Album Review: Tha Carter III by Lil' Wayne

Hello again. Today I will be reviewing one of two albums being reviewed over this 14-day span of my blog being back. Both albums I will be reviewing have very good shots at being the best albums of the year. The one I will be reviewing next week after I listen to it has two hit singles and has broken the record for most pre-orders for an album on Play.com (The original record was held by Leona Lewis). But, let's save next week's album for next week. The album I will be reviewing today, when it was still set for release in 2007, was named the "most anticipated album of 2007" by XXL Magazine(a very big hip-hop magazine). If it weren't for Kanye West's Graduation, this probably would have been the best album of 2007 in my opinion. Sadly, the album was moved for a release in late spring 2008. Now, it is here and as good(or possibly even better) than the hype it has recieved. Welcome, Tha Carter III. As you all know, Lil' Wayne is defined as one of the best and most clever rappers in the game. Well, he brings it all on this album, and I am here to tell you about it.

I'm gonna do my album review in a different style this time. This time around, I am going to review each track by itself and then give a final grade for the album:

3 Peat - This track has a solid beat and Weezy starts the album with great lyrics, just as it should be. He even makes a reference to Adam Sandler in the movie "Click"! The creativity in this song is just a little bit better than most rappers. So, as an intro, 3 Peat should sets a level for Wayne to deliver better than. And it does just that. - 9/10

Mr. Carter (featuring Jay-Z) - This is probably my favorite track on the whole album. Two of the best rappers in the whole game collaborating on the same song. In my opinion, you can see the song in two different ways:

1. Jay-Z is basically letting Wayne come into the ring of the best rappers ever, like himself, Notorious B.I.G., and 2Pac. At the end of his verse, he calls Wayne to come.
2. This is the first way I saw the song. Basically as a rap fight between Lil' Wayne and Jay-Z, with Wayne giving the finishing blow at the end and accepting the award of Best Rapper Alive.

Or, you can just see it as a collaboration between Lil' Wayne and Jay-Z. Regardless, Wayne brings some of his greatest lines to keep up to par with Jay-Z:

"Man I got Summer hatin' on me cause I'm hotter than the sun, got Spring hatin' on me cause I ain't never sprung, Winter hatin' on me cause I'm colder than y'all, and I would never, I would never, I would never Fall. I'm being hated by the seasons, so fuck y'all who hatin' for no reason."

This line just shows pure creativity. I mean, who would think of comparing themselves to the seasons?? And Wayne did it perfectly. The Fall part shows that he never loses or does bad. And the last part is saying that Wayne gets enough hate already for thinking he's the best rapper alive and that he doesn't need any more of it from things like using Auto-Tune to reach the top of the charts (referring to Lollipop only reaching one on Billboard because of the infamous "T-Pain" effect achieved by using Auto-Tune). There are other parts in the song that I like a lot, but I won't go into too much detail now. If you were to listen to only one track on the album, listen to this. - 10/10

Milli - It really surprises me that a song with such a basic instrumental (The "A Milli" repeated and two drum pad sounds) could sound so good. To make it so good, Wayne delivers on this track. With lines such as "Muthafucka I'm ill, not sick, and I'm okay, but my watch sick, yea my drop sick, yea my glock sick, and I'm not dead, I'm ill." (Here, Wayne uses terms for being sick as terms for being cool, which is pretty cool), you can see Wayne's greatness as a rapper. Can it follow up Lollipop as a successful second single? We shall see. - 8.8/10

Got Money (featuring T-Pain) - Remember how I was talking about how Lil' Wayne uses Auto-Tune before? Well this is where it starts in the album. You should expect him to use it, especially when the master of Auto-Tune, T-Pain, is also on the track. T-Pain provides a good chorus, as usual, while Wayne tears it up with Auto-Tune!! There's not much to say about the track lyrically, besides for a few lines in the last verse. One of the lines I like a lot is:

"And I cool yo ass down if you think you're hot shit"

In this line, Wayne is basically saying that he's one of, if not, the hottest rappers in the game and because of that, he makes anyone else look cold as ice. Oh. And also, the beat for this is crazy!!- 8.9/10

Comfortable (featuring Babyface) - Babyface, just like T-Pain, has a nice chorus on this song. He says for his girl not to take love for granted and therefore not to get too comfortable in their relationship. In the first lines of the song, Wayne makes a great reference to Beyonce':

"Yeah, to the left, to the left, if you wanna leave be my guest, you can step. Feelin' irreplaceable listenin' to Beyonce', well okay I'll put you out on yo B'Day."

