The New York Times recently wrote a review on Lil Wayne’s new album Tha Carter III. And a good friend pointed out, “I read the favorable review in today’s Times. By the way, that is some of the silliest shit ever: the Times prints these verbose, academic, overwrought fucking reviews of hip-hop records… Fuck off! This is an album that features the lyrics “Man I ain’t never seen an ass like hers / That pussy in my mouth had me at a loss for words”.”

For this writer, I’ve been waiting for this album since September. I bought it the moment it was available on iTunes and within the first few hours of listening I sent messages to about 10 other friends reminding them that they need to immediately listen. I received several more messages telling me of its merits the following morning.

Why have I waited in nervous anticipation for an hour of someone talking about being the greatest rapper alive? Because it’s a Lil Wayne album. I’m not sure anyone understands, particularly white people, why he is so alluring. It’s a large dose of egocentrism mixed with a flamboyant high energy persona.

There are undoubtedly some great tracks, and like all Lil Wayne albums, some lyrics that you rewind and listen to over and over again. In “La La” the verse “started out hustlin, ended up ballin” gave me chills on the first listen. The beats are a little tighter than past albums, maybe a little too much auto tuning on some of the sung verses, but whatever, T-Pain made a career out of that.

The single “Lollipop” opened many doors in terms of pop accessibility. All other ridiculous references to “lady lumps” and “licking the wrapper” aside, somehow this song is listenable. He references virtually every other pop “vibe” in the past year. It sounds like an MTV awards show collaboration, a purely engineered pop gem. I appreciate that he actually thought he could do something like this, did it and The New York Times is reviewing it.

Truly Lil Wayne is the best rapper alive and his force in our pop culture is undeniable. He spends a little time talking about social injustices such as poverty and incarceration, along with a message to Al Sharpton. He makes some surprisingly astute arguments, I see him doing a little more than rapping in the future. Eat a dick Bono, Weezy bitch! – James Kennedy