Lil’ Wayne – Rebirth [Review]

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lil-wayne-rebirth-cover-nappyafro

I didn’t think we’d end up reviewing this one since it’s not technically Hip-Hop; Plus most of you have had this album for the past couple of months anyway (Shout out to Amazon!). But we all love Weezy over here, so we figured why not. Lil’ Wayne has been pulling out the guitar like crazy right around the time C3 came out; now he’s here to prove that he can actually play it. Well, kind of. Most of the instrumentals on the album come from other producers with Weezy playing on a few songs. Let’s see if Rebirth was really worth waiting for.

American Star
Featuring Shanell; Produced by DJ Infamous
Lil’ Wayne jumps on an epic guitar intro, Auto-Tuning as usual. I don’t know how I feel about this one: Part of me thinks he’d sound a lot better if he left the Auto-Tune alone and actually tried to sing a little bit. The Auto-Tune/guitar combo doesn’t really work too well to me. Shanell makes the hook really hot (“Dope-boy with a guitar!”) and the track works very well, courtesy of DJ Infamous. The track kind of falters towards the end where Weezy pretty much loses control and starts yelling with the Auto-Tune. Overall, OK song.

Prom Queen
Featuring Shanell, Produced by DJ Infamous & Drew Correa
This was the first single off the album. This was the song that had even King Jerm questioning what the fuck Weezy was thinking. It must have aged well, because I kind of dig it now. I said KIND OF. Tt still has some of the stupidest lines I have ever heard (“I love her fancy underwear…”), but overall I think it’s an OK song. This is an example of a song where Auto-Tune actually works with rock, which makes it a notable song on the album.

Ground Zero
Produced by Patrick Stump
This is one of those songs that I really wanted to like, but it got good way too late into the song. The lyrics don’t mean much until the end of the song; Where society is going and how it seems like we’ve reached ground zero. It sounds really good, except for the hook which sounds like it was thrown together at the very last minute. Other than that, another OK song; nothing too notable.

Da Da Da
Produced by Cool & Dre
I gotta give Weezy props on this one; he did it here. The first of the song had me scratching my head, mainly because he cranked the Auto-Tune up so damn much I couldn’t hear anything he was saying. The hook seems lazy at first, but it gets to be catchy when combined with yet another flawless Cool and Dre production. Check for Weezy’s last verse on the song and you can’t tell me you can’t wait for C4. Plus, he actually plays an instrument on this song: the bass, which has its own solo in this song. First song off the album I co-sign fully.

Paradice
Produced by Kevin Rudolf
Kevin Rudolf of “Let it Rock” fame made the beat behind this one. I like the message of this one (Live your life, the price of fame, etc.).  Still, can’t get behind this musically. SKIP!

Get A Life
Produced by Tha Bizness
This sounds like Jonas Brothers…I’m not lying. Well, Jonas Brothers with f-bombs. I feel like they locked Weezy in a room full of syrup, weed, and various other drugs with Auto-Tune, and this song came out of it. SKIP!!

On Fire
Produced by Cool & Dre
Alright, I’m not gonna lie and say this song isn’t hot when it is. Cool & Dre production on this one sounds right at home. Wayne sounds a lot better on this track just straight up spittin’ rather than the auto-tune tracks he was trying to put together previously. Also gotta give Weezy props for the guitar solo at the end of the song, despite the fact that it was 2, maybe 3 chords at most. I’m surprised this didn’t make more of a splash on the Hot 100. Good track.

Drop The World
Featuring Eminem; Produced by Hit-Boy & Chase N. Cashe
I don’t think I have to say much here. Only thing I wish is that he would’ve saved this track for Tha Carter 4. The obvious stand-out track from the album, nothing else on here compares. Eminem blazes his 16 on this one:

“I came up from behind and pretty much snuck up
And butt fucked this game up
Better be careful when you bring my name up
Fuck this fame, that ain’t what/I came to claim
But the game ain’t gonna be the same on the day that I leave it
But I swear one way or another I’m a make these fuckin’ haters believe it”

This will be in my Top 5 songs of 2010, believe that.

