Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

It feels like a long long time since Tha Carter III, it's actually been just two years, but in Wayne's world it appears life has been moving in slow motion. Since his commercial magnum opus Tha Carter III his sorrow and disgust toward political incompetence in the face of Hurricane Katrina has been replaced with joy at the election of the US's first "B-L-A-C-K" president (and before you ask that line marks the climax of album opener American Star). Now while the political landscape has been changing somewhat radically, Wayne too has been making wholesale changes, gone are the freestyles and slick hip hop beats, in are crunching guitars; as Wayne promised to deliver his first rock album. Originally scheduled for release in early 2009, this album has been delayed, and delayed, and delayed again. It's become a running joke and you feel the pressure is finally on this usually carefree hip hop albatross. After the release of lead single Prom Queen received an underwhelming response from the public and critics alike, and as more and more tracks leaked onto the internet, it appeared the haters were gaining moment and a serious backlash was just around the corner. So now that Rebirth is finally here, is it enough to keep the wolves from the door, or is this the moment Wayne's detractors finally get to point laugh and say "I told you so".

Well unfortunately Rebirth sees Lil' Wayne go completely off the rails. Creating an incoherent, uninteresting and at times painfully bad album. It's starts off well enough, the afore mentioned American Star is certainly an enjoyable enough affair, but it sets the stall out early hinting at all of the albums key flaws. Most notably that this entire LP feels like a parody. Wayne plays over a series of ejay style riffs so corny that they'd make Status Quo cringe. Worse still Wayne seems more interested in posturing than actually rocking out or delivering slick rhymes, proclaiming that he's "A Dope Boy With A Guitar" as if holding a guitar is some kind of triumph in itself. Later in the track he shouts "Bridge!" before launching into the track bridge; he's seems pretty pleased with himself, as if he's saying "look this rock thing is easy", well unfortunately it only serves to patronize rock fans, while hip hop fans will surely wonder why they're having to endure such painfully embarrassing garbage. Prom Queen shortly follows and this is a much better effort. When Wayne announced a rock album, I hoped it would allow him to express emotions like heartache, sorrow and anger in a more raw and fragile way that's tricky to achieve in the ultra masculine world of hip hop. Prom Queen shows a more soulful side of Wayne, he's self deprecating, he shows vulnerability and his old wheezy swagger manages to translate into a palatable croon. To the tracks benefit it's one of the few tracks where Wayne's abysmal guitar work plays second fiddle, instead allowing a thundering drum crescendo to create a genuinely moshable chorus. However, this praise must be tempered, it stills distinctly bland, after all if you're looking for triumph over heartache, why would any disgruntled teen choose Prom Queen over the glorious theatrical pomposity of My Chemical Romance's brilliant Black Parade. Or to make matters worse as a single it can't measure up to the sheer inane catchiness of Arvil Lavinge's Sk8r Boi let alone Linkin Park's Crawling.

Sincerity on this album is hard to find, it's too patchy, and it seems that rather than having a coherent narrative or creative direction to present via the medium of rock Wayne is more interested in going to fantasy rock star camp. Across Rebirth Wayne jumps sub genres at will we've got the goofy and almost unlistenable pop rock tracks in the form of the horrid Da Da Da Da, later he's attempting the power ballads with the dreary and uninteresting Paradice and the Police aping I'll Die For You, and he even finds room for pop-punk with the intellegence sapping Knockout. Worst of all is One Way Trip To You where Kevin Randolf creates a chorus that feels like a parody of every ghastly super serious middle of road American of the last fifteen years, only it's not been played for laughs. While the albums lack of coherence or direction is frustrating, the albums greatest tragedy is that while exploring what Wayne perceives as rock he loses sight of his greatest assest; his voice. Wheezy isn't much of a singer, but the charm in his work always came from his trademark wheez. His vocal style was laid back and soothing, it created a calming rhythm of his own distinct from the beat that when contrasted with sudden burst of soul or aggression added a remarkable emotional emphasis to his punchlines. Unfortunately Wheezy's flow is buried on this album, behind his auto-tuned crooning, his plastic punk shouts and his instantly forgettable rant-o-raps. It's a shame really and only adds to a sense of a lost opportunity.

Rebirth while largely putrid is not without it's highlights. The afore mentioned Prom Queen adds genuine depth to Wayne's well established bag of tricks. Ground Zero sees Wheezy in free flowing form as he raps over an urgent bassline dispensing a series of sure fire punchlines before launching into a genuinely catchy chorus (one of the very few on this LP); "Hey, The Ground Is Gone, Don't Look Now But The Ground Is On, I'm So High That The Ground Is Gone, I Can't Even Tell What Cloud I'm On". Ground Zero manages to succeed as it is one of the few fully realized tracks that hangs together in an organic fashion, minus the odd clunky moment. That said it's reference points are sadly dated; see Limp Bizkit circa 2001. The Price Is Wrong is another track that can be classed as passable, only because it's so badly written and generic it feels like a brilliant send up of bad punk music, and is genuinely hilarious, unfortunately it manages to overstays it's welcome. Now there is one bright spot on this album, and not just a passable track, a genuine moment of genius; Drop The World. Leaked a couple of months ago this Eminem collaboration sees both me return to form with a vital rant, that feels like a perfect combination of instrumentation and expression. It captures an emotion perfectly, namely frustration, a moment when your so annoyed you wish you could Drop The World On A Mother Fucker and fly away your space ship too cool off. It's a track that captures a moment perfectly in sound and is an early candidate for single of the year. Furthermore its one of the rare tracks where Wayne celebrates his own individuality. Tha Carter III saw him cast as the alien who wanted to phone home because he was too damn ill for this planet, but Rebirth sees Wayne obsessed with aping every trend in rock music from the last thirty years. Rather than adding to his sound, he's looses it completely, what once made him special is lost in a sea of generic and sloppy rehashes of sounds that weren't even that great in the first place. Hopefully Wayne has got this rock infatuation out of his system so he can refocus, find inspiration and deliver a true follow up to Tha Carter III because the world won't grant him this level of self indulgence again.