Lil Wayne is nothing short of a hip-hop icon, and he proves himself yet again with the release of his morbidly titled 13th studio album, Funeral.
Joining Cash Money Records in 1996, the 37-year-old rapper has been in the rap game for quite a while. The rapper made his studio album debut in 1999 with Tha Block Is Hot, and he’s starting off his third decade in the game with Funeral.
Many fans expressed their concern on Twitter about the title of the album and if it may indicate the rapper’s retirement, but Wayne has said in several interviews that it is just a dark-themed tape that has more installments coming.
Lil Wayne honors Kobe Bryant’s recent passing in Funeral with a 24-second pause at the end of “Bing James (feat. Jay Rock).” Wayne also mentions Black Mamba while rapping in “Ball Hard (feat. Lil Twist),” though the most unforgettable song of Wayne’s that celebrates Kobe is his 2009 song “Kobe Bryant” from the Street Money, Vol. 4 tape.
Wayne launches the second track on the album, “Mahogany,” with a flawlessly looped sample produced by Mannie Fresh. The “A Milli” rapper quickly jumps in, naming all things of the color mahogany in run-on, perfectly-rhymed sentences.
When “Mama Mia,” produced by Some Randoms, starts, it doesn’t sound like a song that could easily be rapped over, but Lil Tunechi shows how versatile his flows can be and bodied the beat.
“I come from Mars, but I act like I’m from the Planet of the Apes,” Wayne spits on the track.
Throughout “Mama Mia,” he is building on to his alter-ego as a martian, as he also mentioned the metaphor on his 2018 track “Dedicate,” which features a sample from 2 Chainz.
The two rap icons team up yet again on “Know You Know (feat. 2 Chainz).” The melody is fantastically catchy, and it’s something that both Wayne and Chainz effortlessly flow over without breaking a sweat. The autotune in Wayne’s voice is brilliant, despite being far different from his usual autotuned self.
Lil Wayne goes completely off on “Harden” with spews of heartfelt lyricism along to a soulful sample that STREETRUNNER and Tarik Azzouz looped so well. Tunechi was in his feels while making this track — which he doesn’t do often — but again, the king of versatility made it sound completely natural. His most notorious from-the-heart song will always be “How To Love,” though.
“So I tried to call, but I couldn’t reach ya; you blocked my number / I feel like James Harden; you blocked my jumper, g------,” Wayne spits in “Harden.”
In Funeral, Lil Wayne shows some sides to him that he doesn’t show often and some sides to him that fans are used to. The album isn’t full of dark tracks as the title indicates. Tunechi gives it his all as a veteran to the rap game and doesn’t disappoint. Being almost 40 with 13 studio albums, the man is running out of shocking lines and catchy rhymes, but Wayne can still make a quality album that will be remembered.
Rate: 4/5
