#437

Release Date: 2008

Previously Owned: No

First Time Listen: Yes

Impressions: Lil Wayne is kind of an interesting trainwreck on (and off) the mic. Let’s put this on… Wayne’s got the usual braggadaggio, sometimes delivered in a sort of toasting rhyme style, but still surprising vunerability. Not the hugest fan of his voice, but he’s compelling as a erratic, almost tragic character. He’s good at offering up bon mots like “And I am no Elliott Ness/I don’t handcuff, I don’t arrest/I do confess to the murder scene/Cause under the sheets I am a mess” or “I’m rare/like Mr. Clean with hair.” His shattershot vocal style is not for everybody, but the state-of-the-art production with club-friendly beats and little weird touches is clearly aimed for popular success. The hook for “A Milli” is really annoying, and the rhymes make it a good candidate for a remix.  I suffer from Autotune fatigue in other tracks like “Lollipop.” Very 2008. “Comfortable” is a pretty great little neo-soul-ish track, candidate for a rock solid iTune mix. Nicely played. “Dr. Carter” is hilarious, nice low-key jazzy production, a rare example of rap skit done well. Album is warming up… Tracks 5-9 is a brilliant run, but then some songs like “Let The Beat Build” get a bit monotonous. The whole album is over-stuffed with guests, ideas and gems along side of less successful cuts. Artistically, it’s diverse and dazzling at times, but kind of exhausting to take in the whole album. I mean, it’s just too long and, while the peaks are high, but there are some valleys (“Pussy Monster” has B-Side written all over it.) The last three songs are 20 minutes! That would have been like an EP back in the day. I mean, Wayne devotes the last five minutes of the album to a rambling monologue against Al Sharpton, of all people! This is all too bad, because there’s a potentially great album hiding in here. I like the ambitious attempt to make hip hop that can’t be placed in a neat little box, but Tha Carter III at least needs some editing.

Starred Songs: “Mr. Carter,” “Dr. Carter”

Sneaky Track: “Comfortable,”

Should this be on the list: It’s close, but I would have left it off. It’s ambitious and it gets there some of the time, but as an album it needs some editing. I also wonder if it will age well. Some great high-points though.

Replace with: Well, if there was a version of Tha Carter III that was half as long, I’d be on the list. Then again, if Lil Wayne tried to do anything  “sensible,” he wouldn’t be Lil Wayne.
Will you listen to this again? I would strip it for parts and dump half of it on iTunes.
Summary: Trendy, top-shelf 2008 hip-hop production works most of the time when mixed with Lil Wayne’s off-kilter sad-sack rhymes, but lack of editing dilutes overall effect.
Rating: ★★★