Lil Wayne I Am Not A Human Being Album Download Zip
Cre Wallace
Lil Wayne is not back. Not yet. As of this writing, he's due to be released from the Eric M. Taylor Center at Rikers Island on November 4. But even when he switches from inmate #02616544L to Dwayne Carter, free man, will he return as the world beater who stunned us with mixtapes like Dedication 2 and albums like Tha Carter III or will he continue to explore (um) riskier sonic territory la Rebirth? And, considering his penchant toward exuberant rhymes and a lifestyle blissfully unaware of the word "no," will we ever see the same Wayne that stomped straight into the camera rapping "I'd rather be pushin' flowers than to be in the pen sharin' showers," in the "A Milli" video? On July 22, 2007, just hours before he would be caught with the .40 caliber pistol that would eventually land him in jail, I saw Wayne end a triumphant NYC show at the famed, fancy Beacon Theater by blaring Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" through the speakers. That night he was funny and dangerous and unpredictable. So: Even when Wayne ends his eight months of forced containment, will that Wayne really be back?
As we prepare to find out, we first get I Am Not a Human Being, an album's worth of material recorded before his jail stint and featuring some tracks originally intended for his proper return LP, Tha Carter IV. The record is supposed to act as a reminder of his existence and a precursor to his freedom. And, since it's a genuine hip-hop record with Wayne rapping most of the time, it helps to put his guitar-torturing, choke-throttling Rebirth incarnation to rest. I Am Not a Human Being is the latest in a long line of songs and videos Wayne has appeared on since entering Rikers on March 8; we've seen green-screened versions of him in clips with Eminem, along with his Young Money cohorts Drake and Nicki Minaj. These appearances are meant to show his resiliency and relevancy but oftentimes come off a little depressing-- since he's usually standing in front of an obviously phony and confined backdrop, the videos emphasize his absence more than anything else. I Am Not a Human Being draws a similarly conflicted response. He's there but he's not there.
We get Wayne spouting classic Weezy-isms-- explicit sex, cartoonish gunplay, and allusions to the intricacies of the digestive system abound-- over at-least-decent original beats, several of which attempt to replicate the space-snap wallop of his biggest hit, "Lollipop". But there's a lingering sense that the rapper is not in top gear; his flow is often slow and static, his wordplay lively yet less energized than what we're now used to. When he says, "I been fly so long I fell asleep on the fuckin' plane," or, "So far ahead of them, I feel outdated" in this context, the lines could be taken as a boasts or sighs. And while Wayne was presumably aware of his impending jail term during the recording of some of these tracks, you'd never know it. The most real-life anxiety shown is on the title Run-D.M.C.-style track, when he admits, "Still get a stomach ache every time I see cops." It's a far cry from his "A Milli" invincibility: "Tell the coppers: 'Hahahaha!'/ You can't get him, you can't stop him."
There is one distinct upshot. The finest three songs on I Am Not a Human Being all feature the man who has quickly become Wayne's best-ever counterpart, Drake. The two rappers' contrasting qualities-- Wayne is coarse and random and hoarse while Drake is smooth and exact and clear-- bring out surprising sides of each other. On the sweet-soul track "With You", the Pretty Toney-style beat and Drake's croon draw out Wayne at his most human. Meanwhile, the superhero-synth track "Right Above It" would seemingly fit well on an idealized Tha Carter IV with Drake rhyming breathless as Wayne handles the Auto-Hook. The two have teased at a full collaborative album and, considering the tracks here-- along with worthy past collaborations like "Miss Me" and "I'm Goin' In"-- it has the potential to be one of those rare dream projects that lives up to its promise.
Speaking of Drake, he had this to say about I Am Not a Human Being when talking to MTV recently: "I think it's just a lotta Wayne songs that... you know, it's just that pre-... it's that pre-... it's that stuff that people wanna hear-- but I think Carter IV is gonna be on another level." Not really a sticker-ready quote. His hesitation is justified-- this release has neither the conceptual, lasting power of Tha Carter III nor the inspired spontaneity of Wayne's best mixtapes. And since it was recorded before such a traumatic, life-changing event, it's likely to serve more as a clearinghouse than an indication of what's to come. In one of the more lucid moments in the must-see documentary The Carter, Wayne-- then 25-- looks into his crystal ball and says, "[When I'm] 28, 29 you'll be lookin' for a Lil Wayne album to be full of rap-- the best rap. Full of singin'-- the best songs, not the best singin'. Full of music. Not just whatever you look for now." Wayne has already done better versions of almost every song on I Am Not a Human Being, which was released on his 28th birthday last week. It's not exactly what we're looking for now.
