Tha Carter IV
by Lil Wayne
User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 280 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 115 out of 280
  2. Mixed: 60 out of 280
  3. Negative: 105 out of 280
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  1. JawsPapi87
    Oct 24, 2011
    3
    There's nothing of value here. He's not skilled, hard-core, interesting or original. Lil Wayne is an oil spill in the already polluted ocean of today's music that should have been cleaned up much quicker.
  2. jjamessmithh
    Aug 29, 2011
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is an abridged, track by track review of Lil' Wayne's 'Tha Carter IV'. Intro - This track contains an expected amount of barely innuendo rhymes. It has simple, straightforward lyrics. The beat has a production value of 5 out of 10, anyone with a Mac can pull it off.

    Blunt Blowin - Another easy to follow track, but still is a generally pointless rap song, almost out of character for Wayne. Also the same is the low production quality of the track itself; simple bass lines, nothing special to mention.

    Megaman - Once again, another simply produced track, and lyrics to be expected from Lil' Wayne. He strays away from the higher pitched voice he normally uses, and that isn't necessarily terrible.

    6 Foot 7 Foot feat. Cory Guns - Very little clever wordplay, absolutely terrible production. The featuring of Day-O by Harry Belafonte was bizarre, but the thought was killed by how absolutely unbearably annoying the repetitiveness of the song is. Cory Guns' verse almost revives the song, but it is almost too far beyond repair to fix.

    Nightmares of the Bottom - A song intended to be a slow jam, starting off with the signature lighter flick, vaguely reminiscent of the verses of Mrs. Officer. Still a mediocre track.

    She Will feat. Drake - A song about a girl, not too catchy, really just another song about how he wants to f**k. Drake conforms to this mentality.

    How To Hate feat. T-Pain - This track was actually one of my favorites on the album. In simplest terms, its a F**k You song to a girl. The track feels like its T-Pain's instead of Wayne's and features his brilliant use of autotune. In fact, Lil' Wayne's parts in the song sort of ruin it for me.

    Interlude feat Tech N9ne and Andre 3000 - Possibly the best track on the album, and that may be just because Tech has the Midas Touch. Andre on the other hand is a refreshing addition, and its nice to see that he still has talent.

    John feat Rick Ross - A song with a violent dirty south beat leaves no more than that to be desired.

    Abortion - I couldn't get past the first 20 seconds, it was that annoying.

    So Special feat John Legend - The only good parts are the ones that involve John Legend.

    How to Love - One of only two entirely bearable tracks on the cd, and I feel the only reason for that is because it has more of an R&B feel, and can be played on the radio. Through and through, easy to listen to on repeat.

    President Carter - *Lighter flick* The production quality is better than the lyrics, seems like it may have been an idea when someone was searching for lost Doritos. Hint, hint.

    Its Good feat Jadakiss and Drake - Beat was good, catchy, Jadakiss shines.

    Outro feat Bun B, Nas, Shyne, Busta Rhymes - Nas and Busta killed this track, amazing flow. Very glad that Wayne kept out of it.

    Out of the three bonus tracks, I decided to add in Mirror featuring Bruno Mars. This track should have been on the cd as a regular track, because bonus tracks usually imply they might have been discarded. I actually like this track, the overall feel of it is smooth and easy on the ears.

