Finally.
Finally, Lil Wayne, as promised, released his latest album, Free Weezy Album, after the struggles with his former-mentor Birdman, and his fights with his former music label, Cash Money Records.
Released intentionally on July 4th, Free Weezy examines how it truly was for Lil Wayne to grow out of the Cash Money enclosure, to find new love, and to still declare himself as the king of the game.
While the album lacks depth and bores the listeners at times, Lil’ Wayne satisfies the fans with his classic one-liners.
With “Glory,” Weezy excels in his masterful puns, and tremendous verses that may not be telling a story, but are surely giving the fans what they asked for. Produced by Onhel, Avenue Beatz, and Infamous, the song was given a beautiful string and voice sample, topped with Wayne’s killer lines.
“He’s Dead,” again shows the great sampling by Kane Beatz and Vinay as Wayne becomes repetitive in explaining his struggles with his old self.
Through songs like “My Heart Race On,” and “London Roads,” Wayne goes down memory lane, and expresses his genuine emotions of the olden days.
Wayne brings out his experimental finesse, with a new flair in his beats, in “I’m That N$%&.” Again, boasting and bragging about his superiority in the hip-hop game. However, Wayne gets repetitive and constant tinging noise of the beats get slightly overdone and annoying. An expected hit song may turn against Wayne for those specific reasons.
Regardless, Wayne brings a new side to his story: the story of love and obsession. In songs like “I Feel Good,” and “Pyscho,” Wayne expresses his obsession for love. Sounding more cohesive and straightforward in his emotions for his beloved, Wayne also expresses his obsessions over true love. While the vulgarity in his lines remain intact at times, the listeners see a more mature Wayne as he confesses his mistakes, his realizations about love, and how he truly is feeling good with his new partner.
While Wayne’s craziness and absurdity is something the listeners are used to, some verses may have gotten a bit too far. When explaining that he has become too obsessed with love, Wayne says that he “fell asleep in it like Whitney Houston.”
After showing the bits and pieces of his soulful life and retrospections, Wayne begins to “Murda” again. His one-liners like, “Count your blessings, we live in a world where the Ten Commandments aren’t suggestions,” add to the drama of the chaos he depicts, but if only the beef could help him out in keeping the listeners intact.
Again, oddly, we see Wayne turn back to his old love, the breakups in songs like “Thinkin Bout You,” and “Without You.”
After entertaining topics like life after jail in “Post Bail Ballin,” the beef with Birdman emerges constantly along with the unnecessary and overdone autotune throughout his collaborations with Wiz Khalifa in “Living Right,” and Young Jeezy in “White Girl,” a metaphor for the cocaine that addicts and brings regrets in the reminiscing Wayne’s mind.
The final spoken-word-type of song seems to bring all of the chaos, and wayward subjects discussed in the album, back on track in “Pick Up Your Heart.” Realizing the fleetingness in the world of Hollywood, Wayne expresses his desire to leave the celebrity spotlight.
Confused? While the listeners aren’t going to be blown away by this album. There’s an absence of depth, lack of novelty and storytelling, and there’s awkwardness and cheesiness at times. and the mere touching-upon on subjects, the listeners do receive a Weezy who is more expressive about love, the hatred of the world of Hollywood, and the “glory” he still keeps.
It’s clear at the end that Lil Wayne isn’t that old Tucci, the old Weezy, the fans knew and expected to see. But, rather, the album does show the fans one thing for sure: that there is new Weezy, a Free Weezy.
“Rest in Peace to the Cash Money Weezy, gone but not forgotten, no.”
Rating: 5 out of 10
https://youtu.be/o2t7k9ZLaYA
FWA (Free Weezy Album) by Lil’ Wayne is currently streaming on Tidal.
=========================================================================================================
, Lil' Wayne's post-Cash Money release.){kind=link}