IANAHB2 is unfortunately underwhelming as is most of Wayne’s work over the last few years. The beats he gets are pretty solid but I can’t say the same about his bars. He’s clearly not in this 100% anymore but honestly I don’t knock him for that. Let Drake and Nicki do the heavy lifting.
This isn’t a record I’d recommend to someone who isn’t already a fan. Even so, IANAHB2 is pretty disappointing for fans of Wayne. You’ve got to be a die hard fan to enjoy this one. It feels like he did a few tracks for the record and threw on a bunch of leftovers from the last few years. Half the album was released as singles over the last year or more. It’s a similar situation with G.O.O.D. Music’s Cruel Summer when fans were disappointed to find that they’d already heard half the album.
There’s a handful of tracks I can enjoy but they’re not truly quality tracks. I’m just a fan of Wayne’s style.
That brings me to another consideration when it comes to the lazy style of Lil’ Wayne. People consistently hate on his stupid and simplistic lines but isn’t that just his style now? Can we really expect an artist to remain the same over his entire career? I feel like detractors would knock him for never evolving if he did that. Yea, his skills are diminishing with his age but that’s no different from other vets. Expecting him to rap like he did in his early twenties is like expecting an athlete to be stronger and faster when he gets old. Unless they come out with steroids for the rap game, it’s not going to happen.
Overall it’s an underwhelming effort but what did you expect?