By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Pitchfork. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
COMPLEX participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means COMPLEX gets paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. Our editorial content is not influenced by any commissions we receive.
Lil Wayne's new album leaked last night. As expected, I Am Not a Human Being II is a brash, no holds barred exhibition of Weezy's erratic thought process. The subject matter is of the usual variety: sex, drugs, and violence. Still, Wayne is the type of artist who you can count on to paint even the darkest of material with a commercial-friendly, pop-ready sheen.
On Lil Wayne's latest release, his wordplay is as abject as ever. In the span of a few songs, Tunechi compares his dick to President Obama, a pistol to mouthwash, and cunnilingus to ibuprofen. There is, literally, line after line of mind-boggling, at times awe-inspiring audaciousness. You can search "lil wayne new album" on Twitter and see that the streets are talking, that the world is feeling conflicted. Is this album fucking terrible and a case for why Weezy needs to retire? Or is it an incredible display of persistence, relevance, and possibly brilliance, after it sells a gazillion copies next week?
Obviously, the conversation will continue, as more people listen, and because the album has only been out for, like, 13 hours. We'll see what this means for Wayne's legacy and all that rap nerd stuff in time. The only thing we know right now is that there are so many harebrained rhymes on this LP, that we had to make an entire list about it: The 40 Most Ridiculous Lyrics on Lil Wayne's I Am Not a Human Being II.
I Am Not a Human Being II received mixed or average reviews from contemporary music critics upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted average score of 51, based on 23 reviews. On the aggregator AnyDecentMusic?, it received 4.5 out of 10 based on 11 critic reviews. On the aggregator Album of the Year (AOTY), the album received a score of 46 based on 19 reviews.
David Jeffries of AllMusic argued in a generally favorable review, "This is an indulgent jumble of a sideline release, but that doesn't mean Wayne isn't in fine form." They noted, "all this redundancy and the scattershot complaints become minor when the album breaks character and gives up surprising diversions."[3] Expert Witness awarded the album an A-, penning in acknowledgement, "Plus his posse cuts are finally showing some savor too, albeit not on the vestigial guns 'n' violence ones."[4] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone called it "a solid album by a brilliant MC who's half-interested."[5] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times was mixed in assessment, stating, "is slapdash, a mix of blustering boasts, spiteful sex, warm sex, inside jokes, puerile snickering and flashes of self-realization. At times he is rapping with ferocity; at others, with swing; at others, with just the barest of attention. He still radiates exuberance and ecstasy and rebelliousness, the hallmarks of his rise to hip-hop's creative and commercial peaks. But the words he puts together don't shock the way they once did."[6]
A majority of publications felt the project to lack Weezy's best work, often criticizing lazy rhymes and the songs being undistinguishable from one another. The Boston Globe editor Ken Capobianco suggested the rapper to be "flailing in an attempt to recapture the stoned Seuss-ian magic of his peak years."[7] Dean Van Nguyen of PopMatters called it a "poor effort," remarking, "you'd be hard pressed to find a full length Wayne effort that contains so few extraordinary rapping moments."[8] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork stated in agreeance, "All of the quirks and peculiarities that once made Wayne great have hardened, six or seven years later, into nearly unbearable tics. All of his lyrics have devolved into barely rearranged little puzzles of themselves," where each track was barely discernible from one another.[9] Similarly, The A.V. Club's Evan Rytlewski wrote, "doesn't offer any more new ideas than its title promises, but it does have the distinction of being the rapper's most focused album."[10] Kathy Iandoli of Billboard was more positive, penning, "There are stellar moments to the work though, buried deep within the lewdness that riddles the greater whole. It's perverse, it's bipolar, it's abrasive, and it's dark, yet it's oddly bright. Hell, it's Lil Wayne."[11]
b1e95dc632