Rebirth

When I first heard Lil' Wayne's Prom Queen over a year ago I thought to myself, this dude is a bottomless pit of talent. Before it was publicly announced, I quietly wished that Wayne would release a rock album so I could see just how talented and diverse he really is or could be. To my surprise, the Rebirth was released and I was anxious to see if the magic of the Carter III and the magic of the Drake phenomenon would carry over to the Rebirth. If you are a true music lover, a treasurer all genres and can truly appreciate when artists step out of his or her comfort zone musically, then the Rebirth is a beautiful disappointment. The Rebirth is a rock/rap hybrid album, which fuses rock n' roll drums and guitar with hard-hitting hip-hop beats. The lyrics of Lil Wayne are met with some auto-tune help but unlike T-Pain, the vocal voice enhancer device did not help Lil Wayne at all.

Some of the best tracks on the Rebirth feature Young Money member Shanell Young, who was also featured and wrote the song Prom Queen. Her voice is exemplary suited on the songs American Star and Prom Queen, which makes me confident that her debut album is going to be overly enjoyable. The Rebirth also features Young Money member Nicki Minaj and other features from fellow rocker Kevin Rudolf and the brilliant Eminem.

What was good about the Rebirth? The idea was a good one, the idea of fusing rock and rap especially seeing the fan response from the Jay-Z/Linkin Park collaboration and Lil Wayne's collaboration with Kevin Rudolf. Next, I love the song selection of the Rebirth, not all of it but most of hit. One of the problems with the Rebirth is that the music, along with the lyrics are hit and miss. When Lil Wayne hits, Drop the World featuring. Eminem, its genius but when he misses on songs like Da Da Da, one is left scratching his head asking did he really record this? Some of the music embodies brilliant guitar riffs, explosive hip-hop beats and dark angelic vocals (Shanell and background singers). But on the other end, some of the music sounds as if my two year old daughter found my old MTV Music Generator and hit a combination of random buttons. To add insult to injury, the lyrics are not consistent. Paradice, Drop the World, American Star, On Fire and Runnin showcase Lil Wayne as a deep thinking and a brilliant lyricist, the confident and gifted Lil Wayne we have grown to love, if not at least respect. "I got ice in veins, blood in my eye/hate in my heart and love on my mind. I seen nights full of pain, days of the same/you keep the shade shawty, save me the rain. I search but never find, hurt but neva cry/I work and forever try but I'm cursed so neva mind. And its worse but better time are further and beyond/the top gets higher the more that I climb."(Drop the World) Not to mention that musically, these songs are arrange splendidly.

Unfortunately, songs like One Way Trip, Wayne says, " you niggas fake, won't pop bubbles/you can act stupid bitch but I'm dumber." Are you serious? W.T.F. does that mean? The 6 bad songs on the Rebirth either have questionable, idiotic lyrics or the actual music is painfully difficult to listen to. However, the 6 good, some great, songs on the Rebirth are like....wow, this guy is brilliant. The Rebirth is 45% good, 5% great and 50% bad, making it a beautiful disappointment.

I do applaud, giving a standing ovation to Wayne for attempting an album such the Rebirth. The 6 good songs on the album are purchased via iTunes and saved in my music library, I just wished I could have purchased the entire album like I did when he released the Carter III. I definitely see the musical vision, growth, creativity and risk that Lil Wayne is experimenting. The good thing is that after winning a Grammy, he can almost try anything and still will not lose his place in music. His individual success, the success of Drake, Nicki Minaj and the anticipation of ShanellYoung, sister of former Danity Kane member, currently of Dirty Money, D Woods, will solidify Wayne as not only a great artist and performer, but as having a pretty good eye for talent. If you want something to listen to that is a little different creatively yet enjoyable, I would suggest picking up the Rebirth even if you only listen once. But if you are seeking the next Grammy Award winning album, sorry, this isn't it.