    All in all, the record blows. I feel it has reached the time that Wayne Carter just needs to throw in the towel and produced tracks for guests to come in on. As a rap record, I give this cd a 6 out of 10. As a Lil' Wayne record, it gets a 3.    … Expand
  3. gagahput3ra
    Aug 30, 2011
    3
    Doesn't need to be a hip hop stan or lil wayne haters to know that this album is the lowest common denominator in hip hop: corny punchlines, far from cohesive beat selections/empty-head-banger & corny punchlines. Too bad, as Lil Wayne used to be one of the standard-bearing of mainstream hip hop.
  4. RonaldOVOXO
    Feb 4, 2012
    3
    Lil wayne has put so much effort in his albums that it becomes a trashy album. Ever Since Tha Carter III lil wayne went down hill. I dont like lil wayne but Tha Carter II is one of my favorite albums of all time. If lil wayne can go back to those days I'll start comparing him to artists lil Eminem, Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye & Canibus
  5. 1stBorn
    Nov 18, 2012
    3
    Well, what can I say about an artist whom everyone has talked about? Everyone has an opinion on him, so what makes mine different from everyone elses? Well I can say this, there was a gap (from 2004 to 2008 maybe 2009) when I could safely say I liked Lil Wayne. Tha Carter I & II were terrific albums. No they weren't classics, but they were very impressive, his mixtapes were great too andWell, what can I say about an artist whom everyone has talked about? Everyone has an opinion on him, so what makes mine different from everyone elses? Well I can say this, there was a gap (from 2004 to 2008 maybe 2009) when I could safely say I liked Lil Wayne. Tha Carter I & II were terrific albums. No they weren't classics, but they were very impressive, his mixtapes were great too and Lil Wayne was in his prime. I was probably one of the few people who defended Tha Carter III, not because I loved it, but because I thought there were enough good songs to outweigh the bad. Then Rebirth dropped and my opinion of him dropped as well. So yeah I wasn't really excited for this project. But hey, you know what Wayne was out of prison, he sobered up from cough syrup and I even liked 6'7' a lot. I got a little bit excited when I saw Tech N9ne, Andre 3000 and Nas were on the album. So of course I listened. And, big shock, I didn't like it. The production sounds bland compared to his other albums, he sounds tired as hell and every feature (except Shyne and T-Pain of course) sounds better than Lil Wayne here. It's sad when people say the two highlights of your album are the songs YOU are not on. Not only that, but Wayne's lyrics are as goofy as ever. With lines like "Hear no evil, see no evil, #HellenKeller" or "We're in the belly of the beast and she wants an abortion" or "All about my riches, My name should be Richard" or "All I had to do was put two and two together/ But that just makes four, but not 'four-ever'" or especially "Don't **** up with Wayne/ 'Cause when it Waynes it pours." I don't remember Tha Carter III ****ing up this badly. The worst thing is Weezy's singing on songs like How To Love and Abortion. By the way, when I saw the title Abortion, I thought to myself "Wow Lil Wayne is actually going into details about the tough time going through an abortion, for both the male and female. Shedding a new light on the subject". I perhaps gave him too much credit. So yeah this album sucks, what did you expect? Wayne will probably continue down this path until it stops making him money and he'll find something new to do. Whoopty doo.… Expand
  6. Shady313
    Mar 22, 2015
    3
    3/10 .................................................................................................................................................
  7. JawDropper
    Sep 4, 2011
    2
    This album has some very good production. I really like the production on songs like 6 foot 7 foot, It's Good, She Will, Megaman, Nightmares of the Bottom and the chilling President Carter.
    These beats are really nice and I can listen in pleasure. Nothing Kanye West or The Neptune's level but still excellent nonetheless. Where this album falls apart is the lyrical    This album has some very good production. I really like the production on songs like 6 foot 7 foot, It's Good, She Will, Megaman, Nightmares of the Bottom and the chilling President Carter.
    These beats are really nice and I can listen in pleasure. Nothing Kanye West or The Neptune's level but still excellent nonetheless. Where this album falls apart is the lyrical aspect. Other than President Carter and maybe 2 or 3 other verses here and there this is a criminal perpetration both against the lyrical aspect of hip-hop and the English language itself.
    Punch-line after punch-line after punch-line after more and more punch-lines. This would be slightly forgivable if 2 things were to occur.
    A. The jokes were actually funny.
    B.They said anything even close to substantial in regards to society, politics, or even anything other than gangster culture and braggadocio.
    IN FACT, as sad as this may be, the best songs on the album lyrically DON'T EVEN FEATURE LITTLE WAYNE But they feature verses from greats like Nas, Andre 3000, Tech N9ne, and a great verse from Cory Gunz. Not only is that sad but when Nas mentions great lyricists ON LIL WAYNE'S ALBUM he doesn't even mention Lil Wayne but mentions Kanye West and Eminem as "lyrical tyrants".
    Wayne's flow is very boring and his voice is incredibly annoying at times. Experimenting with autotune ended when Kanye West did 808's and heartbreak and made autotune amazing (though literally nobody else repeated the success) and then killing it. Lil Wayne obviously didn't get the memo.
    This album has so many abysmal jokes and punchlines it's like a Yakof Smirnoff comedy show with some good musical interludes in-between breaks(The production on some songs).
    Here are some brilliant quips from both the self proclaimed AND consumer proclaimed "greatest rapper alive".

