Tha Carter V Deluxe

9.21.20

Artwork TBD Tha Carter V Deluxe Release Date 9.25.20

Late last night, we got the greatest news one could receive before going to bed before a dreaded Monday at work. The original Carter V, will be released this Friday. A deluxe version of the Carter V which was released in 2018, should include hits that were previously recorded years prior, when fans were initially waiting for a Carter V. The Carter IV was released in 2011, so there were seven years in between of possible music that could be released on this album. Though, we knew they were not the vault songs that we had really wanted. Now, we get the best of both worlds.

How do we know this to be true? The source himself, Young Money President Mack Maine has shared Tweets and Instagram posts of the news. Mack Maine was driving around, mask and all, sharing that he was delivering Lil Wayne a birthday present, and announced the release of the original Carter V. Wayne’s birthday is on Sunday, September 27th. What better way to celebrate than dropping what should be some classics from the vault. Mack Maine, seemingly super excited and prepared, shares:

In honor of THE GOATs birthday, @mackmaine dropped off two big gifts today — a new amethyst McLaren for @liltunech AND the news of the OG CV dropping on 9/25. WHATS HARDER, LIFE OR MR. CARTER?!?!?

What is harder? I mean, 2020 has been pretty rough. I think we will have an idea on Friday after listening to this album. I have a strong hope that the answer is Mr. Carter.

This is such a huge deal, because the initially released Carter V could have gone one or two ways. The original drop date for the Carter V was in 2014. Unfortunately, the album was delayed for four years. These delays did come from the disputes between Lil Wayne and Birdman, where the relationship needed legal help. Once Wayne’s Cash Money contract was up in 2018, this is when he finally released the album. So it left fans to wonder, is it going to be these OG tracks from 2014? Or, not that hip-hop has literally changed so much, will it be different to cater to the industry today?

I was always hoping for the old Lil Wayne, but I saw so many polls asking for new Lil Wayne. I will say it is interesting to see how the old heads from the industry can keep up and alter their sounds or content to be enjoyable for the next generation. Wayne definitely did that with this album, as it was very new, but still excellent. One of the songs he had was a song with the late XXXTentacion. This was just a few months after he had passed, which is so sad because this should have been a huge moment for X. However, I think Wayne is incredibly smart for pairing up with X while he could. I see the two vibing together quite well, not to mention he just got a ton of new, young fans from this song. Wayne also had Travis Scott on the album, which is a huge move to get inline with today. Then you had songs with Swizz Beatz, Kendrick Lamar, and Snoop Dogg which had a bit of that old school vibe but with a new school twist on it to make you still want to roll down your windows and do whatever dance the kids are doing these days. It was new, but it was a great piece of work.

Finally, we get to hear what the original sounds sounded like. Lil Wayne was considered ‘The Greatest Rapper Alive’ during his prime. Nowadays, people do not even include him in their top five. What could this album hold, what early 2000s vibes can we except from this album? I am excited, but quite frankly nervous of getting our hopes up. In 2015, Lil Wayne dropped No Ceilings 2. The original No Ceilings was probably the greatest tape hip-hop has ever seen. The sequel, fell quite short of it. They were remakes to popular songs, but it felt more like a Sorry for the Wait. While all of the Carter tapes are great pieces of work, we can only hope Tunechi was on his top tier game before this. Maybe over that year, his head was just a bit foggy with all of the label drama. Perhaps he wanted it to be so disappointing on purpose, so that Birdman would release him early, or do what he wanted to do with the album.

Well, we will find out soon. It may not be the first time you hear some of these tracks, though. Last September, there were major artist leaks in the industry. From Kanye West’s Yandhi album, to Pusha T’s DAYTONA album, to Young Thug works, and more, unreleased music was making its way to the internet left and right. During this time, a twenty track version of the Carter V appeared online, including many unreleased tracks. This being compared to the twenty-three track album that did release, may be the version we get to see on Friday. After Lil Wayne finally decided to release his music on streaming platforms, why not give the people what they want, Wayne’s music.

Friday should be fun, and bring back lots of vibes of we all miss about hip-hop.