A project five years in the making, Tha Carter V shows Lil Wayne in a much better state artistically and mentally than he has been recently. Due to his recent label troubles and the music he’s outputted, along with some ignorant comments about racism and a general disappearance from the public eye, a lot of newer rap fans simply had no idea how amazing he was in his prime.

For a few years, the self-proclaimed “best rapper alive” legitimately cemented his claim with an amazing run of albums and mixtapes, bookended by 2006’s Tha Carter II and 2008’s Tha Carter III. Somehow, most of these projects, some not even released by Wayne himself, were all consistent in their high quality, showing an incredible arsenal of rap skills. Armed with various voices and accents, a grab bag of flows, a propensity to rap in double-time and even triple-time, and an endless variety of dirty jokes and ‘80s pop culture references, he single-handedly propelled himself and his entire crew of label mates in Young Money Cash Money Billionaires into the public eye through sheer determination and great music. Drake, Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, and many other artists, once considered Wayne’s upstart mentees, developed into rap powerhouses. Drake has established a stranglehold on every rap, pop, R&B and crossover chart in the world, breaking sales records every time he drops a song, and Nicki Minaj is arguably the most popular female rapper of all time.

Despite enjoying his status as the best rapper in the world, breaking records and watching his friends and labelmates reach international success, Wayne’s rewards for his efforts were almost nonexistent. After an eight month stint at Rikers’ Island, Wayne came out with a series of mediocre mixtapes and even an experimental rock album before dropping the merely average Tha Carter IV in 2011. For the rap world, the writing was on the wall. Soon after, Wayne found that his mentor and the person who he considered his father, Brian “Birdman” Williams, revised the terms of his contract and effectively trapped him in label hell, keeping him in Cash Money but refusing to release any of his albums. Wayne relapsed into his codeine addiction and simply fell through the cracks of the industry machine. Any mixtape that saw the light of day was depressing and low-effort, with autotune garbling and uninspired mumbling replacing the fiery verses and impressive wordplay he was known for. This downslide culminated in a codeine-induced near-death experience in both 2013 and 2017, resulting in the rapper ending up within an inch of death in both instances.

The second overdose led to a new approach from Wayne, though. Fed up with being locked in his label contract, he went after Birdman and eventually, after help from a variety of his friends in the industry, broke out of his contract and left Cash Money Records while still retaining ownership of Young Money Entertainment, the label he founded.

Tha Carter V features a different Lil Wayne. One that’s more weathered, focused and also reflective of his past experiences. The feature list is stacked with newer rap stars like Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott, old friends like Mack Maine and Nicki Minaj, and even his daughter Reginae Carter and his ex-wife Nivea. With so many guests and producers, it truly feels like a record that took 5 long and arduous years to be made.

https://open.spotify.com/album/50yFYgKdwJANZ5O9MIbMkg?si=aSCh-_tyScqB7kTbCiOoGg