[Review] Lil' Wayne - Rebirth

Artist: Lil' Wayne

Album: Rebirth

Label: Cash Money/Universal

Release Date: Unknown 2010

Guests: Kevin Rudolf, Shanell, Nicki Minaj & Eminem.

Producers: Cool & Dre, Eminem, Develop, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, DJ Infamous, Essay Potna, Chase & Cashe, Hit-Boy & Drew Correa



When Lil' Wayne announced that he would be recording a rock album, I never thought it would happen. I mean, Kanye made an album where he sang about heartbreak, but it is nowhere near his strongest material, and failed in comparison to what I think he was expecting. But when the best rapper (supposedly) is dropping an album aimed at a different audience, Im sure the label must be expecting a backlash.



Afterall, Weezy has already generated hate from rap fans on social netowrking sites such as Facebook, telling him not to make a rock album, and even rockers themselves are saying it wont work. And this becomes another problem for me - do I review the album in comparison to other rap albums and other Lil' Wayne albums, or do I review it as a rock album, and in comparison to other rock artists?

The factor is, Im not sure whether this album will be acceoted on either side. Rap fans will be hugely disappointed with the style, and not just because he is not rapping, but because he is not inflicting clever punchlines, and his lyrical content has changed. I feel that he is aiming this album towards male high school students, as he is putting himself in their shoes. But on the other hand, rock fans will know that Weezy is not a rocker, and is just trying to add more fans to his following. Although he does play the guitar in a few of the tracks, it is pretty much nothing ground breaking, and dont expect any clever string solos or crowdsurfing at gigs for now.

There are a few nice touches to the CD - the track with Eminem has a nice feel to it, and Eminem's verse, possibly something leftover from all of his Relapse material, dives straight into the dark mind of the artist of the decade. 'Prom Queen', is a song about rejection, and despite being leaked several months ago as the first single off the album, it remains one of the handfull tracks I think fans will take to. There is another track that I think will be the next single - a sample of the intro of Amy Holland's 'Shes On Fire', fans of the Scarface movie will recognise this instantly, but I feel that the sample (produced by Cool & Dre) is a too basic loop, and fails to capture much of the best parts of the original song.

Personally, I would give this album a low score, as I think Weezy's rock style is fake and see through, but I do not think it will be a disaster. With his reputation on the line, it may be that Weezy changes his music completely and decides to release more rock albums, but I hope not. Bring on Tha Carter IV.

5/10

[Reaction] Ja Rule & DMX end their beef

When two Hip Hop rivals decide to end a feud, the moment becomes captured, and is remembered for a long time. When Jay-Z and Nas ended their feud, many people whitnessed a moment of Hip Hop history which they would never have thought they would have seen. With Nas seeming to be the harder of the two rappers, following diss records such as 'Ether', it was Jay-Z that signed Nas to Def Jam, leading many people to perceive that Jay had come out on top, which I strongly disagree. But not all feuding is kept on the records, as Ja will tell you.

Ja Rule has been no stranger to a little bit of beefing. In the early 2000's, he was engaged in a bitter feud with is local rival, and upcoming MC, 50 Cent, and despite Ja seeming to brush this off at first, as being a jealous 'kid' from the area trying to catch a little fame, we all know how much further 50 would go ahead, and despite fake police papers leaked onto the internet trying to label 50 a snitch, many people will look at this feud as the downfall in Ja Rule's career.

So where did the Ja Rule/DMX feud come from? To me, this seems to stem from jealousy. DMX thought that Ja was using the same style of rapping, as DMX was once embraced as the 'rough voice' rapper until Ja started having number 1 records.

So despite DMX firing a couple of diss records towards the Queens rapper, it seemed pretty much dead in the street, until 'The Chicago Incident', which is still a mystery to everyone, with only little facts to enlighten us to what actually occured at the airport when the two entourages met, apart from DMX claiming he saved Ja's life.

The beef was apparently squashed back in 2006, when mutual friend, Irv Gotti arranged a meeting between the two rappers in a jail, where DMX was currently serving time (DMX has had so many felonies, that it is actually impossible for me to find out what he was doing time for in this instance), however, DMX said he would only end the beef if he could 'have five minutes alone in a cell with Ja' so he could 'sort it out like grown men'.

And after the tension had died down, a track was leaked onto the internet from Ja Rule (later included in the leaked album, 'The Mirror', which I reviewed a few weeks back) called 'Judas'. Ja raps:

"Dear Judas what's the deal homie?
How you feeling theese days n***a,
I'm little lonely, no D, no Y, no E, no Kiss, no Styles, no Ruff, no Rydas, doubble lost findes,
We grown men n***a, I tried to put it behind us, but n***as always restate weakness and kindness, so it gets to violence..."

Ironically, the song also takes subliminal shots towards former label mate, and collaborator, Ashanti, with whom Ja performed with last night at the same awards show that he ended the feud with DMX. Eminem was also expected to appear, which would have added another twist in the night, as Ja and Em had a famous feud when Ja Rule dissed the Detroit MC in retaliation associating himself and for signing his enemy 50 Cent, to his Shady Aftermath label. Eminem and DMX had collaborated with another Shady Aftermath artist at the time, Obie Trice, and made a diss record titled 'Go To Sleep', to which DMX had said:

" Easy going with the same one that started the fight,
He be knowing how dog get, when dog gone bite,
Tried to show him the dog shit, it's dog for life."

So with the DMX/Ja Rule beef now put to sleep, and a 'ceasefire' between Ja and Eminem - it just leaves a couple of more questions. Will this lead to Ja calling it quits and squashing the beef with 50? And speaking of 50, was this a publicity stunt, similar to that when 50 and The Game had apparently ended their beef infront of the cameras, only for it to continue rumbling on? I think the answer to both of these questions is 'no'.

DMX has been in enough trouble, and has said in the past, that he wants to sort himself out, and I cant see personal issues such as this stand in his way. And finally, Ja Rule and 50 Cent have been sworn enemies for pretty much their careers - it was Ja Rule that accused 50 Cent of snitching and sending his man to jail, and is believed that the man who infamously shot 50 Cent nine times, was an associate of Murder Inc and Ja Rule, and lets not forget the incident where Ja Rule's entourage stormed a recording studio where 50 was, leading to him getting stabbed by a Ja Rule associate, Black Child. This kind of beef is perminant, and will never be resolved.

But in the mean time, it has gone quiet, and I think the two have decided there was better things to do than diss each other - focus on their own.

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First of all welcome to my blog.

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