On this fourteenth album, the quadra of New Orleans is nothing more than the shadow of itself.
- Alas
Lil Wayne. A disc that goes in all directions and eventually confuses. Young Money/Universal Music
Posted on June 23, 2025 at 11:05 am
IIt was not so distant for a time when Lil Wayne could boast of belonging to the triumvirate of the great rappers of the moment, alongside Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Thanks to a handful of prodigious mixtapes in the mid-2000s, Dwayne Carter of his real name won his superstar stripes thanks to a mixture of uncontrollable energy and multi-referencing writing. An invigorating cocktail that earned him many awards, sometimes more brilliant by his eclecticism than by his finesse, as when he flirts with trash rock or pop.
Las, at 42, the former Ghettos of New Orleans ghettos sees his past audacity pray. On this fourteenth solo album, sixth part of his series Tha Carter Started in 2004, Lil Wayne is indeed more than the shadow of himself, annuitant of his success recalling only here and there his luster of yesteryear. Past the vainness King Carter opening, Welcome to tha Carter handles a soul vein on which her elastic song lets hope for the best. But as often, Lil Wayne starts in the opposite direction, takes the Rocade Trap (Bells), Turn emo rap (Sharks) And this time is lost on the way. The incongruous appearance of Bono, singer of U2 (The Days), wants to be disruptive but turns to ignominy, and what about this resumption of Island in the Sun Weezer rockers in a self -stutched version (Island Holiday), paroxysm of bad taste … Lil Wayne returns to reason (Rare) But, until the end, his cruel lack of inspiration is obvious.
