House, R&B, Soul & Rap > L House, R&B, Soul & Rap > Lil' Wayne > Rap > Universal Music

Advantages: Great beats. Consistent.
Disadvantages: Rhymes are weak at times

Released in 2004, "Tha Carter" is the first of what is now a triolgy of album releases by Lil' Wayne, from which came his mainstream success "Tha Carter III" from earlier on in the year. It is his fourth solo release and has him coming with the first of many attempts to break into the the larger rap audience, rather than simply the Dirty South market, seeing that he is a New Orleans, Louisiana native. 1. "Walk In" (Intro) 2. "Go DJ" (feat. Mannie ...
...breakthrough single. However over here I doubt that anyone would have heard this track by him as it saw no attention without being known prior to this. Lil' Wayne managed to come through with this club-suited tune which has him work closely with another big New Orleans name, Mannie Fresh, who gives the rapper some good beats and additional vocals to hype up the atmosphere. This tune got to #14 in the Billboards, and he didn't receive this much success ... Read review

Advantages: Consistant quality
Disadvantages: A few unncessary tracks

...the globe. 1. Tha Mobb This is a massive opener for the album, and it indicates the level of quality which you will receive for this album; far above what I expected from him. The gritty, stomping bass-lead production from the Heatmakerz is just what you need to get your mind in the right mode for "Tha Carter II". I thought that it worked better than if he had just said a little something as an intro, because Weezy is all about the music. **Four ...
...Stars** 6. On Tha Block #1 (Skit) 7. Best Rapper Alive Before listening to this album, I wouldn't have considered the words from Lil' Wayne here as he declares himself as "The Best Rapper Alive", because it's well-documented that he basically chats crap in his rhymes, but in "Tha Carter II", he's a lot more careful in what he says. This amount of lyric revision has lead to some extremly well-written results, which you cannot help but enjoy, and ... Read review

Advantages: Mainstream Album, Cover Is Cool Yet Weird
Disadvantages: Lyrically Weaker Than Previous Efforts

...In everyone's overall view, Tha Carter III fails to live up to the hype surrounded by Wayne many believe it lacked the normal concept of a memorable album such as Nas' Illmatic. Positives that can be drawn from this are that it is certainly a mainstream album with tracks such as "Lollipop" & "Got Money" featuring Mr Vocoder himself T.Pain. Their are only a handful of tracks i can say i really like out of the total 16 but you be the judge. ... Read review

Advantages: Lots of variety
Disadvantages: A few weaker tracks

"Certified" is the fourth album from the Mississippi rapper David Banner. I thought that I had to go back seeing that I enjoyed his latest 2008 release, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" so much, so I thought that I would see similar quality from this 2005 piece, which has him do both the rapping and a fair proportion of the production. 1. "Lost Souls" To get things going we drive straight into some straight Dirty South rap. I found that he was effective ...
...wislt managing ito integrate his influences of Rock into things with some guitar work too. **Three Stars** 2. "Treat Me Like A" (feat. Jadakiss) I still don't get how Jadakiss keeps thinking he can on some Crunk beats, but he does it once again as Lil' Jon does the production, and aside the parts which Jada takes up, it is a strong Hip Hop cut for the clubs. **Four Stars** 3. "Gangsta Walk" (feat. Three 6 Mafia, Marcus, 8Ball & MJG) On this one ... Read review

Advantages: Consistent quality
Disadvantages: One slip in quality

"Me Against The World" is the third album by the West Coast Rap legend 2Pac who was killed in 1996 as a result of a fatal shooting. The album came a year before this and has him rapping in what has been called a "nothing to lose" persona as he raps during a difficult time in his life as he was shot five times late in 1994, and was in prison for the release of the record. Despite all this, he was able to top the charts with his music, even with him ...
..."Intro" 2. "If I Die 2Nite" Heavy in bitter alliteration, this one has 'Pac's attitude for the whole release summed up as he really just doesn't care what happens to himslef, as he lives each day for what it is, and knows there's no point in pre-planning anything. **Four Stars** 3. "Me Against The World" Giving him a littel sample of G-Funk with a synth-based prodcution to hand, this one has the artist come with adesperate track, where he describes ... Read review