    "Bitch I'm straight, but my girl is a faggot."
    "All hail Weezy, call it bad weather."
    "All my bitches nasty like a cold dinner."
    "Don't **** up with Wayne/ 'Cause when it Waynes it pours."
    "Nothing standing in my way, like nothing's my security"
    "We jack son then light up that 'L'/ Samuel." "Boy I send them bloods at your ass,like a tampon"
    "Go bald, Steve Harvey."

    And of course this gem of lyrical dexterity-
    "I woke up this morning, dick rock hard, and I ashed my blunt in my Grammy award." from the song "Abortion" P.S this song has nothing to do with the emotional, social or political effects of abortions let alone abortions themselves.
    I never liked Lil Wayne before I admit, but I didn't constantly bash his awfulness. After being subjected to this I have to ask why people ever respected or listened to him in the first place and why wasn't I bashing him.    … Expand
  8. asimons613
    Aug 31, 2011
    2
    Just plain terrible. To be fair, I've never been a big Wayne fan, but these are the most uninventive lyrics I've heard from him yet, and the beats (which were fantastic on Tha Carter III) are TERRIBLE. The only redeeming qualities are that 6'7" is an awesome club song, and a few guests are worth listening to, like Jadakiss, t3ch 9ine, Nas, and Andre.
  9. WarriorV1
    Aug 30, 2011
    2
    I would've said that Lil Wayne, Dwayne Carter, the skateboarding rock/rap star has fallen off. Sadly, he wasn't on to begin with. And this album didn't put him on at all.
  10. Muhammadomer
    Sep 8, 2011
    2
    wow!! this is a album from a rapper who call himself the king of hip hop. i am amazed at the poor quality of this album. with songs as poor as how to hate, this album is total. worst CARTER ever. i used to admire lil wayne but not after this album. i thought carter 4 would be the best rap album of 2011 but i was wrong. hell the sequel is still the best rap album on my list.
  11. JRG
    Aug 29, 2011
    2
    Lil Wayne gets away with too much. His latest work has been absolutely horrendous and his fans gobble it up, the critics go easy on him, and his team of yes men gives him the okay on nearly any travesty you could imagine.

    This album has close to zero replay value. The only tracks I have revisited have been She Will and Mirror because Drake and Bruno kill the hooks, and the Outro because    Lil Wayne gets away with too much. His latest work has been absolutely horrendous and his fans gobble it up, the critics go easy on him, and his team of yes men gives him the okay on nearly any travesty you could imagine.

    This album has close to zero replay value. The only tracks I have revisited have been She Will and Mirror because Drake and Bruno kill the hooks, and the Outro because of the guests. Nas is the highlight of the album, bringing the best verse on a track where Wayne is nowhere to be found.

    Throughout, Wayne has TERRIBLE lines galore. Some that make you facepalm, some that make zero sense, and an abundance of lines that make you shake your head. Wayne's flow is stale and repetetive, and he never truly goes in on a verse. In fact, nearly every verse is ruined by one of his many ADHD punchlines. They rendered me unable to take Wayne seriously, and made me wonder how Wayne could have seriously thought people could like them.

    The only redeeming factors are the Interlude, Outro and a few of the beats, and Wayne didn't take part in any of these either.

    This album gets one point for the beats, and one for the guest verses. Wayne himself gets a 0 for effort.

