Review: Lil Wayne, 'No Ceilings'
Right around the time everyone agreed that Lil Wayne was the best rapper alive, Lil Wayne ceased being the best rapper alive. After capping an incredible 2-year run of mixtapes and cameos with the release of last June's "Tha Carter III," Wayne's output didn't slow down, but his quality control bottomed out. The low point came with last year's aimless, guest-cluttered "Dedication 3" mixtape, and the leaked material from his endlessly delayed, alt-rock leaning "Rebirth" album sounded like he had lost his way. It's as if attaining the success he craved for so long suffocated his creativity, but he gets his mojo back in a big way with "No Ceilings," which is packed with the intoxicating flows, bizarro imagery and blatant beat-jacking that made Wayne hip-hop's golden child in the first place. Maybe it's the threat of jail hanging over his head -- "prison in February, and I ain't in no rush," he raps on "Oh Let's Do It" -- but Wayne has rediscovered the unadulterated joy of being Lil Wayne, and is bound by nothing but his own creativity. On "No Ceilings" he spins free association rhymes about topics from Jalen Rose to Adam Sandler's character in "The Waterboy," with stops at vegetable zucchini, grandma's cookies and everywhere in-between. "Mickey Mouse cheese, hip hop, Walt Disney," he raps during "Watch My Shoes," part of a breathless flow that feels like an unfiltered tour of his thoughts. That's how the whole mixtape feels, really, and the no-pressure nature of the release lets him really cut loose, while cannibalizing beats from Jay-Z ("Run This Town"), Black Eyed Peas ("I Gotta Feeling" becomes "I Got No Ceilings"), Kid Cudi ("Make Her Say") and more. His long-gestating album of the same name aside, "No Ceilings" feels like a rebirth, as once again Wayne's punchlines have zing and his ad libs have punch. No ceilings, no limits.
GRADE: A-
"No Ceilings" is available as a free download from weareyoungmoney.com.
