It seems like this shouldn't be possible: one of the year's most anticipated albums is also one of the year's best. In a year that has been a sinkhole for rap music, Lil Wayne's new album actually lives up to the potential of his now-legendary mixtapes (regardless of the fact that none of those songs are present here).
On his best tracks, such as "Dr. Carter" and "A Milli", his rapping is formless and uninterrupted - he finds a beat he likes and sticks to it for as long as it takes. On the closer "Don't Get It", this takes almost ten minutes while he rants against politics, jail, racism, and most of all, Al Sharpton.
He also understands that the best rap of this decade relies on R&B, and this records has some of the smoothest rap songs in recent memory. "Comfortable" is an anti-love song that name checks - and mocks - Beyonces "Irreplaceable". "Tie My Hands" is a beautiful yet angry tribute to his home city after hurricane Katrina.
This album remains amazingly consistent despite two things: Lil Wayne pretending to be an alien ("Phone Home") and a few horrible guitar solos he played himself. It doesn't matter: the rap album of the year competition is probably over. If you have any interest in hip hop, you need to give this one a try.
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