    Sadly, millions are inevitably going into the pocket of one of the laziest and most useless men on the planet.    … Expand
  12. andrew3000
    Aug 29, 2011
    2
    It's a shame that Lil' Wayne has to ruin perfectly good albums by rapping on them. He's clearly got the popularity and influence to pull a pretty inspiring array of collaborators. About half of these beats sound phenomenal until Wayne drops his vocals and the whole thing goes to hell; there are even terrific verses by Tech N9ne, Andre 3000, Nas, and Busta strewn around. Maybe they cameIt's a shame that Lil' Wayne has to ruin perfectly good albums by rapping on them. He's clearly got the popularity and influence to pull a pretty inspiring array of collaborators. About half of these beats sound phenomenal until Wayne drops his vocals and the whole thing goes to hell; there are even terrific verses by Tech N9ne, Andre 3000, Nas, and Busta strewn around. Maybe they came hard with it to mask Lil' Wayne's lack of ability on the mic, but they failed-- they just make him sound even worse by comparison, since it's difficult for a Lil' Wayne verse to stack up against a real emcee. And Weezy sounds worse than usual here, just pooling a ridiculous array of nonsequiters and punchlines rasped out in a processed-sounding croak. Weezy has the singing voice of Emperor Palpatine, but "How To Love" is better than most things on this album-- at least it's the one song here where he doesn't try to convince people that he's rapping. Apparently, when it comes to hip-hop, there's only one Carter worth talking about - and I can only hope he jacks that heavenly "Nightmares From the Bottom" beat and puts a real song over it.

    When the best thing one can say about your album is "hey, at least it's not Rebirth," it's probably time to hang it up.    … Expand
  13. jefftav
    Sep 1, 2011
    2
    I''m a huge fan of Weezy and I couldn't wait for this album.

