What did the lyrics “Cause I’ll serve anyone like a blind waiter”, “My words keep going like a teleprompter” and “I love to hit it backwards; call it Pig Latin” all have in common? Aside from being surprisingly accurate similes, they were lines from Lil Wayne’s 2009 mixtape No Ceilings. If one haven’t heard the tape in a while or maybe have never heard it at all, it can be easily summed up as ‘Lil Wayne performing at his very best’.
That was released however back in 2009 when Wayne was still at the semi-peak of his creative career. After the release of Tha Carter 3 in mid-2008 and before the release of Rebirth *sigh* in early 2010, Wayne hit another streak of genius. This genius came in the form of mixtapes Dedication 3 and No Ceilings; the latter being the more monumental. It was an utter punchline-fest slapped over other artists’ beats. 21 tracks filled top to bottom with knockout punchlines, sporadic flows, clever similes, wild metaphors and some of the sharpest wordplay.
Now he’s back with No Ceilings 2 – a mixtape that would usually serve as a life jacket in the sea of uncertainty that is Wayne’s music but unfortunately, times have changed. There was a time when Wayne could hop on anyone’s beat and rap so well that one starts to much prefer his version to the original. The outshining was actually so bad that rappers would dread the day they saw their instrumental on the tracklist of one of Wayne’s mixtapes.
Fortunately for other rappers but unfortunately for Wayne, that is hardly the case this time around. No Ceilings 2 may not be the worst project Wayne has ever dropped, but it severely lacks any of that cutthroat instinct that we heard on its previous instalment – or any of his “jacking for beats” mixtapes for that matter. This is particularly sad because rapping over other people’s beats is when he has proven time and time again that he can still rap at a very high level. Nevertheless, No Ceilings 2 hits some hurdles.
First things first, the mixtape is overwhelmingly long. Running a whopping 24 songs deep, the tape loses steam pretty much after track 9. Perhaps a better idea would have been picking the strongest 10 or 12 songs and releasing it that way – but we all know short projects aren’t usually Wayne’s specialty. The tape could have been digested way easier had the run time not been over an hour and a half.
A common grievance with Wayne’s new-ish music is his reliance on auto-tune but surprisingly enough, that isn’t necessarily an issue here. Most of the beats he selected call for a fair amount of auto-tuned vocals. He is still able to deliver rapid fire flows and decently impressive rhyme patterns regardless of his digitally enhanced voice.
With that said, the beat selection might also have been the downfall to this tape. On his past mixtapes, most specifically the first No Ceilings, Wayne chose songs with very hot beats and not-so-hot lyrics. The result? A complete disregard for the original to the point where people are unsure who the song actually belongs to. On No Ceilings 2, Wayne really shot himself in the foot. Making freestyles over versions of songs like “Back 2 Back”, “The Hills”, “Hotline Bling”, “My Name Is” and just under 50% of the songs from What A Time To Be Alive is hard to do well; no matter how legendary one emcee has become. Unlike Wayne’s rendition of “Swag Surfin” on the first No Ceilings, odds are people aren’t going to forget the likes of Drake, Eminem and Future the way they already forgot Fast Life Yungstaz. Had Wayne rapped over a track like “Drill Time” or “U Guessed It”, the outcome may have been more in his favor.
Beats aside, the quality of a project like this can really be measured by the bars. The question on everybody’s mind, whenever Wayne releases a project like this, is whether or not he is spazzing at Martian levels. Unfortunately, the answer here is “no” but to quote Wayne himself, there are a “few diamonds in the rough like babies in the trash”.
“Destroyed”, his back and forth track with Euro is actually quite impressive. “I like the sweeter things/So what bitch, no needle strings/I wake up stretch my feet and wings/My life has no deleted scenes/I pop pop pop and leave the scene/Leave the scene Noczema clean/Sippin on that lean cuisine/Incredible Hulk on creatine” is only one set of memorable multi-syllabic flows that give this song strong replay value.
Even his shorter wordplay proves to be clever at times. On “Back 2 Back” he raps: “I keep the double R, me and Steve Kerr/Popping these percs like I’m on injury reserve”. Talk about a line with layers. By the same token, for every standout Wayne-like line, there are at least a handful of reaches to go along with it. Obviously it’s hard to make every line scripture worthy, but when “you used to call me on my cellphone” is replaced with “you used to call me on my jail phone” and “keep on trying to hide it but your friends know” is replaced with “let me stick my thumb up in your asshole”, maybe it’s time for some rewrites.
In all honesty, the quality of No Ceilings 2 shouldn’t really come as a total surprise to anyone. Wayne hasn’t been in top form for years and doesn’t show any real signs of stepping things up anytime soon. There are definitely some downloadable songs on the tape but for the most part, No Ceilings 2 just makes one want to go back and listen to the original over again.
Le genie n’a qu’un siecle, après faut qu’il degenere.
This is such a let down!
Accurate review. Though I think Wayne handled the classic eminem song My Name Is with expertise and a dope flow.
Very disappointing tape from Wayne though. Especially as Free Weezy Album was actually really good.
Wayne already rapped over “u guessed it” on sorry for the wait 2. This writer don’t know what he’s talking about.
Was so looking for this to drop what a failure his run is over ! No ceilings is the best mixtape since 50 and gunit mixtapes days. Way too long and drawn out average bars at best. No ceilings was fresh lyrical monster and true Wayne , this tape showed he isn’t ready to put out any new music ! C5 was thrown in the trash by bird man fact !