This line also explains part of the song, how Wayne feels irreplaceable, as in, he can be with anyone he wants and if they don't like him, there are others who definitely want to be with him. And if some one Another line I found very clever in the beginning is:

"I got game like EA,"

Once again, this line showcases Wayne's creativity. It's a pretty good track in my opinion, but there's not much else to say about it besides what I have said. - 8.8/10

Dr. Carter - This is one of two songs with stories on the album. The story for this track is that Wayne helps rappers in need of help with their flow and originality. He gets prepared and then gives advice to others. He also gives examples of great MCs, like Andre 3000, Kanye West (100% agree =) ) and Young Jeezy. One of his other lines is this:

"So I stopped writin', now I'm like lightning"

This refers to Wayne's success in the mixtape scene with his freestyles. In the last scene, he saves the "life" of a rapper, making him great. Overall, I find this track to be very intellectual and great. - 9.2/10

Phone Home - This is the other story-oriented track. Phone Home is based around Wayne being an alien from Planet Weezy. The title "Phone Home" refers to E.T. "phoning home". But, the story isn't as oriented as in Dr. Carter. There are only some references, like his voice being sort of altered in one part, and him going back onto his spaceship in the end. The song isn't as good as the others in my opinion. - 7.7/10

Tie My Hands (featuring Robin Thicke) - This track, unlike the others, is more laid back and chill. It has a nice, refreshing guitar in the background and Robin Thicke matches it with his soft, smooth voice. In the song, Robin Thicke refers to "Tying his Hands" as completely limiting him. He asks what he can be when his hands are "tied". Near the end of the song, you realize that Wayne describes it as a trip to freedom from being a refugee to not having your hands "tied". - 8.6/10

Mrs. Officer (featuring Bobby Valentino) - Like other tracks, the featured artist, Bobby Valentino, in this case provides the chorus. This song is more vulgar than the others, with many references to sex. This track, in my opinion, is plain, compared to some of the others. The only plus about the song is that it actually does stay on the subject of one thing the whole time and the lyrics make a lot of police references. - 8/10

Let The Beat Build - This whole song is about improvement and how the beat is at it peak when you are at your peak in rapping in a song. The first verse of the song is very interactive with the title. As Wayne talk about higher status and raps better, the beat builds up. In the end of it, he says "That's how you let the beat build bitch!" Like the previous song, it stays on the theme of improvement. But, thins song is better - 8.3/10

Shoot Me Down (featuring D. Smith) - I find this to be one of the more mellowed out songs of Tha Carter III. But besides that, he lyrics in this song are very clever. Some of the ones I like a lot are:

"I spit Alcatraz bars, I know,"
"And if you shootin' for the stars, just shoot me."
"My picture should be in the dictionary next to the definition, of definition, because repetition is the father of learning"

But what I don't get is how exactly the chorus of the song has much to do with the verses. Maybe its just the whole image of jail and guns in this song?? With both of these factors, the track is alright - 8.1/10

Lollipop (featuring Static Major) - Now this is where Auto-Tune plays a big role in the album's probable success. Lollipop, the first single of the album, heavily uses Auto-Tune to allow Lil' Wayne to sing instead of rapping. This leads to the major catchiness of the song, along with a pretty good chorus from the now late Static Major, that is. But, besides for the fact that Lil' Wayne makes great use of the "T-Pain effect", there is absolutely nothing lyrics-wise. It is even more vulgar and also edgier than Mrs. Officer. If it wasn't for the great use of Auto-Tune on the track and the great beat, this would probably be much lower. - 8.3/10

La La (featuring Brisco and Busta Rhymes) - When I look at the album art, of Tha Carter III, it signifies this track. An extremely silly beat suited for a baby and rapping about money and being on top. With that, you get Lil' Wayne's baby picture on the album art. Er, not really on second thought. But seriously, does Wayne expect people to take him seriously with this beat? I think so. Wayne, Brisco, and Busta all deliver on this track. If it wasn't for such a silly beat, I would like this track a whole lot. - 8.3

Playing With Fire (featuring Betty Wright) - On this track, I think you can say that you are Playing with Wayne, because he is pure fire. With great lyricism, a blazin' chorus from Betty Wright, enough vulgarity to not be too vulgar, and a lot of swagger, you can't say this isn't hot. There are quite a few hot lines on this, but I don't feel like picking them out. I think you get the idea that this track is hot. - 8.9/10

