I already spent about 1,000 words breaking down
Lil Wayne's new "album" (quotes were needed) "
The Rebirth" over at DJBooth.net, but what I didn't have the chance to do there was really put "The Rebirth" into context. You see, this album isn't just bad, it's historically bad, epically bad, a failure of such enormous proportions it makes the
Hindenburg look like a success.
I apologize, that was uncalled for. The point is, we've certainly heard worse albums (has Heidi Montag dropped something yet), but after hours of research and contemplation I don't think we've ever seen an artist of such talent, someone who's made a near classic album in "Tha Carter III", someone who arguably deserves to be called a genius, make anything that flopped this completely. Sure, there are some moments of decency ("
Drop the World" was legitimately dope and "
On Fire" was, relatively speaking, ok), but there are far more moments of absolute terribleness ("Get a Life", "The Price is Wrong").
In fact, I don't know if we've ever seen such a widely respected star in any medium make such a flat product. "The Rebirth" is like if Denzel Washington appeared in "Beverly Hills Chihuahua", like if Martin Scorcese directed "Gigli", like if Kobe Bryant got blown out in a NBA Finals Game 7 (oh wait, that happened).
Here's the point: I'm not writing this to pile on the criticism or to engage in some rampant haterdom. Wayne made a bad album, it's over, we'll all move on. But for now, in this moment, I want to make sure we all understand that this is a historical moment. "The Rebirth" is an all-time flop. We are all witnesses.
(If you've got a better example of a elite artist making a terrible product, hit up the comments below or email me at nathan(@)refinedhype.com.)
