5 Years After Tha Carter V
Graphic by Jonah Weintraub
By: Emmett Milberg
It’s officially been five years since one of the greatest rappers of all time, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., also known as Lil Wayne, dropped the fifth edition to his iconic “Tha Carter” series. Let’s take a look back at what impact this album had the year it came out and how it’s aged.
Before looking at the classic that Tha Carter V is, it’s important to explain how extreme the anticipation was. Originally slated to be Wayne’s second studio LP of 2013, he continued to announce the release date three separate times in 2014 but was prevented from releasing any solo projects due to a legal conflict with Birdman, the head of his label. Once Wayne finally won his lawsuit against Birdman in June 2018, the hype for the fifth installment of his signature series was at an all-time high.
Despite this eagerness, the seventh anniversary of Tha Carter IV passed, and Wayne had still said nothing about a new release. Then, on September 13, 2018, Wayne revealed in a cover story for Billboard that he would be dropping Tha Carter V sometime during the fall. However, it started to seem that it might be sooner rather than later, as Wayne’s high-profile friends, from Floyd Mayweather to Metro Boomin and James Harden, started posting promotions for the album on their social media. Then Wayne finally announced through a promotional video that he would release the Tha Carter V on September 28.
The album starts with a heartfelt message from Wayne’s mother, talking about the love she has for her son and how she can’t wait for people to hear his new project. His mother would continue to appear throughout the tracklist, adding context to each song. On the second track, “Don’t Cry,” we get a collaboration with the late XXXTENTACION. Album aside, Wayne featuring one of the biggest voices of the new generation of hip-hop was a huge moment in its own right. Following that unexpected cameo, we get a three-track run of straight bangers made for blasting out of your car window. The first of the three is a solo track titled “Dedicate,” with the second featuring fellow upperclassman Swizz Beats titled “Uproar.” Then, to end this string of bangers, “Let It Fly” features the red-hot Travis Scott fresh off the release of his now four times platinum ASTROWORLD. In the first four songs, we got two great collaborations with two huge voices of the new generation, as well as two high-energy cuts reminiscent of his younger days guaranteed to be loved by his long-time fans. All of these songs are now platinum. This was just the start.
To be fair, I do have to mention that while this LP is incredible, there are two songs that I think are slight misses and somewhat sleepers compared to the rest of the record. These songs are “What About Me” and “Mess.” Besides those two cuts, Wayne continues to deliver incredible tracks to remind us why he’s more than deserving of legend status. We get lyrical masterclasses with songs like “Can’t Be Broken,” “Mona Lisa (featuring Kendrick Lamar),” and “Open Letter,” as well as more bangers with songs like “Problems” and “Open Safe.”
On “Mona Lisa,” we get what is probably the biggest moment on this entire tracklist when Kendrick Lamar is enlisted for the song. While it wasn’t the first collaboration between Kendrick and Wayne, it was their first joint effort since 2014. Between 2014 and Tha Carter V release date, Lamar had put out two critically acclaimed albums, received 12 Grammys, and became the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, it felt like the first time we were seeing the Kendrick Lamar we know and love today join Lil Wayne on a song.
The display of the range in Wayne’s lyricism is also what makes Tha Carter V so special. On “Mona Lisa,” Wayne’s tongue-in-cheek delivery is brilliantly used to rap from the perspective of the male counterpart of a male-female crime duo. Then there are extremely vulnerable and emotional cuts like “Open Letter,” “Used 2,” and “Let It All Work Out,” which cover topics such as self-hatred, trust issues, and Wayne’s suicide attempt at 12 years old.
This album was such an important moment not only because of how great it is and how anticipated it was but also because of where hip-hop was at the time. Rap was undeniably the biggest genre in the world in 2018. There were tons of stars emerging every day with names like Lil Baby and Juice WRLD, along with the greats like Kanye West and Jay-Z continuing to extend their legacy. This made 2018 the perfect year for Lil Wayne to return. Tha Carter V felt like the cherry on top of the cultural domination rap was having where one of the mid to late 2000s superstars finally got to get in on the fun. It was almost like a celebration of how popular the genre had gotten, with collaborations ranging from legends like Snoop Dogg to current superstars like Travis Scott.
I still listen to this record, and I feel like it has aged extremely well, serving as a time capsule that can take me back to 2018, an incredible year for rap and music in general. It sold 480,000 units in the first week, debuted at number one on Billboard, and is currently sitting at two times platinum. Overall, it was an amazing moment for the new generation of hip-hop fans to witness a legend of the genre in his element and old-generation fans to see one of their favorites still had it in him.