Rebirth

Lil Wayne’s whole career is premised on avoiding the obvious. When his weird rap opus *Tha Carter III* became a sales phenomenon, the obvious thing to do would be to follow it up with more of the same. But because Wayne is Wayne he followed it up with *Rebirth*, an album of abrasive alternative rock. You have to admire an artist who is more comfortable in unfamiliar territory than he is on his regular turf. *Rebirth* may have been the last thing Wayne’s fans wanted, but no one can say that the music herein is not 100% true to its author’s personality. Wayne is a great lyricist, but *Rebirth* is predicated more on attitude than rhyme styles, and any true Wayne will tell you that his attitude and delivery are just as essential as his writing. “Drop the World” and “Knockout” rely on few words, but everything Wayne has to say is expressed in his vocalizing, which is in turns lusty, tortured, but always irrepressible. The musical choices of *Rebirth* are at times inaccessible and puzzling, but listen without expectations and you will receive what is arguably Wayne’s most revealing statement as a pop star.

He really went ahead and did it: Lil Wayne finally releases his unlikely, unqualified, and quite unbelievable rock album.

Lil Wayne’s long-delayed rock album Rebirth hits shelves covered in thick coats of flop sweat, bad buzz, and schadenfreude. It’s a disc that pop-culture rubberneckers have been dreading and anticipating in equal measures, a bold sonic experiment from a pop icon for whom quality control is as foreign a concept as…

When the 2009 documentary The Carter hit DVD, much was made of Lil Wayne’s reckless syrup sipping during the film, but longtime fans had already accepted their hero was a drug abuser because they had bothered to listen to his lyrics.

On Rebirth, Lil Wayne feels like an out-of-shape boxer being pummeled by his own beats and guests.

Lil Wayne is tragically aware of how much we love him. He cackles at the end of every punchline. He flashes cutesy smiles in every video

Even in the hands of audacious Lil Wayne, rap-metal still ends up sounding ghastly. No more widdly-woo solos, pleads <strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>

Lil Wayne - Rebirth review: Rebirth is the kind of album only the painfully oblivious could make.