Runnin’
Featuring  Shanell; Produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League
This another song I really liked off this album. It proves that Weezy needs to leave the singing to singers and just keep on rapping. Shanell does an excellent job with the hook on this song, providing some much needed emotion that was lacking on a couple of the previous tracks. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League is great here and gives something Weezy can actually flow pretty well over.

One Way Trip
Featuring Kevin Rudolf; Produced by Travis Barker
Travis Barker brought the drums with him on this one and Kevin Rudolf with the guitar definitely completed the song. The drums allow Weezy to let loose lyrically and let Rudolf take care of the chorus, which makes the song one of the highlights of the album. It sounds like at the point in the album Weezy realized he’s a better rapper than he is a guitarist.

Knockout
Featuring Nicki Minaj; Produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League
Another great 90’s sounding guitar riff courtesy of J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. Nicki Minaj isn’t as much singing as she is talking, but her voice sounds nice over the slower riff the song goes into for the hook. She also gets to spit a little bit with the Auto-Tune, which sounds lil’ fucked up, but it goes with the whole punk-rock thing that the song’s got going on. This sounds really similar to Jonas Brothers/Nickelodeon but it works here for some reason. Good song.

The Price is Wrong
Produced by Chase N. Cashe
Yeah, I’m not feeling this one at all…SKIP!!

Bottom Line:
Let’s be honest with ourselves: While some of us can applaud Lil’ Wayne for trying something a little different, I don’t think any of us can say that this was a good album. I’m probably only going to keep about 3 or 4 of these tracks on my PSP. I feel like if Weezy had dropped this album riding off the buzz of Tha Carter 3, this would have been a huge success, good music or not. But it’s on track to only sell 150K it’s first week, a far cry from “A Milli”. Because this album came out almost 2 years after C3, your fans are gonna expect a real album, not an experiment gone wrong. I just hope that after this Weezy drops the guitar for good and continues to show us why he’s known as one of the best rappers alive.

nappyPicks: “Drop the World”, “Knockout”, “Da Da Da”, “One Way Trip”

Download: Lil’ Wayne feat. Gudda – “Fuck Today (Rebirth Mix)” [NOT ON ALBUM]
Download: Lil’ Wayne feat. Nicki Minaj – “Knockout”

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H20
Of the group, he is the youngest and most poetically inclined; it's nearly impossible to find him without a book in his hand, a pen and pad in his back pocket, and the audacity to put all his ideas down. From the east coast, he's a lover of lyricism, Japanese media, video games, and art. Recently traded in his Jay-Z stan card for a Charles Hamilton one and lost every fan of his work.
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31 Comments

  1. Hopefully Wayne will learn how to actually rap in prison, then maybe he can back up his claims of being the best alive. As far as guitar goes, I don’t think he’ll ever learn how to play that…

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  5. This album is straight garbage. Over produced, over auto-tuned and way too pop sounding. I’m just happy that Young Money finally dropped their full length because I cannot listen to Wayne on this one.

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  6. I guess I stand alone…again. I didn’t think it was that bad. I do think it’s a bit underpromoted so my initials thoughts of plat seem a bit unreal now.

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      1. I mean honestly U gotta think what kinda effect this will have on rap this is a step closer to rap being over! The day the “top” rapper in the game decides to say rap isnt enough is the day the apocalypse starts

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      2. Oh whatever. Tupac was no where near how Ja Rule became to be. You’re definitely tripping big time with that one my dude. Pac is most known for rapping deep stuff and so forth… Ja Rule is only known for biting and singing and getting destroyed by 50. I remember the interview with Pac before he died and he said by the year 2000 he only wanted to focus on Acting and directing so I doubt he’ll do music since he already had so much stuff recorded before and definitely after prison.

