Mixtape Review: Lil Wayne – No Ceilings
Review by Sermon Donaldson
Disclaimer: No blunts were burned in the making of this review.
It feels like 2007 all over again! After a long and painful journey with Autotune and singing, Wayne is back to what made him considered “the best rapper alive:” straight rapping. With a pending sentence for next year, he is going to go out with a bang starting with his first official mixtape in over 2 years; “No Ceilings.” As described by Wayne himself, no autotune or singing is present on the tape. In simple terms you can call it the 2009 version of “Da Drought 3.”
It would take forever to properly decipher every hard hitting line, metaphor, simile, and everything else included. This is a sign of a good tape. He burns through simple similes on “Ice Cream Paint Job” with “I’m all over this ice cream beat like sprinkles” or “we the muthafuckers like milf my nigga.” Some could’ve predicted that he’d rap over “D.O.A.” because of Hov’s “I might send this to the mixtapes, Weezy” line. Even with no autotune or singing, Wayne’s shit antics still remain present with “I’m on some shit that ain’t came out the ass yet.”
The clever lines are what make this tape really good. “I work out in my office/guess I’m fit for business” is a line you wouldn’t catch on first listen of “Wasted.” He also includes the gross “your flow never wet like Grandma pussy/I’m always good like Grandma cookies” line. Nicki Minaj upstages Wayne on “Sweet Dreams” and makes up for her Drought 3 verse on “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop.” She takes off the robot voice she’s been sporting lately for that lyrical feel with simple but hardhitting punchlines (“Shoot yourself in the leg, plaxico”) and similes (“Like balloon boy, mama you was never there”).
A select few out of the mixtape are original production and “Single” has to be the best out of the bunch. Wayne goes in telling of tales containing fights with his girl, her going through his phone and various other relationship things. Although once the sun goes down, the relationship ends and the hunt is on. The one night stands are over when “Run This Town” comes on and the superb wordplay returns with Wayne going on a rampage talking about “super things” for half the song.
It’s no surprise that Wayne brought along Daddy Birdman for “Cool & Dre,” with production by the obvious Miami duo. However, even Wayne can’t save himself from the toned down and out of place collaboration. “Poke Her Face” with fellow YM artist Jae Millz appears like a Dedication 3 extra and not one of the strong sex-powered songs. It’s never fully been understood who or what Lucci Lou actually does in Young Money but he makes it clear on “I’m Good,” with horrible lyrics, that he’s the weed carrier.
At this point, excessive amounts of Blunts have been burned. The interludes are informative to say the least. On the first interlude, after lighting up, he tells us why he did this mixtape and the second one has him just checking in with the listeners. In both of them, he’s listening to YM artists but it doesn’t drown out the talking. The outro leaves you with the warning: “your beat ain’t safe.”
Get the complete tracklist and download link here
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