The Blueprint to the southern Carter

Man, what has gotten into the south lately? A region known for putting out mostly trash albums has had a very sucessful year as have most of the mainstream in general. After hearing Chamillionaires debut album i felt the year was his for southern artist of the year. It seems that most of the realy good albums are starting to emerge at the end of the year and Lil Wayne known mostly for his "bling bling" talk is set to release the second chapter in his Carter series. The Carter I was very sucessful for Wayne last year though most Hip Hop heads felt it was trash, so i'm sure most heads were expecting a sequal to the original. Wayne though, descides to switch it up as he ditches long time producer Manny Fresh for some alternative instrumentals. All I have to say is whomever helped produce this album has to be praised as one of the top producers of the year as he(they) has(have) single hadendly made this one of the best releases of the year.

Its obvious that Lil Wayne idolizes Brooklyn emcee Jay Z, even though he hails from New Orleans, and the way Weezy spits on this album is reminiscent to some of the post Reasonable Doubt days of Jigga. From the get go though, you will be drawn in by banging but yet melodic instrumentals that will keep your attention through the duration of the album. The Mobb carrying a slow minimalistic but efficient instrumenal with loud claps and harmonized samples will immediately turn your focus on a different Lil Wayne than you have heard or have become accustomed to. He seems hungry to become more than your average southern emcee and kicks five minutes of very nice one liners and nice imagery to paint a portrait of himself at the present. Finnaly Wayne has found how to put substance in his lyrics and not jus the blinb bling sound of his earlier songs.

I'm right here, I'm dressin up
I dont care who at the top of the stairs, i'm steppin up


Fly In, Carter II, and Fly Out all carry the same beautiful beat as Wayne spits some serious pain with suprisingly good introspective rhymes about his past and his present. He seemingly is screaming in the mic which makes the listener feel his hidden pain and makes the music that much more heartfelt.

What pains me though is that there are some production misteps which takes away from the overall greatness of the instrumentals. Ironically, the weakest beats on the album also comes form the most commercial friendly songs which are Fireman and Weezy Baby. The first which is the lead single isnt as catchy as last years Go DJ, but it does have some memorable moments as a decent banger. The latter though is the weakest cut from the ablum and should have definately been left off. Other songs which are considered filler as they lack replay value are More Fire which sounds like a reggae rip off , and Lock and Load, which wastes the feature on talented Cali emcee Korrupt. Money On my Mind is as a whole a pretty weak joint, but does have some funny moments.

Dear Mr. Toilet, i'm the sh*t
got these a**holes p*ssed
cuz my toilet paper's thick

Aside from those tracks the rest of the cuts are nearly flawless with dope sampling and melodies you would swear came from Just Blaze or Kanye West. When Hustler Musik hits the speakers you can not help but relax and zone out with the the violin and slow guitar playing as Wayne gives us a Classic riding song. Currecny joins Wayne as one of the few guest on Grown Man which i will beat my last dollar will be a single. It carries a similar relaxning tone and is a very nice dedication to the ladies with a smooth low tone flow and a sing song chorus which actually sounds good. The only other guest rapper is the Cashmoney CEO himself The Birdman and on the song I'm A Dboy, they give the listener the familiar cash money sound with loud synthesis and the topic of cars and ice.

Luckily that only last for one song and from here on out its Wayne trying to prove to his audience in a similar way that Chamillionaire did, that he is a southern lyriscist. Although he reaches big time with the epic Best Rapper Alive, he is forgiven because of the gladiator like feel of the song. He does proceed to brag about himself, like many of his previous songs but it has the catchy edge to make it an instant banger. The pretty tight sample of Jay Z's quote of Best Rapper Alive also adds to the authentic sound of the song. Oh No, delivers with another nice sample that is original in sound but still a banger that could appeal to a dope boy audience. The biggest banger and his best showcase of bragging is on the hard-hitting Hit Em Up which I found singing the words to after a couple of listens. Its definately one of, if not the catchiest song on the album with a tight hook when the beat drops, then comes back in. The imagery Wayne presents is also pretty refreshing to hear even though he is obviously not trying to be very PC.

eat a catastrophy, swallow the truth
belch reality, as hot as it taste
like a dot on your face
your a b*tch n*gga, all p*ssy
stop comming out your lips n*gga

The two best songs though have to be Receipt which is a true dedication to a lady and the very sentimental and the inner-examine of oneself, Get Over. The first sounds like it was ripped right out of Late Registration/College Dropout, and is one of the highlights of Lil Waynes career which has lacked the diversity needed for him to be accepcted like he wants. He shows off his introspcetion with the second and takes his subject matter to another level which he has not had in past efforts.

On the laidback Shooter Lil Wayne basically sums up this album and the south in general. Of course its not the most lyrical album out, but this album suprisingly could be the best produced album of the year and Waynes hungry attitude to be perceived as a respected emcee makes this one of the best releases in 2005. Remember, Weezy F Baby models himself after Hov, and Hov released the Blueprint which was an album more focused around sampled feel good beats and less on actual lyrical dependece and most people praise that album. So in that case this one should be praised as well as it carries a Blueprint feel and anyone that liked the Games album or Chamillionaires will appreciate this one. Once people get past their picky and biased opinions of "commercial" music than the sooner the Hip Hop industry will once again be more balanced. But untill then i'll leave you with the bars that best represent this review

From Wayne

And to the radio stations, i'm tired of being patient
stop being rapper rascist, region haters
spectators, dictators, behind the door d*ck takers
its outragious, you dont know how sick you make us
i wanna throw up like chips in Vegas
but this is southern, face it
if we too simple, then yall dont get the basics


Style
Southern/Hip Hop

Tracklist and Ratings

P-Production
L-Lyrics
SM-Subject Matter
F-Flow
RV-Replay Value/Cathyness


1. Tha Mobb P(5),L(4),SM(4),F(5),RV(5) (4.6)
2. Fly In P(5),L(4),SM(5),F(5),RV(4) (4.6)
3. Money on my Mind P(4),L(3),SM(3),F(4),RV(3) (3.4)
4. Fireman P(4),L(3),SM(3),F(4),RV(4) (3.8)
5. Mo Fire P(4),L(3),SM(3),F(3),RV(2) (3)
6. On Tha Block skit
7. Best Rapper Alive P(5),L(4),SM(4),F(5),RV(4) (4.4)
8. Lock and Load P(5),L(3),SM(4),F(3),RV(3) (3.6)
9. Oh No P(5),L(3),SM(4),F(5),RV(4) (4)
10. Grown Man P(5),L(4),SM(3),F(5),RV(4) (4.2)
11. On The Black Skit 2
12. Hit Em Up P(5),L(3),SM(4),F(5),RV(5) (4.4)
13. Carter II P(5),L(4),SM(4),F(5),RV(5) (4.6)
14. Hustler Muzik P(5),L(5),SM(5),F(5),RV(5) (5)
15. Receipt P(5),L(5),SM(5),F(5),RV(5) (5)
16. Shooter P(5),L(3),SM(4),F(4),RV(4) (4)
17. Weezy Baby P(3),L(2),SM(2),F(3),RV(2) (2.4)
18. On the Block skit 3
19. I'm a Dboy P(4),L(3),SM(3),F(4),RV(5) (3.8)
20. Feel Me P(5),L(4),SM(4),F(5),RV(4) (4.4)
21. Get Over P(5),L(5),SM(5),F(5),RV(5) (5)
22. Fly Out P(5),L(5),SM(5),F(5),RV(5) (5)

3.88