Birdman feud fuels Wayne to impressive new mixtape

Lil Wayne has been the focus of a lot of controversy over the last few weeks. His feud with former mentor Bryan “Birdman” Williams over the delayed release of his newest album Tha Carter V could now be heading toward a lawsuit, and any good will the two formerly great friends had seems to be gone. Lil Wayne’s most recent mixtape, “Sorry 4 the Wait 2,” is meant to hold fans over until the conflict can be worked out, but through the tension has come one of the strongest showings Lil Wayne has had in years mainly because he is rapping for a reason again.

Born Dwayne Carter, Lil Wayne is a veteran of the rap scene who has generated hits on a steady basis since his days in rap group Hot Boys in 1996, when he was just 15. He has stayed relevant enough to be on his fifth Tha Carter album, releasing more than just a few albums in between. He’s released an album from prison, I Am Not a Human Being, that one critic called “downright astonishing considering the circumstances.” Much of Wayne’s success can be attributed to the direction of mentor Birdman and the support of his label Cash Money records, but the feud is now jeopardizing his affiliation with Cash Money as well as a longstanding friendship.

Recently, XXL magazine posted a throwback article from when the two dropped their collaborative album, Like Father Like Son, in 2006. The article features previous issues that many members of Cash Money had with Birdman, and the fact that without Lil Wayne, the label would have gone bankrupt following a dispersal of almost all of its original members. Most of all, however, the article focuses on the close relationship between Lil Wayne and Birdman. Lil Wayne saw the latter as a father figure and openly displayed affection in very warm terms.

“[Cash Money Records] made artists. It wasn’t no such thing as coming there and you already had a style. It was you became somebody. You could be whoever you was before you came there, but you came out Cash Money,” said Wayne in the article about his label, which has since reinstated itself as a hip-hop dynasty and signed artists like Tyga, DJ Khaled and Nicki Minaj.

If someone were to show Wayne the article today, it would most likely end poorly for said individual.

“Sorry 4 the Wait 2” features Wayne rapping line after line about his anger toward Cash Money and Birdman. He references a hit squad to take out the producer multiple times and swears off previous affiliation with the label. All animosity aside, however, Lil Wayne sounds crisp on this mixtape in a way that he hasn’t sounded in years. He has purpose and drive, and it feels as though he is actually rapping to rap instead of rapping for the money.

The backing tracks come from some of the hottest tracks in the last year and a half, including O.T. Genesis’s “Coco,” Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love,” Rae Sremmurd’s “No Type” and OG Maco’s “You Guessed It,” which is a core aspect of Wayne’s mixtapes. The features are also solid, especially considering the speed with which this mixtape was produced. Used as a bridge between Wayne’s last album and his newest, “Sorry 4 the Wait 2” still has some A-list names, notably rapper Drake and the infamous 2Chainz. RiFF RAFF — famously known for his ridiculousness — also appears on the album in a rant about Drake, the feud and the mixtape itself, in classic RiFF RAFF gibberish fashion.

Common themes aside from the Wayne-Birdman beef are codeine, money and growing up in the ghetto, all reminiscent of an older Lil Wayne.

“The groaners-per-minute ratio here is lower than usual, and this is likely due to the fact Wayne’s got more than just bad sex puns on his mind,” said Pitchfork writer Renato Pagnani in reviewing the new mixtape. Without choosing sides, it is somewhat easy to make the case that this feud is exactly what Wayne needed to center himself.

For a few years now, Wayne has been on a downhill slide. He has received mixed reviews for his most recent album I Am Not A Human Being II as well as his being dropped by sponsor Pepsi among a slew of radio duds. This year though, Wayne has been part of two of the biggest radio hits, “Only” and “Truffle Butter,” both featuring Drake and Nicki Minaj.

Lil Wayne has now dropped a mixtape. He has hinted at dropping one more and is ready to release his newest album as soon as he is able to. The fight between Wayne and his mentor seems unhealthy and is on its way to reaching irreparable levels, but Birdman denying the artist his money might have been just what Wayne needed.

Lil Wayne was losing touch with his music, and for a while it did seem like he was only doing it for the money. Take that out of the equation, and you get fresh lyrics, a strong attitude and an impressive resurgence from one of the longest still-relevant rappers today. Be on the lookout for Tha Carter V, another mixtape entitled “Dedication 6,” and a lot more from the youngest veteran in the game, Lil Wayne.

Matt Burke is a sophomore majoring in film production. His column, “Notes on Notes,” runs Wednesdays.