Lil Wayne returns with interesting, confused 'IANAHB II'

Don’t believe the hype — Lil Wayne’s latest album, “I Am Not A Human Being II,”  isn’t bad.

It’s just confused. Mostly in an interesting way.

There are gems, and the production value (with the exception of the Soulja Boy-produced “Wowzerz,” which actually sounds like a joke) is incredible. But the good songs are mixed in with some bizarre ones, and the great verses are matched by some laughable duds.

It’s the album of a rich, lazy genius — a man who indulges his spurts of inspiration but doesn’t want to make the effort to polish things off. Weezy’s intermittent apathy and short attention span is the real theme of the album and what makes it cohesive. He can get away with making a jumbled, lazy album like this, because it still somehow turns out pretty good.

I guess that’s what you’d call swag.

The best example of the album’s topsy-turvy vibe is the delightfully aggressive “Beat the Shit,” featuring Gunplay. At the song’s beginning, to a happy, childlike melody, Wayne roughly intones “Fuck with me wrong/ take me out my zone/ and I’ll knock the motherfucking snow off of your cone.” The song immediately moves to Gunplay yelling a verse over a dark trap beat.

The contrast is jarring, but it’s also what makes it so good. Silly threats to “knock the motherfucking snow off of your cone” are contrasted with deeper lyrics, like “Got more money than memories in the bank/ don’t forget it.” He doesn’t let us.

“Rich as Fuck” is another winner. Wayne trades braggadocio verses with 2 Chainz over a minimalistic, seductive T-Minus-produced beat. His lyrics are silly and incredibly misogynistic, but this is Wayne at his best: eccentric, unashamed and gloriously hedonistic.

“Love Me” continues in the same vein, with a great beat by Mike WiLL Made It and a guest spot by Drake that Amanda Bynes is probably listening to on repeat.

Lyrically, “God Bless Amerika” is the album’s most thoughtful song. It’s — dare I say it — Wayne’s version of social commentary, much like The Carter III’s gorgeous “Tie My Hands.” Where “Hands” was a critique of America’s abandonment of New Orleans post-Katrina, “Amerika” is an introspective examination of America’s abandonment of its citizens in the criminal justice system, told through his own experiences.

He describes the fear his incarceration bred in him, saying “I live by the sword/ and die by the sword/ heard police was lookin’ for me/ I’mma hide by a broad.” He may distract himself with his vices, but the fear of being locked up is heavy on his mind.

Avoid “Hello,” “Hot Revolver” and “Back to You,” all of which evoke his awful pseudo-rock stage. “IANAHB,” the piano-accompanied album opener, is equally bad.

But if you dodge those four tracks (and “Wowzerz,” I cannot emphasize how ridiculous “Wowzerz” is), the album is basically party-ready, or running ready, or getting-hype-before-an-exam ready. You’ll feel ready to “knock the motherfucking snow off of” the cone of anyone who needs it.

Is it scatterbrained? Yes. But, hell, we all have such short attention spans nowadays (Tunechi included) that it kind of works.

by Kelly Fritz