Jan 23, 2019 9/10 Wayne at his best, with phenomenal production. Hustler Musik is one of my fav songs ever its chill af
Jan 23, 2019 9/10 It's not often an rap album of 20+ tracks is ever so wildly entertaining for the whole experience. Lil Wayne accomplished that feat, I mean it's funny looking back at this cocky New Orleans dude proudly calling himself the best rapper alive in such a competitive climate as 05 was. But once you lean closer and listen to C2 it's hard not to deny it; at 23 years old Wayne already was a seasoned rap veteran that continuously found a new ways to rhyme in the likes few have ever been seen before. Once Tha Mobb starts playing, you're strapped in for a ride through Lil Wayne's drug-fueled imagination. C2 marked the departure of the Manny Fresh era of Cash Money and we find the more soulful + mafioso soundscape for Lil Wayne's stream of conscience thoughts and clever wordplay. Whatever momentum he carried on from C1 and The Prefix mixtape (the one where he bodied Hov's Black Album instrumentals) was tuned to a higher frequency, Lil Wayne continued the experimental methods that C2 solidified into boundless classic mixtapes and another fantastic Carter addition in C3. Tha Carter 2 marked an epoch into what was possibly the most exciting run of any rapper period.
Jan 23, 2019 8.4/10 No doubt this will come off as trite, but the length of this project does make it a bit exhausting to listen to but the hits are out of this world good! Shoutout to Spitta, pretty sure Grown Man was one of his first ever features.
Jan 25, 2019 alright, quick blurb because I haven't got so much time these days. sorry for the sloppy writing and the broken english. This is one of the albums that I remember discovering during long bus trips. A little filler there but I can live with that: this is the best album Lil Wayne has ever put out. And it's kinda cruel, really, that the man never put out a real classic, because four bodies of work are so close to being perfect... Tha Mobb and Fly In are some of Wayne's best tracks ever, I still listen to Lock and Load a lot, and the full album listen is a long, funky travel in Wayne's incredible charisma and sense of rhythm. Loving it, loving it, loving it. 2nd best Wayne project. I give it a 9.3/10!
Jan 25, 2019 could you elaborate on this? I consider some of his work classic, and you yourself said that these are close to being perfect
Jan 25, 2019 d--- i wish my english was better obviously it depends on one's definition of classic, my point was that even his best projects (Drought 3 and Carter 2 being my 2 favorite) a. have some tracks that I would cut and b. don't embody quite perfectly the charisma and the skills we know Wayne was capable of at the time. I always feel like a hypothetical 05-07 Wayne laser-focused "classic" album has almost existed, and it frustrates me a little to this day
Jan 25, 2019 no worries, im not a native as well it makes sense and I get your point, but Id still consider C2 a classic, it was just so good and impactful. Its crazy that he probably could've done better
Jan 25, 2019 8/10 "Take pain like Tylenols, raw, way past par Far, I'm some s--- you never saw I take you to the shootout, baby, win, lose, or draw And then they ask who, when, where, how, and My reply was simply, "Pow!" "All these b------s and, all these b------s! But ain't no lovers around They thinking about shooting! Them shooters Got the guns, girls. Ladies, them gunners that s---t s---t s---t s---t! Shooters!" GawDAMN
Jan 25, 2019 Tha Carter II gets a 9/10 from 10 ratings Next up…. Rating 21: Mos Def - Black on Both Sides Release Date: October 12, 1999 Label: Rawkus / Priority Tracklist 01. Fear Not of Man 02. Hip Hop 03. Love 04. Ms. Fat Booty 05. Speed Law 06. Do It Now! ft. Busta Rhymes 07. Got 08. Umi Says 09. New World Water 10. Rock N Roll 11. Know That ft. Talib Kweli 12. Climb ft. Vine Mojica 13. Brooklyn 14. Habitat 15. Mr. Niga ft. Q-Tip 16. Mathematics 17. May-December the early 90’s heyday of the Native Tongues had long passed by the time Mos Def came on the scene. A lot had happened since Tribe, De La, et al were at their peak. When the previous years’ Blackstar collaboration with fellow emcee Talib Kweli came along, the hip hop world was still reeling from the deaths of its 2 biggest stars. New York found itself in a much aggressive and competitive space; Nas and Jay begun making their first moves in the battle for the throne of NY. New acts like DMX, Big Pun, Mase and Cam arrived on the scene, each bringing their own brand of brash energy. On Black on Both Sides, his debut solo album, Mos Def takes us on a trip through a mind full of thoughts about life, love and fat booties. He does this with the lyrical complexity of a Pharaoh Monch but with the calm and reflective aura only a Native Tongues disciple could muster. From iconic Preemo cuts to a reunion with Kweli and an energetic Busta Rhymes feature, Mos journeys through a lush jungle of funk and blues and throwback B-Boy hip hop instrumentals, prophetic but never preachy, laid back but always enthralling, Black on Both Sides is a f---ing masterpiece. I give it a 9.5/10. @RateThisAlbum
Jan 26, 2019 10/10 Yasiin Bey fka Mos Def will forever be my favourite rapper, I love him THAT much for the achievements he's delivered with his recognisable flow that's smooth as butter, and for his content that was ever-so-captivating. Unfortunately, his discography is an unsatisfying mixture of immeasurable talent with a whole lot of the downright underwhelming added to the equation, full of broken promises (where the f--- are your last two albums and Black Star 2!?) from someone who could've conquered the hip-hop world now even. A hip-hop artist that's a double threat with his rapping and melodious singing? He was THAT man, he paved the way. He was undeniable and could've had a bigger impact on this genre. He still has that impact, but there's too many what if's on how much bigger he could've been! But I digress, coz we're here to talk about this sensational debut from the Mighty Mos Def! Ms Fat Booty and Mathematics are hip-hop classics. Umi Says is the perfect contemplative music and great for giving me existential crisis attacks inadvertently. Hip-Hop is rambunctious and infectious. Brooklyn is an amazing ode and full of amazing beat switches. The album is just playful, calming and amazingly crafted. It's a shame Mos was only able to capture this magic for a select few of his albums. But when he did capture the magic, boy did he deliver.
Jan 26, 2019 was waiting on reading your take! he absolutely could have had a much bigger influence but i think his influence as it is is already tremendous and often goes undetected. this and the Blackstar album especially. Very glad we got The Ecstatic as well, even though its been 10 years now
Jan 26, 2019 #IFKYK He's fallen back to the shadows, and while his influence is/was big, I can't help but see an alternate timeline where he was up there as one of the biggest and best had he focused all his energies on music for instance or not had label troubles that resulted in True Magic or any other egregious s--- that resulted in him not being able to capture the magic again like he did on BS and BOBS. The Ecstatic on some days challenges for my favourite project from him tbh so I'm truly thankful for that, but like you said it's been a decade since his last good project. I hated Dec 99th but yet I want his parting gifts to see the light of day soon like OMFGOD with Mannie and Negus in Natural Person. And of course Black Star 2. f---.
Jan 26, 2019 9.5/10 One of the few 90s albums I can turn on and still bump these days. I mean, mathematics alone makes this album a f---in classic.
Jan 26, 2019 This. And to add more,It has been so long since I last listened to this classic, since I last listened to any of the great projects of this man. Mathematics was my s--- back in the days. This is why I love this thread. It reminds me some of the forgotten greats.
