Review Summary: Yet another overly cliche'd, stereotypical "girls, guns n' drugs" hip hop album that does absolutely nothing fresh
Lil Wayne has been one of the most popular artists in the hip hop genre for a considerable period of time now despite the fact that many of his albums have been met with very negative reception. His numerous studio releases have earned him many millions of sales, propelling him to the limelight, with Tha Carter III frequently being cited as his strongest work by fans.
Released in 2008, Tha Carter III contains eighteen tracks and is yet another opportunity for Lil Wayne to brag about how he is among the most sought after artists in his genre. Other topics touched upon include sex and drugs, so this is essentially an album that conforms to the cliches of the genre it is based in. This album received a lot of attention based around the mega-hit song Lollipop, a fan favorite, but is also noteworthy for the guest appearance from fellow multi-million selling rapper Jay-Z on the song Mr. Carter.
The bread and butter of any hip hop album is the lyrical content and on here it is a mixed bag to say the least. Dr. Carter is among the strongest tracks here, with Lil Wayne speaking about various up-and-coming rappers and how he can help them improve, using the metaphor of a hospital. In essence, this track is just Wayne bragging as Wayne always does, but it is at least one of the best tracks on the album. Unfortunately, this album is also ridden with awful lyrical moments, such as the closing lines of Wayne's final verse on Mr. Carter. The man is famous for using overly sexual lyricism and a particular term for black people far too much, and on this album this is brought into play over and over again.
The most famous song off of this album is arguably its weakest link. Lollipop aims to be a catchy number with a sexualized metaphor in the chorus, but in reality it is very irritating and worthless. It is auto-tuned to all Hell, Wayne's lyrics are some of the worst out there and the beat is repetitive beyond belief. A Milli is a song that starts off sounding decent, with a nice enough beat but swiftly becomes annoying, and the same could be said for Phone Home. The best track here would be the opener 3 Peat, which has some really decent lyrical work all the way through and serves as a nice introductory track. Jay-Z's verse on Mr. Carter is an obvious highlight as well, giving a little more variety than one should be accustomed to.
Tha Carter III is an album that has some positive moments and is strong enough at times but for the most part this album really does suffer from being too repetitive and Wayne's egotistical rapping style may turn numerous people off. There are far better rappers out there, so why waste time listening to this mediocrity.
