try this: lil wayne (rebirth)

Rap and rock are two musical genres formed by the misunderstood; you’d think they were meant to join forces. I always appreciate when artists try to differentiate themselves to keep their sound from going stale, but with Wayne’s “singing,” Rebirth is honestly straight-up weird. Many reviews for the leaked album compare it to a Limp Bizkit-esque venture gone wrong, but that’s not the case. Incidentally, this is not the worst album ever, so let’s get that out of the way right now.

Wayne announced his plans to release a rock album following the Grammy-winning success of Tha Carter III. The effort was delayed from a release date of April 7, 2009 to February 1, 2010. Numerous leaked and mixtape tracks have been all over the internet this year, and as usual there was never a lack of guest appearances by Wayne on the radio and across the charts. The buzz of Rebirth spread after reports that Weezy was working on the album with Fall Out Boy, Lenny Kravitz and other rock staples. The first single “Prom Queen” was debuted from a live concert video, with Mr. Carter even trying out the guitar himself (although I don’t think he was plugged in). It emerged as a high-energy, eclectic, spastic, all-around mismatched track that would be a template for the forthcoming album. The empty lyrics left loyal listeners confused, as Weezy’s words are normally brilliantly combined, even while rapping about less serious topics.

I love Wayne’s ability to give a nonchalant Southern flow for a few bars, break it up with his signature giggle, and then kick back in again with a furious flurry of metaphors, perfectly placed stutters, and his insistences that he is the greatest rapper alive. He can take virtually any song and beat it to the ground when he raps. With his singing, no matter how auto-tuned it is (and it’s supposed to be), there is no comparison to the energy he brings rapping. On Rebirth, Wayne tries to make up for this by utilizing a form of yell-singing, and it just doesn’t work. On the few tracks where he raps – sans autotune – it’s really refreshing in contrast to the rest of the album. The female guest stars from his Young Money label help some tracks that would otherwise drown in Wayne’s robotic shouts. The lyrics on the album also don't compare to his other works, including mixtapes. Here’s a breakdown by track:

American Star – Uninventive guitar licks and boring lyrics “Born and raised in the USA // Where my president is B-L-A-C-K” make this a less than impressive leadoff track.

Prom Queen – It’s a single, but it isn’t catchy. Even if somebody else sang the chorus, it would remain an all-over-the-place song with lame riffs.

Ground Zero – Finally, some great flow in the verses—that unfortunately turns into a terrible chorus and chord progression full of Weezy shouting something.

Da Da Da – I think this is supposed to be a single. The beat is head-bouncing, and I like the palm-muted guitar accents -- too bad the lyrics and singing are nearly intolerable. Wayne busts out the first non autotuned rapping on the album, but when it stops and goes to some weird robo-tune level, you’re better off hitting the next track button.

Paradice – One of the better songs. There’s no real shouting on this one, and it’s got a good guitar hook. It follows a simple rock format of Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Rap Bridge/Chorus. Take one guess what the best part of the song is.

Get A Life – Bright, bouncy guitars rock out to Wayne yelling “f--k you, get a life.” And that’s about it…not a fan.

On Fire – Synth 80s rock is sampled for this one, but with the 808s in the background, it sounds more like Wayne should sound. It could do without the screaming guitars every two seconds, but it’s a solid song with a good rap verse. This could be a single, but I’d be surprised if the radio doesn’t cut out the unnecessary guitar solo.

Drop The World – Much hyped collaboration with Eminem. It’s okay. When Eminem comes in, his voice settles into the guitars perfectly. His angry tone is suited to it, and his verse slowly builds with aggressiveness to become one of the highlights of the entire album.

Runnin – A chill guitar riff, and Wayne kind of rapping – this is a good thing. When the chorus comes, it’s Shanell – also a good thing. She takes over the singing on this one, and as a result, it’s not bad, although a bit dull overall.

One Way Trip – I like this one, again because Wayne raps and Kevin Rudolf is great on the chorus. Might be my favorite on the album. Travis Barker’s on the drums.

Knockout – Sounds like a pop punk disaster. Nicki Minaj can’t even save this one. The voices don’t complement the music and vice-versa. This is the point where you start wondering when this album will be over.

The Price Is Wrong – Just…no. It’s a mess. No comment. I can’t.

This isn’t like Limp Bizkit or Crazy Town, where they know that they’re rockers with semi-catchy choruses who can sort of rap. When Jay-Z made an album with Linkin Park, Jay-Z stuck to rap. When Eminem tried to sing on his song "Hailie's Song", he even made an “I can’t sing” disclaimer. Perhaps one of the better tracks on Rebirth should have just been a filler track on an upcoming album, because this rock star experiment has officially gone awry. It’s simply 12 tracks of one hot mess after another. Rebirth will probably change when it officially releases in February 2010. Wayne’s got two months to figure out what to do with the album, then he’ll be heading to jail for about a year on a weapons charge. With his insane level of musical output, Lil Wayne fans aren’t the patient type. So, I kinda want to forget that this album ever happened, and I want a mixtape from jail to remind me that he’s still one of the best rappers alive. ASAP. Until then, at least we’ve got No Ceilings…