Lil Wayne said that he took his time making Tha Carter III because he wanted it to be a classic and wanted every song on the album to “stick with you forever.” He pulled out all the stops, hiring big guns like Alchemist, Cool & Dre, David Banner, Kanye West, and Jim Jonsin for production and organised guest appearances by some of today’s premier recording artists including T-Pain, Bobby Valentino, Babyface and Jay-Z to name a few. The star-studded cast and the work ethic proved successful – the album climbed to the top of the US charts to steal the crown from the year’s most anticipated album, Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. But is at all just hype? Na. He’s really that good! The album’s first single – the radio-friendly ”˜Lollipop’ is already one of the most popular singles of the year and is now the top-selling ringtone of all time in the US. That is, however, the only overly listener-friendly sing-along single of the album. The rest of the record is delightfully weird. On ”˜Dr Carter,’ Wayne is portrayed as a doctor reviving dying rappers as he commands “Now lemme put some more vocab in your IV.” The role-playing continues on ”˜Phone Home’ as Wayne takes on the guise of an alien rapper, making for a pretty witty song. Like all rappers, he also likes to get a little nasty and does more than his share as he raps about having sex with police officers on the hilariously offensive ”˜Mrs Officer.’ The highlight of the album, however, is the soulful ”˜Tie My Hands’ which brings out Lil Wayne at his most fragile ever. Talking about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he almost brings tears to our eyes as he gently sings “The sky is falling/And the only thing that can save us now/Is sensitivity and compassion.” While his self-proclaimed title of ”˜Best Rapper Alive’ may be a little overly ambitious, this album is definitely the best rap album of 2008. Move over, 50 Cent.
