After 'Carter II' and a slew of guest appearances and mixtapes (most notably 'Dedication 2' with DJ Drama), Wayne was one of the hottest artists in hip hop. 4 stars for 'Tha Carter II' and I'll more to say about this album at the end.ДЄh, this album. I didn't care for his take on 'Paid In Full' with 'I'm a D-Boy', but overall he was at his best on this album, and quite frankly he wouldn't be the same again. He follows this up with other highlights such as 'Fly In' (and 'Fly Out'), 'Money On My Mind', the Kurupt assisted 'Lock and Load', 'Fireman', 'Mo Fire', 'Oh No', 'Hustler Musik', 'Shooter' (featuring Robin Thicke) and the title track. 'Tha Mobb', a 5:20 DOPE opener, is likely the best thing he's ever done. This is by far Wayne's best album and he essentially peaked here. There was a noticeable progression with Wayne on this album, especially on a lyrical level, and it showed. 'Tha Carter' was decent, but it pales in comparison to its 2005 sequel. And speaking of 'Tha Carter', that brings me to it's second installment. The career turnaround for Wayne came about with the first installment of 'Tha Carter', which featured the Mannie Fresh produced 'Go D.J.', a good song.

I never checked out 'Lights Out' (although I recall liking 'Get Off The Corner') and '500 Degreez. The SOLE bright spot on that album was Mannie Fresh's production. 'Loud Pipes' remains one of the worst songs I've ever heard, lyrically and production wise (NO chance of a revisit). Needless to say, I was not impressed and it's #2 after Ja-Rule's 'The Last Temptation' in terms of albums I can't stand. A few of my friends recommended I check it out, which I did. For obvious reasons, I was not looking forward to this album, nor was it on my radar. Wayne's solo debut, 'Tha Block Is Hot', was released on November 2, 1999. In the case of Lil Wayne, this would change in 1999 and that's where I start with his solo career. Turk and Lil Wayne were along for the ride, but the focus was never truly on them. It was clear at the time that Juve and BG were the focal points. I was not a fan of this crew during their 'prime', but I have heard albums such as Juvenile's '400 Degreez', BG's 'Chopper City In The Ghetto' and Hot Boys' 'Guerrilla Warfare'. I'll be focusing on the music, obviously.Д«efore I get to his solo work, a word on Cash Money if I may. I'm also aware of some of his questionable actions (the photo with him and Baby, uh, sharing a kiss, his claims of being the best rapper alive, wearing women's clothes, etc), but I'm not going to utilize this post to talk about those things. I've never been one of his biggest fans, but I can admit that I've liked bits and pieces of his material over the years. Family members, friends and loyal readers of mine know that when it comes to Southern hip hop, I'm very hard on that region, and one of the main reasons is the very subject of this post, Lil Wayne. This should be an interesting post right here, and no you're not reading the wrong blog, lol.

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