Few names carry the same weight in the rap game as Dwayne Carter. From potentially the best mixtape catalog of all time, to his classic Carter album series, there isn’t much that Weezy F. Baby hasn’t done in his 20+ year career. Everybody and their grandmother has at least one Lil Wayne song they can rap in its entirety. Not only did Weezy have one of the most dominant solo careers of all-time but the prolific rapper also launched the career of other rap legends like Drake and Nicki Minaj. With all these lofty accolades and legendary achievements, fans shared common concerns going into a 2020 Lil Wayne album: What else can Wayne even do? Do we really need more music from him, and more importantly, do we want it?

The rollout to Lil Wayne’s newest offering Funeral was low-key, quick, and in sharp contrast to the drawn-out release of his last album The Carter V. Where The Carter V was delayed for months as hype rose to a near unobtainable level, many Wayne fans woke up on January 31st, 2020 without even knowing that Weezy dropped an album the night prior. This isn’t to say he kept it a secret, the New Orleans emcee posted about it on social media and mentioned it in multiple interviews prior to its release, the album really just flew under the radar.

Funeral, Lil Wayne’s 13th solo album, came out on January 31st, 2020. The project runs for an hour and 16 minutes and showcases features from Big Sean, Lil Baby, XXXTENTACION, Jay Rock, Takeoff, and more. The album was put out by Cash Money Records, a subdivision of Universal Music Group.

The album’s intro “Funeral” is cinematic, epic, and does its job of getting you excited for the album. The song is at its best when Wayne is looping the same four bars while switching the flow making the same lines sound totally different. Wayne’s ability to switch flow while staying in the same rhyme scheme really gives this track the X-factor that Wayne has historically been known to provide. The vivid imagery and storytelling on the intro is also an exciting sign for the rest of the album (“My lil nigga just caught a body, he ecsatic/He cried tears of joy them got ‘em tatted”).

The flows continue on the second song “Mahogany”, an early standout on Funeral. On the track, Wayne locks into a hypnotic flow that doesn’t stop for three minutes. The song works so well thanks to the insanely smooth sampled instrumental that creates a perfect pocket for Weezy. The tempo switch at the end is a nice touch that is the cherry on top of this awesome track.

The fourth song on the album “I Do It” is definitely the focus track off of Funeral as it features both Big Sean and Lil Baby. Sean Don kicks the song off and wow is it good to hear his voice. His hook is classic Big Sean and we can only hope for an album sometime this year. Lil Baby sounds good on every instrumental he touches, but hearing him with Sean and Wayne elevates his status and makes his attention-demanding vocals sound that much better. With that being said, Wayne bodies both artists on this track which feels like the most important moment on this album. Weezy sounds so comfortable, authentic, and powerful on this verse showing doubters he is anything but washed.

The middle of the album falters a little bit and songs like “Stop Playin With Me”, “Clap For Em”, and “Not Me” could’ve easily been cut to make the album more concise and memorable.

The album really gets going again once we hit the soulful “Harden”. The instrumental sounds like something Wayne would’ve rapped over in the Carter III era and it feels so good. What elevates the feeling is Wayne’s sharp bars that really make this song feel like a throwback.

“I Don’t Sleep” immediately follows and stunts one of my favorite verses on the album which comes from the most talented of the Migos, Takeoff. The best moment on the song is when Takeoff explains that he just isn’t himself without his massive wealth (“Me without the paper just like Tune without the lean/Or Phil without the rings, Snoop without the weed/AI without the sleeve, IG without the memes”).

While the song with XXXTENTACION falls extremely flat (Is X even on this song???), the following cut “Piano Trap” might just be the best track on the album. “Piano Trap” is a triumphant cut where Wayne reflects on his successes. Mannie Fresh handles the production and gifts us with an absolutely epic brass chorus featuring blaring horns and trumpets that scream victory lap. Halfway through the beat switches and Wayne snaps, turning back the clock and delivering a classic Weezy verse.

Lil Wayne is back and with 24 songs he answered all the concerns fans had going into this project. What else can Wayne even do? He can add to his already massive catalogue of hits and maybe even introduce himself to a younger generation of fans by collaborating with artists like Lil Baby and Takeoff. Do we really need more music from him, and more importantly, do we want it? Yes, and yes, Funeral proved that we always want new music from one of the best to ever do it.

While the album was a little too long and fell flat in the middle, the strong start and finish combined with numerous moments where Wayne sounds better than he has in years is enough for me to recommend this album to any and every rap fan in 2020 whether or not Lil Wayne is your cup of tea. If there’s anything the past couple years has taught us, it’s that we need to appreciate our legends while they’re still here. Join me in celebrating one of the most gifted rappers to ever grace a mic and stream Funeral.

Favorite Tracks:

Mahogany

I Don’t Sleep (Feat. Big Sean & Lil Baby)

Piano Trap

Rating: 7.5

Listen to Funeral here:

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