Arts

Tha Carter V is here

The greatest rapper of all time, known as Lil Wayne, released his long awaited new addition to the Carter series, ‘Tha Carter V’.  The rapper presented the overdue album after four years on his 36th birthday. 

 Fans have been waiting for this album for years tricked by release dates, and Birdman. Who knows how it would have been if released in 2014 but what we do know is the 2018 version is nothing short of a masterpiece.  

The album features twenty-two songs, but when you are listening to the GOAT, does that even matter? And when he brings out features like Ashanti, Nivea, a very vocal Nicki Minaj, and Og’s like Snoop Dogg, you just don’t skip songs. 

Some of the tracks date backs years, while others reportedly finished just two weeks ago. One of the most recent additions to Tha Carter V was “Don’t Cry,” which features a vocal sample from XXXTentacion, the young rapper who was shot and killed earlier this year.  

Beneath the dizzying wordplay and the ghoulish gallows humor, ‘Tha Carter V’ is an album about perseverance, securing and defending prosperity no matter the cost.

“I Love You Dwayne” kicks C5 off with a prayer from Wayne’s mother Jacida Carter, and sets a tone as the album unfolded.  The unspoken task of the Carter albums is to present Wayne not just as a jack-of-all-trades but a master of each one. 

Wayne reminded us how great of a rhymer he is and, why his name will always hold weight: “I started this s**t, you just part of this s**t / I’m the heart of this s**t, and the heart doesn’t skip / Take the heart of your b***h cause like Bart, you a simp / And your water don’t drip, so your garden ain’t s**t.” 

My favorite song of the album is ‘Perfect Strangers’ where Wayne displays a softer side to listeners.  

But for a more up-tempo vibe fit for the club “Start of This S**t Off Right” is perfect. With Ashanti lending her vocals for the track, and Mack Maine opening up the track certifies it a hit.  On the closing song of Tha Carter V, he talks about finding his mom’s gun, putting the barrel to his chest, and waking up “with blood all around me God sold me another life and he made a prophet.”

So period, stop playing with this man.