Lil Wayne’s “The Rebirth” Isn’t Bad, It’s Historically Bad

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.)