
And I hope he see me, cause if he didn’t save that lil boy there would be no Weezy oh Lord
My final thoughts are that Lil Wayne is still perfectly capable of making good quality music and if ”The Carter V” is anything like ”FWA” he might be respected more. you should be proud of ”FWA” Wayne it is a solid album
sdadcf
This shit is terrible. Would give it a zero if I could. Wayne has been so bad since 2008 it’s sad.
Love it
Fuckin Christ this isn’t a Master’s Thesis, Kellan Miller. Write with some normal words for fucks sake, it sounds ridiculous.
I think Wayne has gotten lazy. He’s burned out and has run out of things to talk about. I think he needs to take about a year off, reflect, and then come back. Being in the studio all the time doesn’t allow for any new creative energy and ideas to develop. His content is the same. Money, bitches, drugs, mixed with stupid punch lines about his dick or a weak pun about shit.
Time off would do Wayne a lot of good, and then maybe we could see something that is introspective and deep. Otherwise, it’ll probably just be the same tired subjects we hear. Wayne needs to reinvent himself for Carter 5 otherwise, what’s the point?
Lil wayne has being doing great from SFTW2 to FWA he has being spiting straight fire. I mean when people say they want change from wayne wtf do they mean. Since you are knowing wayne has to change just rap the missing part of wayne’s ryhmes. The is no rapper in this world who is as creative as wayne. I don’t follow reviews that much since I know wayne is goood and I listen, understand and laugh a lot to his lyrics since they are good!! To all the fans who think Kendrick and drake are better than wayne I suggest yall start listening to gospel or rnb, hip hop aint your think. #FWA wayne is underrated shit is real I give #FWA 10/10.
No.
One of Waynes BEST PROJECTS IN RECENT YEARS, he absolutely tried on this album, Songs like my heart races on, He’s Dead, London Roads, Physco, without you he was story teller weezy with alot of emotion, then tracks like glory, pull up, living right, white girl, post bail balling he proved he still can spit bars while being witty, clever, diverse, and stayed on topic… overall I give this album and 4 out of 5 just cuz there was songs that I did skip.. but honestly got high hopes and confidence in Carter V
this is fucking shit
Middle finger up haters. This album is dope
wtf is this shit????
The album is dope. The fact that you listened to the album “haters” proves wayne still the best rapper alive
Not really. If you listen to an album once and you don’t like it, that’s not being a “hater.” It just means your not feelin it.