Free Weezy? Done and Done (A Belated Hump Day Bump Day).

Eight months ago one of music’s most influential rappers was incarcerated on a felony count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. The, now, 28-year-old Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (aka Lil Wayne) is being released four months prior to the ending of his one year sentencing for the 2007 arrest.

Since his jailing on Feburary 9th, he has had a number one single (“Right Above It (Feat. Drake)”) and released an album, “I Am Not A Human Being,” which debuted at #1 on the billboard charts. He was busy cooking up ways to keep his name in the music world while behind bars, and he was quite successful.
Tuesday on Pittsburgh’s 96.1 Kiss FM Morning Freak Show, former President Bill Clinton had some thoughts not only on getting the vote out but the one and only Lil Wayne’s release from prison. “You know, I think a lot of these people, they don’t get successful in that — just like in any other area of life — by being really dumb,” said Clinton. “They’re really smart. But a lot of them had tough lives, and they almost think it’s cool to get in trouble every now and then, or they don’t know how to stay out. But what I hope will happen is that he has a good life now.”

So, now that we’ve talked a little bit about Weezy’s recent mix-up with the law, let’s talk about his music. He’s one of the first rappers who made the mixtape popular. He gave away his songs for free. And not just any songs — some of the best rap out there. In 2007 there was a wave of Lil Wayne that started with off my high school years and didn’t crash until the end of Senior year. I partook in this Lil Wayne craze, and looking back, I don’t regret it, because he was legit back in high school.

Since then, however, he has become a mainstream tool that guarantees success if he drops a verse in a song. This is what has recently made me feel nostalgic (and sad) when he collaborates with Weezer or fails at creating a rock album.

Here is a run-through of Weezy’s top mixtapes and albums. If this brings you back to hanging out in the high school parking lot or bumpin’ while rolling around the local movie theatre, you’re welcome.

1] Da Drought 3 (2007) [Listen & Download: Part 1 & Part 2]
This is widely viewed as the best mixtape ever created and it’s hard to refute this statement. Lil Wayne takes some of the hot beats of that time period and absolutely destroys the original. If you’ve heard “Mr. Jones” by Mike Jones you would instantly think the beat was sampled from “Ride 4 My Niggas” also known as “Sky Is The Limit,” the hottest song off “Da Drought 3,” but it happens to be the other way around. The idea of someone taking the instrumentals from another artist and rapping over it was revolutionary to me in ’07 — not so much anymore, but “Da Drought 3” was the first time I had ever heard this and it blew me away (I might have downloaded Limewire to find it because I didn’t know it was free). Lil Wayne used the success of established rappers such as T.I., Chamillionaire, DJ Unk and Jay-Z to help him break onto the rap scene, and in retrospect it was a great triumph in futhering his career.

2] No Ceilings (2009) [Listen & Download Here]
He proved that sampling the instrumentals of other artists is something that he is good at on “Da Drought 3” and reverts to his earlier game on this mixtape. Here he takes on Gucci Mane and creates a lyrically pleasing “Wasted,” then tries his hand at Kid Cudi, Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z and Akon’s beats. He had already made a name for himself in the mainstream rap game when this game out in October of ’09 and was losing his true fans (at least me) that liked him because of his fresh flows. This got him back on my iTunes, the first time since “Tha Carter III” came out in mid-2008 (and not because it was free). This was a valiant effort to restore faith in his fans, and it did, but the quality wasn’t comparable to “Da Drought 3.”

3] Tha Carter III (2008) [You don’t have a copy?]
This was easily one of the best rap albums to come out during the last decade. Its mass appeal and cutting-edge beats blew other rap albums of that year out of the water the day it dropped. It may have been the wide release that opened gangstas’ weed-sagging-eyes to techno beats and got them off the bass-heavy, slow-rolling beats. He also recruited an A-list cast such as T-Pain, Jay-Z and Robin Thicke to accompany him on the album. Tha Carter III was the best selling album of 2008 and for good reason; it was a well-produced, well-versed hip hop album.

4]Dedication 2 (2006) [Listen & Download Here]
“Weezy F Baby, the m***** f******* Carter, b***** on my stick but my name ain’t Harry Potter.” This lyric from “Workin Em” is one of the most clever rhymes ever spit, summing up the brilliance of Lil Wayne and of this early mixtape. This tape features political stabs (“Georgia…Bush”); classic Wayne songs (“Where da Cash At?”); a sports show ode (“Sportscenter”); and a drug rehash of a Jersey Shore anthem “Poppin Them Bottles.” This may not feature as noticeable of songs as the prior mixtapes but it does deserve praise as an above-average creative project from Weezy.

Lil Wayne also had a few albums that he may have been coerced into doing or was really stoned on cough syrup when he thought of them. Rebirth (2010): Though it may have been commercially successful and a huge step out of his own skin, this album was subpar and wasn’t the best follow-up to “Tha Carter III.” I believe this rock album might fall below the ranks of Simple Plan when it comes to crappiness. Like Father, Like Son (2006): This may have produced the awesome song “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy,” which was probably produced before the idea of the album, then they just decided to extend the collaboration. Either this was trying to make it known to the world that Birdman legally adopted Lil Wayne or it was a way for Wayne to show his talent by commanding the album and exploiting Birdman’s rapping fallacies.