    The mixtapes are better than this, even in production value. I'm really, really, really disappointed with Lil Wayne on this one. I always said that if Weezy keeps putting out good mixtapes, I'd keep buying the albums. After this AND rebirth...I'll probably illegally download the next one and then decide if I want to buy it.
  14. DeadSeagull
    Sep 4, 2011
    2
    Well this was pointless, Lil Wayne should've made this a mixtape instead of getting rich off of this **** The production is boring and cliched, the concept is nothing new, and the lyrics are just a mix of metaphors and similes anyone can think of. How to Love was surprisingly the best one. I think it's selfish dissing Beyonce and Jay-Z over money. Get real Lil Wayne, I don't care if youWell this was pointless, Lil Wayne should've made this a mixtape instead of getting rich off of this **** The production is boring and cliched, the concept is nothing new, and the lyrics are just a mix of metaphors and similes anyone can think of. How to Love was surprisingly the best one. I think it's selfish dissing Beyonce and Jay-Z over money. Get real Lil Wayne, I don't care if you are hard-working, it seems you haven't worked hard enough.… Expand
  15. nicrax96
    Jul 7, 2012
    2
    all the attention is put on the singles and that is not something bad but when you hear the other tracks you realise that his lyrics are the worst of any of previous wayne records.
    one of the biggest problem for me is the auto-tune in the album. and that although there are good guests like andre-3000 the rest suck like drake and nicki minaj (especially t-pain)
  16. CriticalCritic
    Sep 23, 2011
    1
    I simply do not understand what is so great about Lil Wayne. His voice is horrible (probably because of all the drugs he likes to use), and it is unbearable to have to listen through one of his songs. Surely there must be a more deserving and better artist to spend your money on, right?
  17. 2hip2beahipster
    Sep 3, 2011
    1
    This album isn't dope nor is it very fresh -- in both senses of the word. Seems like I've heard this before, oh yes I have, on the radio. Just a bunch of shallow songs that just beg for airplay, that's it. Wayne uses his mixtapes to get his creativity out, and he uses his albums to remain the cash cow that he is. Simple as that.
  18. Peebags
    Aug 31, 2011
    1
    A terrible album. Wayne's flow is very sluggish and lazy, the beats are too simple and generic, and the wordplay is childish. The only thing keeping me from rating this a 0 is Tech N9ne and Andre 3000 killing the interlude and the possibility that this could be his last album.
  19. MrCarter
    Aug 29, 2011
    1
    You have to be mentally unstable to listen to this album. First of all, lil wayne sings too much, when he shouldn't at all. His voice is so unbearable I'd rather watch spiderman 3 on replay. His flow has become so bad, I think Nicholas Cage can act better then that. I only give it a one because the outro and the interlude are good. YOU KNOW WHY? BECUASE LIL WAYNE ISNT IN THEM AT ALL.
  20. Dr_Ubersexy
    Aug 29, 2011
    1
    Let Me start by saying this, The album had potential. Some of these beats are phenomenal like "John" (A.K.A. The song he stole from Rick Ross, look up "I'm not a Star" By Rick Ross, it sounds exactly the same), and "She Will". The guests are great as well as Drake, Rick Ross, Nas, and Tech N9ne lay down some sick rhymes in this album. Overall its just a fantastic album... BUT This littleLet Me start by saying this, The album had potential. Some of these beats are phenomenal like "John" (A.K.A. The song he stole from Rick Ross, look up "I'm not a Star" By Rick Ross, it sounds exactly the same), and "She Will". The guests are great as well as Drake, Rick Ross, Nas, and Tech N9ne lay down some sick rhymes in this album. Overall its just a fantastic album... BUT This little guy who goes by the rapper name "Lol Wayne"... *Ahem* excuse Me "LIL Wayne" decides its a good idea to take a giant dump on all of these songs and then release it under his name. In all seriousness, Lil Wayne has the most annoying, disgusting, nasty voice in all of music. This is a pathetic excuse for rap, Why does he have such a big fan base? His voice is vomit inducing. You have to be deaf to like the piece of bull crap.… Expand
  21. swetas
    Aug 29, 2011
    1
    I've never been a huge fan of Lil Wayne but some of his past projects have been solid. But its sad when the best thing about your album is a Nas verse. Or that the second best thing is the 3stacks verse, or that the five best verses on your album don't include any of your own. Especially when some dude (Shyne) who sounds like an elderly man without dentures who's been smoking all his life,I've never been a huge fan of Lil Wayne but some of his past projects have been solid. But its sad when the best thing about your album is a Nas verse. Or that the second best thing is the 3stacks verse, or that the five best verses on your album don't include any of your own. Especially when some dude (Shyne) who sounds like an elderly man without dentures who's been smoking all his life, at the age of 31 sounds better than you. And you can accept lines like "Faded, f-ckin faded, aww yeah im f-ckin faded" from someone on your label, and still be barely over par from them.

