Juliana Coe
Staff Writer
Lil Wayne hit off the new year by releasing hit album ‘Funeral’ on January 31st, 2020. ‘Funeral’ is an album for everybody, with lots of different elements of rap going into play with each song. The album is lined with rockstar features from XXXTentacion, 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Lil Baby.
Lil Wayne, AKA Weezy, gives a reflection on hip hop with this new album ‘Funeral.’ whether you’re looking for beats, a message in the lines or just a fire flow, this album packs it all. With an extensive 24-song-tracklist, each song varies with hard-hitting bars and catchy beats.
Lil Wayne, originally Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1982. The rapper was discovered at only 13, and signed to Cash Money Records as the youngest on the label. With a hard family life of his father abandoning his family at the young age of 2, Lil Wayne is a perfect example of hard work paying off.
Lil Wayne began his career as a teenage rap prodigy with his first album ‘Tha Block is Hot’ way back in 1999, which was certified platinum. Now, at 37, after a year long stint in jail for a gun charge and a hard slump Weezy returns like a loose cannon, firing off in each verse of ‘Funeral.’
Featuring some of the most focused, fierce rapping Lil Wayne has achieved in ages, the album starts out with a lightning ferocity in the first four tracks. ‘Mama Mia,’ the third song in the tracklist, is extremely bar heavy with interesting editing to make the song more intense.
Weezy’s previous album ‘Tha Carter V’ carried a story in each song and Lil Wayne kept the theme going with some emotional songs such as ‘Not Me’ and ‘Trust Nobody.’Weezy went through many hardships with his father abandoning him and going to jail, and he touches on feeling lost with deep lyrics like ‘And as messed up as it sounds, I don’t even trust myself.’
While Lil Wayne’s previous albums were focused on proving himself as the best rapper alive, Weezy displays his confidence in every verse of ‘Funeral.’ Lil Wayne seems back to his old self in this album by just purely rapping. Lil Wayne is known for putting every thought he thinks into his work, and his determination shows with the speed of each verse.
The album carries on with unique features from the most well know rappers such as XXXTentacion. The different styles of the featured rappers brought a refreshing twist to the album despite Weezy’s flow being enough to carry the songs sense of rhythm, with Wayne’s rapping as sharp as it has been since ‘No Ceilings’ in 2009.
Lil Wayne’s neck breaking rapping speed carries throughout each song, even in the emotional portions. Lil Wayne seems so determined to say what he has to say that he barely has time to catch his breath, which occasionally took away from the beats with so much going on making it hard to even focus on what the rapper is saying.
Despite all of its perks, the album tends to drone on by being overlong with similar songs. ‘Funeral’ is so close to perfect but lacks consistent quality. Lil Wayne could have cut out 6 or 7 unnecessary songs that dissolve into word vomit, such as ‘Darkside’ and ‘Wayne’s World’ and made the album a much better listen.
Overall, ‘Funeral’ is one of Lil Wayne’s most experimental albums since ‘Rebirth.’ Outside of the overdrawn tracklist and a lot going on, Wayne picked it up at the end of the album, showing he is still capable of what he has set up. With distinctive features and clever bars, the album has a song for everyone with a very diverse tracklist.
Lil Wayne’s ‘Funeral’ is available to listen on Soundcloud, Spotify and for purchase on Apple Music for $13.99 or $1.29 each individual song.
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