As Cash Money waits for Tha Carter III to drop, and who knows when that will happen since Lil Wayne's recent Arizona arrest, the Nolia institution refuses to wait around for their golden child to pop out his next piece of prophecy. It's only right that Birdman, Cash Money's team captain, stepped into place and dropped 5* Stunna, an album released eerily close to the original intended release date of Weezy's third LP.
With seven songs featuring Wayne on Birdman's fourth LP, the album plays more like their 2006 collabo, Like Father, Like Son, more so than any of Birdman's other previous works. As a result, 5 * Stunna relies too heavily on Wayne's input, not fully allowing dad to stretch out and get comfortable on this long-winded LP. That's not to say the album is plagued with fillers or uninspired tracks. No, instead, 5* Stunna maintains a musical consistency that makes it difficult to decipher between the overall aura of the album and its progression, if any at all. Birdman's delivery comes off as stale and untested, and the constant presence of Wayne decreases his impact as a fresh voice, therefore decreasing the fervor he usually hits as a guest MC.
Stringing together classic New Orleans beats, new-school Southern swaggger and bombastic lyrics focused on cash, jewelry and power (even if you do lose interest halfway through), Wayne's epochal execution of these seemingly clichéd themes, raises the overall quality of the album. "100 Million" gathers the new guard of Southern rap -- Wayne, Jeezy and Rick Ross -- for the DJ Khaled-assisted money anthem, and "Wet Paint" lays thick with a Pimp C-esque drip. "Believe Dat" accentuates Weezy's gimmicky drawl, as a soft piano and bass make room for Wayne's standard banter.
Wayne's success on the aforementioned track only goes to show just how inconsequential Birdman's rapping is on this album. With recycled concepts and unchanging delivery, "I Run This" blends irrelevantly into "The Money So Fresh," and only the interludes and guest verses keep the album from running together as one droning rant of Baby's assets.
Features Slim (of 112): Hi Haters What else do you want from Slim? His prolific group 112 has sold over 20 million records worldwide, and with a bevy ... full story
Editorials & Columns Scouting Report: Bambu You can refer to Bambu with various terms: rebel, revolutionist, Filipino, thug, artist. From the outside looking in, ... full story
Beyond Hip-Hop Game Review: Far Cry 2 Gone are Jack Carver, his Hawaiian shirt, and the trigens from the first installment of "Far Cry," but in comes spine ... full story
Video Bambu: Like Us (Music Video) We recently featured Filipino rapper, Bambu, in our Scouting Report column, and now, he's just dropped a new video. ... full story
Digg It
Del.icio.us
