The Carter 3: Thank God the Hype is OVER!

...At least I hope it is. Better yet, it should be!

It appears that while I was in Boston last week Lil Wayne's so-called "classic album in the making", The Carter 3 (C3), leaked. Whooptie-do! No really, thank goodness it did. Now people can listen to it and then hopefully get over it because it'll never meet expectations. I'm pretty sure this isn't the exact same album that'll be released in stores but I'm even more sure there's enough overlap for me to make my purchasing decision.

I have been tired of hearing about this album for about the last 6 months. My prediction was this was gonna be way more hype than actual product. After Yeezy dropped Graduation it was no way Wayne was gonna be able to make anything close or as creative. So why care about the Carter 3 anyway? Oh, I forgot. Wayne has flooded the market with guest verses and a litany of mixtapes. Wayne has had some great guest verses on several songs and his appearance has been the only reason to listen to some songs. I can't argue with how he kind of demands your attention once he gets on the mic.

But at the same time this guy has flooded the market with mixtape after mixtape after mixtape for the last umpteen months. All the while, his followers have been hyping his album as if it was going to be best thing since Graduation American Gangster sliced bread. I'm sure a lot of people expected C3 to be just that with all the steam Wayne was building with his mixtapes and guest verses. But at a certain point, I entered the zone I like to called "Waynundation".

That would be the point where I stopped downloading his sometimes good, sometimes bad, only great like once mixtapes and got tired of hearing about him, period. I also got tired of hearing him drop subpar verses on other people's songs. I got tired of hearing him stay stupid shyt in interviews. And I got tired of hearing him use that friggin' vocoder thing too! Most importantly, I got tired of people acting like everything he did was so great. If it was, I'd admit it. I'm not a hater, he did *some* great things in the past umpteen months. But he did a lot more average (if not mediocre) shyt too!

Then he dropped Lollipop, which I have maintained from jump was a shyt-sandwich, radio-friendly track. It's obvious he was looking for spins when he put this together and (good for him) he got them. Not only did he get them, but he got his FIRST #1 single on Billboard. Whooptie-do! Then came the announcement that his album would finally be dropping in June which made me immediately think, "Wake me up in July."

Now we're in June and the album has leaked because this syrup sippin' fool can't keep his mouth shut and likes to disrespect the DJs that helped him garner all this "popularity" in the first place. And after I "happened" across a copy of C3 I have to say it's a lot like I expected it to be...

The product of a lyricist with great potential, too much of an ego, not much to talk about, and lots of syrup sippin.

I've listened to it a few times now and I am pretty firm in my opinion that it's just an average CD. Perhaps good, but definitely not great or classic. This reminds me a lot of 50 Cent's last couple CDs. That is, an attempt to please one's personal tastes while also attempting to make music one thinks will be radio-friendly or club-friendly. This album is a testament to the fact that Wayne may be on his way to being a good artist, but really hasn't figured it out yet. He's still just a rapper. Not even Yeezy (who by the way, has dropped at least 2 classics in his first 3 albums no matter which 2 you pick) couldn't give Wayne enough help to push this CD into great status.

Let's talk about the tracks...

Lollipop (feat. Static Major...who?), Tie My Hands (feat. Mr. Paula Patton...Bastard), Comfortable (feat. BabyFace...how in the fock did these two link up?), and Mrs. Officer (feat. Bobby V, which I like a whole lot but I admit I am a closet Bobby V fan) are all examples of Weezy trying to figure out the radio-friendly hit single. Notice the trend/formula of grabbing and alleged crooner to jump on a track? Except Lollipop where he attempts to be the crooner. He got one hit with Lollipop and I wouldn't be surprised if he has another that just might blow-up on radio as well. People really do fall for these types of tracks if you shove them down their throats (read: ears) enough. IE - Lollipop, which I can now withstand listening to in the club but pretty much nowhere else. By the way, I'm not saying that those other songs are bad because they are not. But they're not great either. They're boilerplate/formulaic tracks that rappers throw on their CDs because they think they'll eventually become radio singles. Think outside the box.

Examples of Weezy trying to please his own tastes would be Mr. Carter (feat. Jay-Z, which is a classic hip-hop track though the beat might be greater than Wayne and Jigga's verses), 3Peat (which I can't stand to listen to because he is on his ignorant shyt a little too much and he doesn't have the creativity of someone like Jay-Z to really pull it off in a smooth way), Nothing on Me (feat. Fab and Juelz, where Fab drops one of the best verses on the album, let alone the friggin song), A Milli (what happened to Corey Gunz verse?), Playing with Fire, and Let the Beat Build. I'd rather listen to an album with just these songs and Dr. Carter than what he appears to be dropping as his album.

The best track on the album is easily Dr. Carter in my opinion. That is closely followed by Mr. Carter. It's tracks like Dr. Carter where you see Wayne's prowess as a lyricist, ability to be creative, and overall potential to become a truly great hip-hop artist.

Then he finds a way to disappoint you with other joints where you realize that Wayne needs to lay-off the promethazine (Phone Home and La La). And I don't even have an opinion on Got Money (feat. T-Pain). I'd say it's an attempt at a radio-friendly single because of T-Pain but it really just sounds like they got a left-over beat from DJ Khaled and borrowed Khaled's go-to-guy (Pain), and said "Hey Wayne, just talk about whatever and let Teddy Pinned-her-Azz-Down do his thing on the hook."

Dr. Carter and Mr. Carter are classic hip-hop tracks. Those are the only two I put on repeat. Ok, I'm lying. Mrs. Officer cranks. LOL. But a lot of those radio cuts are going to have to grow on me (if possible) and I am 100% sure that there are a few songs I'm never going to like.

All-in-all, I'd give this album 3 of 5 stars. But just off his ability to throw in so many wild/sick metaphors and punchlines amidst half-azzed verses I'll bump it up to a 3.5. You can't deny this guy has talent and potential. But will he blow it all drinking syrup, making retarded comments, and having sex with any woman with a heartbeat?

TIPPORD does a far superior job as a southern rapper (notice I had to confine this statement to southern rappers) of covering all of his bases (street, radio, club) than Lil Wayne. Until Lil Wayne can develop that type of versatility and consistency that artists like TIP and Kanye have, then he'll never be a true great, just a self-proclaimed great. And just to clear it up before the discussion starts, I am saying that Kanye is great, TIP could very well be on his way there, and Wayne still has some exams to take before passing the class.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around why Hov gave him the biggup of calling him his heir. If he's Hov's heir, then I feel bad for the throne. Hov sold Yeezy out on that shyt..

UPDATE: Diddy disagrees with me...(You might as well not listen until about 2:30 in where he talks about who's hot right now. Up until then he tries really hard to convince you that the Carter III is a classic)