Lil Wayne’s newest release, “Tha Carter IV,” comes at the listener quick. Being a hip-hop connoisseur is not necessary to appreciate his lyrics. “No music on, rock it a capella/And I don’t need a watch, the time is now or never.” From lyric to lyric, he is the cleverest poet with word play. Rhyming “haters” with “wallpaper” is brilliant and no other rhythm and poetry artist comes to mind that is better. Of course, actively listening to Weezy has the effect of pushing all else out of the mind. He references life being a b—- a number of times and how he will put his hand up her skirt or other such actions a young man might do to a female for which he has little respect. These are examples of the aforementioned lyrical cleverness.

The album’s first and most popular single, “6 foot 7 foot,” lacks the ingredients expected from a decent hip-hop song – qualities like story line and emotion. It is way more like a techno song. It sounds like the beat is just repeating the same two-second sound bite of children singing nursery rhymes. Listening to the sound of small children repeating themselves for four minutes straight is not fun. Not to mention the fact that every two lines he changes subjects. “Swear man, I be seeing through these n—-s like sequins/N—-s think they He-Men, pow, pow, the end/Talking to myself because I am my own consultant/Married to the money, f— the world, that’s adultery.” Trying to look deeper into some of his lyrics to find some lengthy metaphor for life brings to life doubt. Can one find a subtle yet deep meaning in his reflections on “haters” into a contradiction of cheating on capitalist motivations? By not caring about the people of the world, Lil Weezy states he’s cheating on his money. Capitalism is singularly selfish, which confuses the new listener. This critique is not a negative one, simply inquisitive. It is refreshingly different and Lil Wheezy has always been on the forefront of venturing into new realms for hip-hop. On the track” How to love” he actually tries to sing, and surprisingly makes his scratchy voice sound good.

By far the best track on “Tha Carter IV” is “Nightmares of the Bottom.” Lil Wayne really comes from the heart on this track. “Sleepin’ at the top, nightmares of the bottom/Everybody wanna be fly til you swat ’em/But who am I to talk? I ain’t s——‘ roses.” We in the same picture but we all got different poses. These lyrics are not laughable bull crap. Lil Wayne is rich and famous, and yet human, with fears. Music should be honest, which is the main problem with hip-hop music. So many rap songs talk about all the women they seduce with money and cars plus all the mark-ass punks they killed. It is just great to get some real honesty out of Wayne. He has a negative history with firearms. As a youth he accidentally shot himself playing with a pistol. In 2009 he was charged with felony gun possession to which he refers. “I try to slow down, and I get rear ended.” There was a gun on his tour bus, not his person.

Whether or not he was trying to stay out of trouble, it does not matter, for music is about expression of emotion. Mr. Carter is feeling that he is on top of his game, peaking in the world of hip-hop. Hip-hop enthusiasts salute you, President Carter, on your achievements this year. Keep stacking those haters and treating life like the b—- she truly is.

Jesse Charlton can be reached at [email protected].