You Ain't Got Nuthin' (featuring Fabolous and Juelz Santana) - First of all, the beat for this track is pretty good. Secondly, everyone kills it on this track. Wayne provides a pretty good chorus, thanks to Auto-Tune. Fabolous starts with some clever lines, then gets into an italian food theme. Sort of, at least. I mean, lasagna, pasta?? And he even says " If ya reach for this medallion, ya must like Italian." Then, Juelz brings some hot lines too. For instance, here's one:

"My dough's a bit longer, my flow is just slaughter, my wrists look like frozen Poland Spring water. So tell me boys, tell me boys, who ya think ya messin' with? I get money out the ass, that's some expensive shit."

Can you sense creativity in that line? I sure can. After Juelz and the next chorus, Wayne raps his verse. Just like the others, his verse is pretty clever. He even takes a poke at the way Diddy talks!! Wayne does something in this song in which he "messes up" in saying saying words a few times. It goes along with the rhyme perfectly. I remember he did that in another song, but I forgot what song at the moment. Anyways, this song is also pretty hot in my opinion. It is a perfect combination of rap and Auto-Tune also. - 9.2/10

Don'tGetIt - This is basically Wayne explaining who exactly he is, if you don't get it already. He raps about him self for the first 2 minutes and fifty seconds, but then, he stops rapping and just talks. He talks about things that Bush was talking about one day on TV about black people. Then, he talks about sex offenders, and how his neighbor was sent to jail for sex offense when he didn't do anything wrong. After, he talked about Al Sharpton and how no one likes him because he gets angry on the subject of sex. Then, he says that whatever Sharpton says about Wayne is invisible to him, as if he was Casper the Friendly Ghost. Then, Wayne says that he is no Martin Luther King or Jesse Jackson and that he is just a rule. Finally, Lil' Wayne says "Fuck Al Sharpton or anyone like him and fuck anyone who understands, cause I like being misunderstood." This songs is sort of disappointing because Wayne raps for not even half of it and the rest of the song is basically saying "Fuck Al Sharpton". It baffles me as to why Wayne would not make the song his glory finish. - ?/10: I can't really give this song a rating. I don't know what to think.


Now, If you bought Tha Carter III in stores (not counting the Best Buy and Target special editions), whether it has the three bonus tracks or not, this is the end. But, if you're like me and bought it on iTunes, then there are two more tracks on the album. And I will review them now:


Lollipop (Remix) [featuring Kanye West and Static Major] - You can say that this is Lollipop 2.0. First of all, the track as a whole is much less vulgarity and much more creativity in lyrics. Kanye's verse in the beginning is 100% creativity. He talks about Gold Diggers and then goes to including different types of chips in two lines:

"Don't worry 'bout my wrist, got so free, tell them girls like Doritos that's not yo (as in nacho) cheese. Tell her friends like Fritos I ain't trying to Lay, I can only have one and I ain't trying to wait."

Another line I think is very clever is:

"Man the flow so cold, chicken soup won't help, man."

That is pure creativity. And Wayne? Not as good and Kanye, but still amazing. Here's an example:

"I got so much chips I swear they call me Hewlett Packard. I got so much chips you can have a bag if you're a snacker."

This and much more great lyrics make up for the original Lollipop sucking when it comes to lyrics. - 10/10

Prostitute 2 - Like 3 other tracks, this track uses Auto-Tune. The song is about Wayne dedication to a girl and how he would love her even if she was a Prostitute and if she keeps it real. The track's beat is nice and soft, to fit the track theme of love. I can't say much about the track lyrically, cause its not a rap. It's a song. And songs don't tend to rely on lyrics as much as raps do. But, Wayne fulfilled the role of a singer great. Once again, he utilized Auto-Tune to its fullest and greatest. - 9/10



So, without the iTunes bonus songs, I give the album a slight B+ (8.7/10). Its a pretty good album, but after listening to it again, not as good as the first time. With the iTunes bonus songs, the album gets a B+ also, but a better number grade (8.9/10).

Yes, I know this has been a very long review, but with an album with so much material, there's so much to write about. But trust me, the album I'll be reviewing next week is not nearly as long song-wise, and therefore will probably have a much shorter review. Thank you for reading this whole review. It's my first in a long while, and I think I made up for the days I was gone with this review.