By Q The Question
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
It’s been a pretty long month and a short one right at the same time. Feels just like last week when the last Hip Hop Classic of the Month was featured. But, it’s been a month according to the calendar, which means there’s another classic to break down and now New York gets a break, as New Orleans is where it’s at.
By 2005, Cash Money Records only had Lil Wayne to count on and everybody counted him out. It was unfair, but that’s life, so Lil Wayne used it to motivate him to come out with a strong album. Tha Carter did well for Lil Wayne, so he decided to deliver his fifth album, Tha Carter II, in 2005.
They say if a person can put an album down for a couple of years and pick it back up and still love it, it’s a classic. This is how it is with Tha Carter II, as Lil Wayne puts together a story of a young man coming into his own. Let’s not forget it was this album that spawned the “Fireman” hit and “Hustler’s Muzik.”
Lil Wayne might didn’t go triple platinum with Tha Carter II or even top Billboard with it, but without this record, he doesn’t do any of what he did from 2008-present. Nobody ever said Lil Wayne wasn’t a dope artist, even back in the old days of Cash Money Records, dude knew how to make hit singles, but people started paying attention when Tha Carter II dropped. This album is filled with some of the best songs of the past decade.
Eight years since the album came out, it is clear that records like the ones already mentioned, “Best Rapper Alive,” “Grown Man” featuring Curren$y, and the “On tha Block” skits were classics. Robin Thicke has transitioned into one of the biggest singers in the game, but most hip hop fans didn’t hear much from him until “Shooter,” which is widely-regarded as musical genius. In the years since that song came out, it dominated both radio and television, being used on some action TV shows.
No, Lil Wayne didn’t top Billboard or break records in sales, but when people think about classic Lil Wayne music, they always go back to songs from Tha Carter II. It was this album that set the standard of a modern-day classic album because it had the impact most other albums from this time period didn’t have. Let’s be honest, Tha Carter II is still having an impact on the game and most people have forgotten his other projects.
Watch “Fireman” by Lil Wayne below:
Watch “Hustler’s Muzik” by Lil Wayne below:
Watch “Shooter” by Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke below:
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