If you don't know who Lil Wayne is, here is a suggestion: Please exit the cave that you have been dwelling in for the past five years. He is the biggest - and the self-proclaimed best - rapper alive, and even though he is in jail, he just dropped his hot new EP, I Am Not a Human Being, which was actually released on his birthday.
Lil Wayne first got his start at 15 when he joined Cash Money Records. He put out his first solo album, Tha Block is Hot, in 1999. Around this time, Wayne is also credited with creating the term "bling bling." For the past decade, he has continued to gain popularity and began collaborating with nearly every artist under the sun, including Chris Brown, Fat Joe and Eminem.
He dropped Tha Carter III in 2008; it sold a million copies in one week, an impressive achievement in the iTunes age. With that, Lil Wayne become one of the biggest rappers on the planet.
Wayne's last album, Rebirth, was released earlier this year. It was his attempt at a rock album, and it was terrible. It didn't sell, and everyone hated it. He relied on auto-tune way too often, and with the exception of "Drop the World," the songs were just plain bad.
I Am Not A Human Being is the antithesis of Rebirth. Lil Wayne recorded the material for this album earlier this year, before he began serving a year-long prison sentence in March. He is expected to be released from prison Nov. 4 for good behavior. There is very little use of auto-tune, and it gets back to what Weezy does best: rapping. He also enlisted the aid of many of his Young Money compatriots, such as Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Twist.
The first track, "Gonnorrhea," opens up with a siren, followed by an acerbic verse that's a little on the nasty side. The song has what I like to call an "Oh, snap!" factor, because you hear some of the lines and the only thing you can say is, "Oh, snap." Drake also contributes a similar verse that, like most of his work, is on point and gets the job done without being too flashy.
Wayne's delivery sounds reminiscent of his earlier work, as if he has something to prove. You can tell that he is not going through the motions just to put out an album. Lil Wayne is making a statement with this EP, saying that even though he's locked up right now, he is still the best rapper alive.
The downside, however, is that this is an EP, so it doesn't sound like a complete album. There are only 10 songs, and most of them speed by at a quick pace. Other than "Gonnorrhea" and "Right Above It," most of the songs do not stand out. Not to say they are bad, because they're not, but they lack a certain spark that other Lil Wayne album tracks had.
All in all, I Am Not A Human Being is a solid effort from Lil Wayne. It's not his best, but it's pretty good, and "Gonorrhea" is one of the best songs he's ever done. There are varying reports on when Tha Carter IV will come out, but until then, I Am Not A Human Being will have to do.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
