If you’re expecting to hear an encouraging album from Lil Wayne, you’re in for a surprise. Wayne gets deeper and darker than on any other album he’s produced.
New Orleans-based rapper Lil Wayne released his 13th album “Funeral” on Jan. 31, after a two-year hiatus.
Despite fans speculating that “Funeral” will be his last album, it pays tribute to his ongoing revolution against death.
The loaded album features 24 songs, including features from newer artists like Lil Baby and O.T. Genasis, and established artists like Big Sean,
2 Chainz, Adam Levine, Jay Rock and XXXTENTACION.
“Funeral,” is much darker than his previous albums because Wayne talks about death and how he’s made something of himself.
The title track, “Funeral,” talks about how he is desensitized to death, throwing around verses like, “Welcome to the funeral/ Closed casket as usual/ Soul snatching that’s usual.”
This installment comes on strong with snippets about dodging death and living life for all of its extravagances.
As usual, Wayne’s passion for music is clearly depicted through his lyrics. He knows just what to say when rapping about a specific subject.
In an interview with Vibe magazine, Wayne mentioned that his mindset has changed since his “prolific mixtape days” from the early 2000s.
Going into “Funeral,” he was a lot more deliberate, adding that he enjoys keeping up with the “young guns.”
His previous album, “Tha Carter V” is another great album, delivering fantastic songs like “Mona Lisa” featuring Kendrick Lamar, which talks about a girl cheating on her boyfriend with “the man of the hour.”
On “Famous,” featuring his daughter Reginae Carter, Wayne raps about wanting to be the biggest rapper out there.
Wayne now just wants to rap about passion to his fans that have been around since the beginning.
His voice is quiet, soft and melancholy.
In “Stop Playin With Me,” Wayne has a smooth and gentle sound when he raps about finding himself with the lyrics, “It feels just like the flames have died up in this cold state of mind/ Promethazine tranquilizers as I say my goodbyes.”
He goes off, proving that he’s a changed man with the chorus: “Stop playin’ with me, bitch, it’s been a long time.” In essence, Wayne has let his old self die.
Another favorite, “Mahogany” is an interesting track, because the word itself means a dark, reddish-brown wood that comes from a tropical tree and symbolizes strength.
With upbeat drums and a sample loop on repeat, Wayne raps, “Mahogany sand, boy, I start a sand storm/ Mahogany skin, touch me, I cut your hands off/ Mahogany door handle to match the floor panel.” Clearly stating that he is dominant, flourishing and wealthy which has no correlation to the name “Funeral,” but it is a catchy song.
However, the rapper did not produce his beats with carelessness, as much as his lyrics sound like he may be bragging about his life.
With the recent tragedy of late NBA star Kobe Bryant’s passing, Lil Wayne purposely left 24 seconds of silence at the end of “Bing James,” featuring Jay Rock. The main chorus throughout the song says, “Yellow pill, purple drank, I’m Laker geeked, mane,” clearly paying tribute
to Bryant.
While explaining his different mindset while creating “Funeral,” Lil Wayne told Vibe magazine, “I can’t wait to get in the studio now every night, just to see what I can come up with . . . Self discovery, rebirth—call it whatever you want to call it but it feels awesome, I swear to God.”
Overall, Wayne took “Funeral” to a whole new level and continued that energy throughout this production.
