Artists tend to revamp themselves every time a new album cycle comes around. Sometimes the innovation and evolution of their sound is the best thing to happen to their careers. However, there are occasions where trying new and fresh ideas doesn’t go in their favor and becomes the most controversial material they have ever put out.
Lil Wayne is most famous for being at the forefront of rap and hip-hop. The rapper has built his career out with albums like ‘Tha Carter II,’ and his biggest hit ‘Tha Carter III.’ His two other albums, ‘Da Drought 3’ and ‘Dedication 2,’ are creatively different but also struck a chord with his fans, adding to his repertoire of great rap albums. However, when it came to changing it up, the rapper may have taken it too far with 2010’s ‘Rebirth,’ where the rapper ventured into the rock realm, and it turns out that it wasn’t for him.
Although Lil Wayne is not the first artist to experience an overwhelming amount of criticism for a creative detour, the rapper definitely underwent a lot of hate for his brief wanna-be rocker stage in his career. In terms of all the negative response it received and the declining sale performance, ‘Rebirth’ stands as Weezy’s worst album to date.
Although the album was criticized beyond belief, it still performed well on the charts. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold 176,000 copies in its first week. It became his seventh top-ten album in the United States, and it was even certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Despite all the buzz in the charts, ‘Rebirth’ generally received negative reviews from music critics. One of the main criticism from fans was the overuse of auto-tune. If the album were to come out today, it probably wouldn’t have received all the hate that it once did, as the ‘Gurgled Auto-Tune chirps’ that Weezy was criticized for are all the rage with today’s rappers. It has become a commercial sound that everyone has become accustomed to.
The ill-fated rock album was also a collaboration with Fall Out Boy. Weezy previously worked with the band on several occasions. He rapped on the band’s ‘Folie à Deux’ album on the ‘Tiffany Blews’ track. He also did a remix to the band’s hit ‘This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race’ and even performed with them at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.
After the buzz-kill of the ‘Rebirth’ album, Weezy decided to return to his old ways and come out with something that was intrinsically his sound that his fans and critics were familiar with and the sound that wouldn’t receive the same amount of dislike. The few following albums, ‘I Am Not A Human Being’ and ‘Tha Carter IV’ after the backlash, were his way of returning to the ways that had already made him a rockstar in the eyes of his fans.
