Well well well, it is here ladies and gentlemen. Wayne is free and the Carter V has finally arrived. Past four years for Wayne has had it's up and downs since 2014, which one of them was his issues with his former mentor Baby aka Birdman which I don't wanna spend all day typing how all that became about but you can do research if you have been living under a rock. I've many thoughts of what the Carter V was gonna sound like since Wayne is outta of that prime stage of his career, he had some bright moments with Dedication 6 and some guests verses that he appeared on but they were more lowlights than highlights. Another thought was, were these gonna songs gonna be brand new or songs that were vault? (the answer was yes and yes). Deep down I still had faith in Wayne was gonna pull through and give us something worthwhile and wouldn't care if I thought the album was gonna be a classic or a dud, I just wanna appreciate the music from someone who has been dealing with a lot of shit in the past few years. This review I won't be reviewing by track by track since it's a long album but I'll do my best to give you "The Summary", without further ado, here we go!
My favorites tracks on Carter V are the ones where Wayne gets very personal, which it is a breath of fresh air since we mostly getting "Mixtape" Weezy in the last few years. "Don't Cry" has a feature from the late XXXTENTACION, I like X's emo waling voice on the hook, Wayne sounds laser focused and sharp with his flow, and the beat is very moody and the buildup and the drop to get the hook is solid. "Open Letter" is pretty self-explanatory with Wayne rapping over minimalistic production(nice violins and 808's) about suicidal thoughts, being a father, relationships, and self-doubt in one long verse, I can feel Wayne's pain in his voice. "Famous" with his daughter Reginae was a track took some time to grow on me, Wayne on one verse has Wayne how he wants to be famous and the other the negative dealings he had now he's famous, his daughter sounds pretty good on here, I'm not sure if she has her own music out there but I can see her persuade a musical career in the near future. "Can't Be Broken" has Wayne feeling no matter what he's going through and how the haters are gonna bring him down, you are never gonna break his spirit. Final Track on the album "Let It All Work Out" has a very nice sample from Sampha from his track "Indecision" and the main thing that a lot of people is that Wayne reveals that when he shot himself in the chest at the age of 12 it wasn't an accident, but a suicide attempt when his Wayne wouldn't let him signed with Cash Money and live out his dream, all I can say with that is, god damn.
Outside of the introspective tracks, we do have the Wayne songs he is known for, bangers, and he doesn't disappointed with that, kind of. "Dedicate" has Wayne rapping how much influence he has in rap and samples a 2 Chainz which was his own ode to Wayne, Wayne's flow is amazing and also that clip from that old Obama clip talking how everyone can't be LeBron or Wayne was a perfect ending to this song. "Uproar" sounds dated as hell with production from Swizz Beatz but can't deny it's a jam and a fun song to Milly rock with friends. "Let It Fly" with Travis Scott was a track that was recorded back in 2014 so fan's of days before rodeo era of Travis might like this a lot. Travis's vocal pitch is a mixed bag at times but it does get better. Wayne rhyme schemes and flow is a highlight, I like the song but wished the song had more of a kick and punch to the instrumental. "Mona Lisa" featuring Kendrick Lamar has been long awaited to drop, it was originally back in 2014 and it was part of the original tracklist for C5, this track was worth the wait. I love the details and theme of the song from both men giving their own stories of a woman trapping them and setting them up, production is very minimal and low-key but this shit slaps. "Demon" has Wayne spazzing over soulful production and it's solid, I love the hook and "Hittas" has shades of mixtape Wayne and I love the sample of him at his deposition.
Awhile they're some enjoyable moments here on Carter V, but there is tons of filler and tracks that should've been cut. I don't wanna give the cliche "I DON'T LIKE THE ALBUM CAUSE IT'S TOO LONG", I just felt like the filler tracks should've been left in the vault or maybe reworked. You can tell songs like "What About Me", "Mess" "Perfect Strangers" were made for the pop charts just for how lovey-dovey they are. "Problems" "Dope N****z" and "Open Safe" production super dated and Wayne just doesn't focus and Lean'd up. "Took HIs Time" is pretty decent but I don't like the autotune rapping Wayne, "Dark Side of The Moon" is ok i'll give that, Nicki sounded nice on here, and "Used 2" was has some good moments but at this point I wanted the album to end.
Final Thought is that Carter V is decent at best. They're moments where Wayne is back on his bullshit and sounds great and focused but they are times where the album sounds super dated and concepts that fall short. After "Mona Lisa" the album becomes a rollercoaster of up's and down's but the album was passable at the end of the day. Happy Lil Wayne is free and Carter V was finally released for all the fans to enjoy, I am excited what Wayne is gonna do next.
Favorite Tracks: Don't Cry, Dedicate, Uproar, Let It Fly, Can't Be Broken, Mona Lisa, Open Letter, Demon, Let It All Work Out, Hittas, Famous
Least Favorite Tracks: Mess, What About Me, Problems
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