99. Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3 (2007)

First off: Lil Wayne is some kind of a genius. There is nobody else in hip-hop with his ability to conjure up bizarre images from nothing--his skill in wordplay is unmatched. The problem, like with many geniuses, is he seemingly has no ability to distinguish between quality and subpar work: he just lets it all flow out of him as it comes and the rest of us have to try to pick out the good stuff from the bad. This mixtape is a nearly two hour-long tribute to Weezy's genius and madness, and you're just as likely to be amazed as you are to be bored. There are tracks so tight they could have fit on a regular album ("Walk It Out") and Wayne ranting for ten minutes over a minimalistic beat ("Outro"). If you're the type who likes his albums to be immaculate objects without flaw, then stay far away, but if you don't mind sitting through some boredom, then this won't seem too bad. Me I'm not really the type to sit through stuff like Self-Portrait and Sandanista! even though I'm a big fan of both Bob Dylan and the Clash, so this album's appeal is fairly limited for me. But if you like Wayne, this is nothing less than his brain torn out and spread out over two hours of music. Beware.

MY RATING: 5.6

Lil Wayne - "Swizzy (Remix)"

178. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II (2005)

Lil Wayne is a genius, if one of an especially specific kind. He doesn't ever know when to stop; his albums are all overlong, and this one (22 tracks in about 80 minutes) is no exception. It's hard to sit through the whole thing, but this is probably due less to the quality of the songs, which are excellent, than Wayne's enervating, scattershot delivery. This thing is huge, and in the pantheon of Epic Rap Albums it surely beats the previous year's Purple Haze, by Cam'ron. While Cam'ron seemed to be an average rapper who, through luck, managed to hook up with some excellent producers, Lil' Wayne always seems in control. Everything on this album happens because he wanted it to happen. Listening to this album on random might even be better: it's not very well sequenced. It's basically just one track after another, so listening to each track one at a time, without the cumulative effect of 22 other tracks just like it, is the best way to find out how well-written the whole thing is and how fantastic the beats are.  "Mo Fire"! Listen to that! Stevie Wonder himself couldn't have come up with a more ass-shaking beat than that one. Wayne's later work is more popular, but aside from the novelty value of throwing a nutcase like Lil' Wayne in the ring with mainstream guys like Robin Thicke, it has about one tenth the depth of this stuff. This is probably his best album: it sits right between the off-the-rails insanity of Da Drought 3 and the pop-rap exercises of Tha Carter III. If you have to buy one Lil Wayne album (and you really should) this is the one. He doesn't compare himself to a geese erection in this one, though. Too bad.

MY RATING: 8.1

Lil Wayne - "Mo' Fire"