Lil Wayne - Lil Wayne And Friends pt. 2 (Mixtape)
Released February 2008
Rating 8.0 out of 10
Best 3 Songs:
Doin’ Bad Feat. Jay Rock
High As A Kite Feat. Nicki Minaj
Just Fine Feat. Swizz Beatz & Mary J Blige
OVERALL: It’s no wonder why everyone and their mother go to Lil Wayne when they need a quality guest appearance. Being able to rhyme next to just about anybody, from the very best r&b artists to rap’s elite, and to do it with topnotch punch-line lyrics every time out is no small feat. This album answers the question as to how Lil Wayne can make any song he’s on a hot one. There are a lot of songs, particularly on the r&b portion of the album, that had another rapper, or no rapper at all for that matter, been featured, that the song would have easily gotten lost amongst the many other generic r&b hits.
The mixtape is broken down into 3 sections, Weezy the rap star, Weezy the r&b hit maker, and Weezy the rock star. There’s even a song with Weezy the reggae star, The Only Reason feat Sizzla. While I’m not quick to jump on the bandwagon claiming Weezy as the best rapper alive, there’s no denying his swagger, lyrics, and raw talent that make him a top contender for the crown.
Biggest Negative: Sounding like something captured from a Radio Shack tape recorder stuffed inside some concertgoers pocket, Lil Wayne Plays His Guitar Live is the one track on this mixtape that is merely impossible to listen to. Capturing this part of Lil Wayne’s live performance, where, like the song says, he plays his guitar while rhyming, would probably go over better on DVD or if you were to actually see the man live. I’m not knocking his skills; I just wish I were able to hear them clearly.
Biggest Positive: His amazing ability to make time fly. It’s not that often that an album comes out with 80 minutes worth of music that only feels like 30. Part of the reason for me wanting to play this album from start to finish, minus the fuzzy live guitar song, and the one lazy Wayne track, Brand New featuring Lyfe Jennings, is his punch lines that often go unheard the first few times around, because I’m still tripping off a previous line not to notice another one.
I believe the last time I was able to listen to 80 plus minutes of music from one artist and not loose interest was the last time I played Wu-Tang’s, Forever or Biggie's, Life After Death, both of which are double-discs and must be respected, even if you’re not a big fan of the two, by any rap fan. I’m not saying that Lil Wayne is up there with the Wu and Biggie, I’m just saying from what I heard here, he’s definitely capable of an equally long and quality filled official album. Plus, this isn’t the first mixtape where Wayne killed it from beginning to end.