Tha Carter III [LP, Vol. 1]

Although his first studio album in three years has been long-awaited and repeatedly delayed, Lil Wayne has been anything but absent. Since THA CARTER II, Weezy has left an impressive mass of recordings--from mixtapes (authorized and otherwise) to guest appearances--in his wake as he blusters through the rap industry. In the third installment of the THA CARTER series, Wayne shows he's earned the right to ego-trip as he lets his off-kilter flow, freak-out lyrics, and vocal acrobatics run wild over 16 tracks. Scaling the heights of hubris on "Dr. Carter," he plays an MC/doctor treating a certain music genre diagnosed as lifeless and closes with a quintessential Weezy snarl: "Welcome back hip-hop/I saved your life." Wayne then shifts to alien-mode for the E.T.-inspired "Phone Home." Later on, he details his sexual conquest of a female cop on "Ms. Officer." As expected, THA CARTER III is rife with big name producers (The Alchemist, Kanye West, Wyclef Jean, David Banner, Swizz Beatz, will.i.am) and guest artists (Jay-Z, Babyface, Busta Rhymes, Juelz Santana, Fabolous, T-Pain) from all coasts.