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        1. Come on now..let’s not act like Pac was that nigga. He is/was probably the MOST OVERRATED rapper in HISTORY. The nigga dying might have been the best thing for his career.

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          1. Na bro, I’m goin have to dissagree with you there. Pac is a legend. Hip Hop would not be where it is today if it wasn’t for him. I would imagine that he is in the majority of rappers’ top 5.

          3. Now come on Jerm Pac wasnt the most lyrcial but he made ten times more deeper and important music than any otha rapper in the game

          4. Pac never made you rewind that because of his lyrics…Pac made you rewind it because you could relate. Ya’ll getting ya’ll feelings get caught up about him and confusing it with lyrics. Pac was a average MC with an above average message.

          5. Pac did make deep music but you seem to be putting him up on a whole other level than any other rapper which isn’t the case, there are several artists who make music just as deep as his. Eminem (in spite of all his clowning), Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Joe Budden, T.I, Immortal Technique, Kanye West (in spite of him acting like an a-hole and making weird pop music), Common, Outkast, the list goes on. Don’t let a great artist stop you from recognizing the greatness of others.

          6. Co-sign to what P said.
            Pac may not be the best emcee (definitely not average tho), but he is one of the best rappers. He was deep on so many different levels. And it wasn’t that you could relate, but you could understand (like after watching a movie that just hits you). I can’t see any other rapper leaving the same impact he did on rap (before or after death).

          7. @rickjamesbitch

            IMO Nas, Andre 3000 and maybe even Eminem are better rappers than 2pac. But you must give credit to where its due. And to say that Pac was Ja Rule before Ja Rule is just some nonsense to me.

            C’mon I can’t take you serious when you add in Joe Budden, T.I. and Kanye West.

          9. @Mufucka: I wasn’t saying that TI, Budden or Kanye are better than Pac I’m just saying that they have messages in their rhymes too, though I like them all as rhymers too.

          11. Pac was that dude and well respected. You go out in the Bay or Oakland or anywhere on the west coast that dude is loved like a muthafucka. In the hip hop world he was loved and you only saying that stuff because he is dead and also because Rick Fause isn’t loved like Pac. Rick Fause will never be on that status. He just squashed his beef with Mayweather, that fat fuck know what time it is. Pac was multitalented he can act, he can rap, and he can produce. He did the beat to “Staring Thru My Rearview”. When that dude rap he rap with passion and emotion. A lot of these rappers pay respect to that dude and got influenced by that dude and start saying that thug shit in their raps. Don’t forget the dude work rate was high! In 96 he recorded 200 songs, did videos, interviews, and completed 2 full movies just before he died. You can’t tell me he didn’t work hard. You say he never made you rewind his track for lyrics, ok when has Rick Ross or Jeezy or Gucci or any of them cats make you rewind because the stuff they talk isn’t all that good its cliche. I like Jeezy and some of the cats too but Pac was on a different level and still is. He stood out

          12. Makaveli and Me Against The World is one of the best albums in hip hop.. Can’t forget about “All Eyez On Me”… But Makaveli was a different tone that was different and that cover was creative and definitely out the box. He may not be the best lyrically but he was good and you can sense the type of pain he was in and a lot of us basically watch Pac life go up and then we watched his demise.

  8. Other that “On Fire” and “Drop The World”, I really couldn’t get into this album. I understand the need and want to branch out; we saw this with Andre 3000, but I do think the change was too great and too soon for most fans (Especially since Wayne got a lotta new fans with Tha Carter 3).

    Reply

  9. This album isn’t all that. I like the actual tracks itself if Wayne wasn’t singing on it. I think 2 and half stars is being nice. He is not a Andre, Andre don’t need Auto-Tunes at all. Its funny how CMR use to be back in the day now they are doing this shit. I like Rock but Lil Wayne said hes the best rapper so he need to stick with what he knows.

    Reply

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