Lil Wayne’s Carter 6 has fans divided. Is it any good?

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Lil Wayne has released the sixth instalment in his Carter series of albums. Fans are in two minds about The Carter 6, and with good reason.

Weez F Baby, and the F might stand for flop. This album could and should be better than it is.

LIL WAYNE IS BACK

The top end of this album begins with King Carter. A spoken word artist introduces an atmospheric instrumental piece with an orchestral arrangement and a haunting guitar solo. You would be forgiven for thinking that you’re about to listen to the best Lil Wayne album you have heard.

Unfortunately, this isn’t that. We all know how pivotal The Carter 3 was for global rap music, and if we’re being sincere, nothing since The Carter 4 has been worth keeping. This project is not an easy listen. Naturally, the production sounds as expensive as you might expect. Bells is a good example of this, but his lyricism leaves a lot to be desired.

A LITTLE TOO MUCH LEAN

His whole style rests on his raspy delivery. His voice sounds like he might be feeling the weight of his alleged codeine addiction. It’s a bit hard to listen to him, and the usually artful word play is not as impressive as we have grown accustomed to. You will find yourself three songs deep without a single quotable to write home about, which is highly uncharacteristic for a Lil Wayne album.

WEEZY AND BIGXTHAPLUG

Hip Hop is arguably the best song on the top half of the album. Jay Jones accompanies him on this one, along with BigXthaplug, who is a rapper that is worth checking out. The beat is a southern-styled street slapper, and the two approach the chorus like a duet, dispensing the hook in harmony with each other.

COTTON CANDY

A long-time collaborator of Lil Wayne’s joins him on Cotton Candy. Atlanta’s 2 Chainz and Wayne have always had a good rapport musically, and this is a testament to that, but again, the record is somewhat forgettable. Worthy of one listen, but I’m certain I won’t be looking to play this song next week.

A 19-TRACK OFFERING

This is a large album. More concise anthologies in this era tend to be better. Attention spans have shrunk the world over, and this rings true for the people on the other side of the speaker. It’s almost like attention wavers, and this is easy to detect the further down you go on The Carter 6. He didn’t ladle every song with a feature, which is always good. Some artists did not need to appear on this album. Can someone tell me when we’re going to have an honest conversation about Big Sean? It is hard to think of a more unskilled rapper than that, and yet somehow, he’s still being invited to feature on people’s albums as he does on the forgettable Sharks, which also features Jelly Roll.

ELEPHANTS ON THE SAMPLE

Peanuts 2 Elephant has had people talking. The arrangement makes use of elephants’ trumpeting. A quirky, almost Bay Area-sounding beat makes for an intriguing listen. The raps are horrendous, however. Lil Wayne did manage to compile an interesting spread of producers ranging from talents like Wyclef Jean to Mannie Fresh and even actor Lin-Manuel Miranda but even their efforts behind the boards fail to stave off how disappointing The Carter 6 is.

IS THE CARTER 6 GOOD?

In all honesty, no. I have no intention of keeping this album or listening to it again, unfortunately. That’s a hard thing to say as we are speaking about someone who once represented the ceiling of rap music. His bureaucratic issues with his mentor and father, Birdman, may have marginalised Lil Wayne out of his moment. As sharp as some of his guest appearances have been in recent years, that barely translated to this offering, which is a far cry from the timeless efforts exhibited on most of his past projects.

Give it a listen, though. It is a polarising project, but the consensus will probably remain that this is definitely not Lil Wayne’s best work.