“Cause I’ll serve anyone like a blind waiter” is Wayne at his BEST? How low are we going to put the bar for greatness for this dude?
Its been like that his whole career, people act like this guy is some kind of lyrical monster. He capitalized off a weak market by putting out tons of material when snap music was popular. He’s still a legend but he’s way overrated and a huge reason why people dropped their standards for quality rap music.
why not do a review on Lloyd Banks Halloween Havoc 2 mixtape instead y’all promoting this wack ass rapper, DX sucks
Because people want to read a review on Lil Wayne, and very few care about Lloyd Banks anymore?
would love go see more love for Banks on this site, definitely not enough coverage of the guy. CC2 is his greatest work and is criminally overlooked. HH2 is lyrically impressive, but I’m not vibing with it anywhere near as much as any of his other releases since HFM2. His mixtape catalog in the last five years is better than most rappers’ albums over the course of their career. Incredible growth as an artist since his debut!
So many mixtapes drop all the time – why do you guys only review a few here and there? What about Halloween Havoc 2, SLime Flu 5, and Devils Night???
since 06 which was last even remotely good year all around in hip hop (ghostface,rhymefest,AZ,T.I.,Lupe,game,clipse,Nas,the roots) all dropping good to great albums, the game has been ruled by Lil wayne n drake w maybe a little ross,jezzy. I guess it’s nice to see you guys get salty on one of these chumps finally.
Lil Wayne Tha #BestRappaAlive
No Ceilings 2 Juss Got Voted Bess Mixtape Of 2015
Wayne Stay In Top Form
It’s Juss A Mixtape Not A Album
WWhat Tha Fuck Waz He Suppozed Tuh Do Go Hiz Hardest?
He Kan Save Dat All Fuh Da Albumz Kuz Diss Ain’t Nothin But Free Shit He Ain’t Sell’n Nuh Shit
So.. Fuck Y’all & Fuck Complex, Hip-Hop Dx, & Any Other Websites Wit Tha Bullshit Reviewz
Y’all Bitchez Ungratefull
#FREEC5
#FormerlyScoopJunior
Fuck’n Idiots Kan’t Realize Dat Wayne Hisself Set Tha Bar So High Dat Not Hisself Kan Elevate No Mo’
Fuck’n Idiots Kan’t Realize Dat Wayne Hisself Set Tha Bar So High Dat He Kan’t Even Elevate No Mo’
Hate’n Ass Mufuckaz
“Yeah It’s Kool Tuh Have An Opinion But It’s Different When You Hate’n”
This generation is waaaaayyyy too sensitive. If someone gives an opinion an offers facts and reasons to justify that opinion, it’s not “hating” it’s just a difference of opinion. What would be hating is if someone said I don’t like Lil Waynes new mixed tape, then you ask them why and them saying “I just don’t fuck with him”. Please stop calling it hating when people take the time to give articulate reasons why they don’t like something.
People just expect way too much & turned on Wayne. No Ceilings 2 is a dope mixtape that shows he’s still got enormous amounts of skill. Plus, it’s only right he remix Drake & Future tracks since both of their styles came from him.
You ever see videos of Wayne with Young Money w everyone on his dick? This due is in decline because he surrounds himself w yes men
This by far is the worst review ever!!!! I will never come to this websit again.
are you serious, please explain???
Awesome review, and hilarious (but poignant) point about the “stick my thumb up your asshole” line. Hope you guys review more of the mixtapes that dropped recently. When news is slow, maybe you can do a retrospective look at classic old mixtapes and point out some cool ones people may’ve overlooked (ex I always thought Red Cafe’s “Above the Clouds” tape was overlooked and underrated; cover some Gunit and Wayne mixtapes, etc).
NO CEILINGS 2 was CERTIFIED DOPE!…best thing WEEZY F BABY has made all year..it makes my TOP 10 list of mixtapes of 2015..
I think Wayne puts too much pressure on himself. A 24 track long mixtape? really?
If he would have shortened it to 12 or 13 tracks, leaving the wackest songs out from the tape, we wouldnt have this discussion to this degree right now.
Dude gotta take his time with his next projects, not surround himself with yes-sayers and he will fight his way back. He still has greatness in his veins, “My Name Is” was super dope IMO
this z just a freaking retarded review. no ceilings 2 was dope. who ever wrote this is probably still finding it hard to accept that wayne can return. . .cuz of the unreasonably high standards you have set for his return. . .i prefer most of his versions here to the original tracks. . . nd i’ve seen many ither people say they do. open ur mind bruh.
THIS IS NOT IT,,, MIXTAPE TOO LONG AND NOT GOOD YOUNG MONEY STAR NEEDS HELP ASAP
Spot on review mixtape was ass i cut it off halfway through wayne should give it up
4/5 JUMPMAN FIREEEE
Shit was dope pple just stupid I bet u niggas love future thoe y’all love that shit u cant understand I can at least bump to like 14 or 15 of these other niggas shit is like 1 or 2 songs
Track 13 killed it!track 14 killed it!track 15 killed it(slow track)! Tracked 16 murdered 2chains beat! Tracked 2 listen to the word play,ridiculous! Lil wayne is back! 80percent is straight fire man!(dylan reference)