Lil Wayne- Sorry 4 The Wait 2 MIXTAPE REVIEW

Lil Wayne is easily one of my favorite rappers ever, but lately, he has been far from that. It is a very well known fact that Wayne has fallen off a lot in recent years, dropping a handful of lackluster projects and showing none of the creativeness that we all love him for. Wayne has been a bit better on recent features on singles, though, so I was excited for his new album, Tha Carter V. In a change of events, that album has been pushed back, and he dropped the Sorry for the Wait 2 mixtape. How will Wayne sound on this new collection of tracks?

On Sorry 4 the Wait 2, Lil Wayne does what he has done on many of his previous mixtapes: rapping over the most popular beats at the moment. You will recognize many of the instrumentals on this project, with Wayne rapping over hits like Hot Ni**a, Coco, You Guessed It, and Drunk in Love. Wayne also brings a new dimension to songs I enjoyed quite a bit originally, like Shit by Future and Dreams & Nightmares by Meek Mill. There are very few features on this tape, with the only ones being Mack Maine, 2 Chainz, and Drake. Speaking of Drake, I'll start with him because his feature was absolutely awesome. The track he was on, Used To, showcased the classic chemistry that he and Lil Wayne have. Drake came with serious aggression and sounded great over the hard hitting beat. Even with Wayne not rapping at his best, Drake made this a highlight of the tape. 2 Chainz was pretty boring, and I really feel like that guy's charm is wearing off. Mack Maine decided to spit over the Try Me beat, and he surprised me, coming through with solid flow and some nice lines.

As for Lil Wayne's performance, it was very encouraging. Wayne sounded very good on the first few tracks here, and it sounded like he was going back to his old style, which is not having a hook, and just rapping over a beat for a while. He did this on Coco, Shit, and Hot Ni**a, which were definitely three of my favorite tracks on the mixtape. He sounded really good on these tracks, using that signature creativity with his voice and providing awesome punchlines. My main problem with this mixtape, though, is its length. While the tracks I named were real highlights, there were many here that just take up space. It isn't anything Lil Wayne is doing wrong, but rather that the songs are just boring. Trap House, Seisun Blue, HollyWeezy, and You Guessed It were only a few of these kind of songs. There just wasn't anything memorable about them. Overall though, this mixtape was a joy to listen to. It was great to hear Lil Wayne get his swagger back a bit and I think he's sounding a lot better.

SORRY 4 THE WAIT WRAP UP
+Lil Wayne raps a lot better and more creatively
+Raps over some ear-grabbing beats
+Does some popular beats justice
-A lot of filler tracks
-Too long

Best: Shit, Used To, Hot Ni**a

Worst: Drunk in Love

Lil Wayne- Sorry 4 the Wait 2
7.0/10

Joey Bada$$- B4.DA.$$ ALBUM REVIEW

Joey Bada$$, a young Brooklyn MC who turned 20 on the release date of this album, has long been an underground favorite of mine. This kid raps with impressive technical ability, and he really excels when it comes to wordplay and lyrics. His debut mixtape, 1999, is one of my favorite projects, but it came out in 2012 and Joey has not made anything better since. Now, having gone all of 2014 without any music, Joey starts 2015 with his debut studio album, B4.DA.$$.

This album was a solid collection of tracks and a perfectly fine debut for Joey. He pretty much did what he does best here, which is taking you back to that 90's sound and giving a nostalgic vibe. Joey had enough variety on this album, though, to keep it interesting. Songs like Save the Children, Paper Trails, On & On, and Curry Chicken showed Joey's main forte the most. On these, the beats were relaxed, chill, and old-school. Joey rapped over these with ease and these songs all sounded very smooth. My favorite tracks B4.DA.$$, though, were the ones where Joey brings more energy. My favorite track by far here was Christ Conscious. Joey came off so hungry on this track, and the beat knocked with a lot of aggression. I want to hear Joey do tracks like this more often, because he sounds a lot better when he has this angry rasp to his voice. Another track I liked was Big Dusty, where Joey rapped extremely well. He had tons of punchlines, the hook sounded great, and this was the perfect beat for him made by Pro Era teammate Kirk Knight. I can't go without mentioning No. 99, another track that brought serious aggression and had some fun catchiness to it.

Even though I absolutely loved the energetic songs here, there were some tracks on B4.DA.$$ that I enjoyed for very different reasons. The main example: Escape 120. This song was very unlike anything I have ever heard Joey do, and it was pretty abstract for him. Oddly enough, this song had a very Outkast-y vibe going for it, which is a good thing. It was very chill, and had an interesting beat. Raury, the guest MC on the track, had a pretty weird, but entertaining verse that I liked a lot. I loved the song On & On as well. This song had it all: a fun beat, solid rapping from Joey, and very catchy, well done hook. There weren't any flaws with this song, and it sounded really good. Joey had a fantastic personal track too, with OCB. He touched on his past here, his upbringing, and how being an only child made him the way he is today. While I liked a majority of the tracks here, this album runs into the usual Joey Bada$$ problem: replay value. These songs are good, but there isn't really anything that compels me to play them over and over again, with the exception of Christ Conscious. B4.DA.$$ isn't an album I'll have in constant rotation, but I enjoyed it for what it was and it was a very solid debut for Joey's young career.

B4.DA.$$ WRAP UP
+Joey sounds great rapping, his technical skill is always there
+Classic, nostalgic instrumentals
+Very, very smooth
+Variety
-Some really boring tracks
-Not a lot of replay value

Best: Big Dusty, Christ Conscious, Escape 120

Worst: Hazeus View

Joey Bada$$- B4.DA.$$
7.6/10