    Lil Wayne has had a fairly okay run, music wise and has a good fan base and lots of recognition and respect. He should hang it up before he ruins all of that.    … Expand
  22. WTTDiamond
    Aug 30, 2011
    1
    This is probably the worst Lil Wayne album he has ever made, how can you call this a hip hop album? This album is so bad, production is cheap and sad. I'm not hating, I was truly a Lil Wayne fan, but from my bottom of my heart, this is the worst album of this year. I'll give 1 point just because Tech N9ne, Bun B and Nas are featured in this album.
  23. Dorito
    Aug 30, 2011
    1
    The punchlines were bad, the beats were bad, the features were alright, and the lyrical ability of wayne was weak. By far the worst Carter album out of the 4. I was expecting better but he failed to deliver.
  24. HookEM30
    Aug 31, 2011
    1
    After spending time in jail, some do better, some do worse. Unfortunately in order to balance out MVicks success out of jail the universe has chosen Wayne aka "The greatest rapper alive" to be on the worse side. With few high points in the album, its hard to see why so many people defend him. Many rap fans and wayne fans were put off by "How to love",(The worst song by anyone in a longAfter spending time in jail, some do better, some do worse. Unfortunately in order to balance out MVicks success out of jail the universe has chosen Wayne aka "The greatest rapper alive" to be on the worse side. With few high points in the album, its hard to see why so many people defend him. Many rap fans and wayne fans were put off by "How to love",(The worst song by anyone in a long time) but gave him a chance to make up with some hopefully hard tracks to bob your head to. Well unfortunately my head bobbed about 4 times, one of those is to "Outro" which doesn't even have Wayne on the track. The issues i have with this cd is the way it feels when you play it. It seems like your listening to the exact same song for 9 hours; the tracks play slow, the cd has little flow to it. What usually saves Wayne are his lyrics, which is what he's known for. "How you ni**as want it? have it your way, Burger King" The Lyrics are just so lame. Another issue is what the hell is his name? Weezy? Wayne? Birdman Jr? Tunchi? I feel like the arrogance of Wanye has caught up to him, as he feels his name alone will sell albums, and sadly it will. But Tha Carter III was a good album, better overall flow, more good than bad songs, but on this album, its just not there. Everyone defending him because they are "real fans" can stop, he has money(as he mentions in every song) so he doesn't need everyone to defend a bad album. And please stop saying he's trying something new, because he did that already with his "rock" album. Do what made you millions. Talented yes, Tha Carter IV good? no. this album has very little replay value, and for just 4 maybe 5 decent tracks, ill save my old money… Expand
  25. karimelleithy
    Oct 2, 2011
    1
    There's plenty of great rapping on Tha Carter IV, but it isn't coming from Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne has deteriorated as a rapper and because he has consistently focused on mainstream-pop songs, his rapping skills have too. Shame to the game.
  26. Beats
    Aug 31, 2011
    0
    Lil Wayne took a major dip quality wise from his past work. If you compare both Carter 2 and Carter 4 you can see how much he's fallen off. The beats are something like what one would hear on I Am Not A Human Being but the punchlines and lyrical ability from the artist is where i lost interest in the project. It's sad to say the best tracks on the record are the one the creator of theLil Wayne took a major dip quality wise from his past work. If you compare both Carter 2 and Carter 4 you can see how much he's fallen off. The beats are something like what one would hear on I Am Not A Human Being but the punchlines and lyrical ability from the artist is where i lost interest in the project. It's sad to say the best tracks on the record are the one the creator of the album isn't even on. Have fun watching the throne Mr. Tunechi, you need to get schooled on hip-hop again.… Expand
  27. b3rtob3rto
    Aug 30, 2011
    0
    Its crap that is gonna sell regardless. He used to be soo good at rapping. bummer. He just spit lazy lines with no energy. the best song was by Tech 9ne and Andre 3000. the only reason he put Shyne on the album was so he would at least out-shine one person on his album.
  28. jhirsohn
    Sep 8, 2011
    0
    Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo watch the throne
  29. TylerAndrews17
    Sep 17, 2011
    0
    this album is **** terrible. its like he went to a drive through and ordered a **** with extra cheese. the only good part about this album was when Cory Gunz killed it in "6 Foot 7 Foot" that's really about it.
  30. OddSuperFuture
    Dec 3, 2011
    0
    Piss poor. Literally un-listenable. Wayne fell all the way off. From poor choice of beats to abysmal lyrics, this really is a terrible album and sits at the bottom with rebirth of Waynes discography.
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Awards & Rankings

9
#9 Most Discussed Album of 2011
14
#14 Most Shared Album of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 29
  3. Negative: 2 out of 29
  1. New Musical Express (NME)
    Sep 12, 2011
    40
    In short Tha Carter IV flops not because it's straight-up bad, but because it's boring.
    Read full review
  2. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Sep 11, 2011
    50
    We know he's capable of better. Whether it ever comes together on a Carter release is anybody's guess, but the prognosis isn't good.
    Read full review
  3. cokemachineglow
    Sep 11, 2011
    78
    Beat-wise, IV doesn't attempt to outdo the top-dollar Carter III production, whose murderer's row of producers and beats is likely to remain unparalleled for some time. But Wayne uses the less showy selection this go-round to deliver a definitively rawer album that only smartens the impact of some of his career's best vocals.
    Read full review
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