Review: Lil Wayne shows signs of life and independence on “Free Weezy Album”

Dwayne Michael Carter is a name in rap that has been heralded for years. As a member of the Hot Boyz, his introduction as a solo artist on Tha Block Is Hot and his platinum first week with Tha Carter III the eccentric rapper has been a mainstay at Cash Money Records. Recent years have seen a change of fortune for Wayne though with the quality of his music taking a dive for the worse. Whether it was the birth of several children, the time spent in prison, the popularity of his protege’s including Drake and Nicki or just the joy of his skateboard, something was missing. The lack of hunger displayed on albums left Weezy sounding like a hollow shell of himself until a certain turn of events.

While gearing up for the fifth of edition of Tha Carter, Lil Wayne had seen the release of at least three singles and several pushbacks before announcing in a tweet that the label was refusing to release it. This spearheaded a lawsuit and subsequent rift between the “father and son” that has come so far Birdman is now throwing drinks on Wayne as if its an episode of basketball wives. Now in a state that he has never been in, alone, Wayne is left to dust his shoulders off and lead Young Money into a new frontier. With a new found source of passion and a lot to prove he has now linked with Jay-Z’s Tidal service for the release of the aptly-titled, Free Weezy Album.

The set leads off with the only song that served as a teaser for the album, Glory. It perfectly shows that Wayne is putting more of an effort in than we’ve seen in quite some time with him dropping finely constructed punchlines with a furious flow to match. The gospel-filled sampling adds to the impact making this it one of his best songs lyrically. The project then heads into He’s Dead, the only track on the album (Thankfully, after Sorry For The Wait 2) that largely mentions his departure from the label he once was the conerstone of. “Rest in peace to the Cash Money Weezy, gone but not forgotten” raps Tunechi on the upbeat record. The line is a fitting one as it does finally seem as though the rapper is not ready to be forgotten with the things that once made him a household name getting a revitalization. London Roads, oddly produced by London On Da Track, is another standout where Wayne plays with a few flows before ending with heartfelt bars dedicated to the recently departed officer who rescued him from a bullet wound as a child. This one definitely has some hit potential as its probably the most catchy song of the bunch.

The Young Money general uses the album as an opportunity to showcase some of the talent still alongside him as well with Euro turning in arguably the best feature on Pull Up. The song sees the pair trading bars at a frantic pace and doing so in style with great one-liners. Not to compare Euro to Drake but it does bring back memory of the type of tracks Drizzy and Wayne would create earlier in the former’s career. There is also a point made to get into more serious topics like love and politics on FWA with records like Without You and My Heart Races On making an impression. On My Heart Races On Weezy jogs the memory of records like Tie My Hand with the honesty displayed. Lines like “I’m making money before making changes/I sold my soul to the devil, he bought it then exchanged it” help the Jake Troth-assisted record pack more emotion than much of what we have heard in the late years from Mr. Carter.

The Free Weezy Album does have some miscues (I’m That Nigga) and of course like any project of his there is lack of cohesion but in the end this is a good sign for Lil Wayne. Where Sorry For The Wait 2 found the embattled MC focused more so on his enemies it seems as though he is focused on his craft this go around. Ultimately, FWA fails to compare with his top works but at his best only a handful of rappers to touch the microphone could even be considered better. The project is his finest work since Tha Carter III and should not be overlooked because of past greatness and past failures. Hopefully, you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was.