On Sept. 30, hip-hop legend Lil Wayne released his mixtape “Tha Fix Before Tha VI.” This record serves as a prelude to the next installment of his iconic “Tha Carter” series. With a career of over two decades, some of his best work is presented through this series. The hope for this mixtape is to set the stage accordingly for “Tha Carter VI.”
As the mixtape kicks off with “Act Up,” we get a departure from Wayne’s usual sound with an instrumental constructed by a piano. As we hear Wayne’s iconic flicker of his lighter, he begins to deliver lyrics with his signature flow, enhanced by the usual use of autotune. Around the halfway mark of the song, the beat drops and Wayne starts to show off why he’s one of the greats with his exceptional rap performance.
The next song, “Birds” is as wacky as ever with an instrumental that sounds like radio signals being intercepted in an old cartoon. Wayne’s vocals are decent throughout his verses, but I cannot stand the refrain here, which shows up twice in the three-minute track. While it’s not the worst song on the mixtape, it’s still nearly unbearable nonetheless.
“Slip” showcases Wayne’s usual flow and rhyme scheme. However, I’m starting to hate the choruses on this project already. The chorus on this track has about 25 lines worth of talking about his genitalia, which for obvious reasons is very off-putting. As his second verse begins, the instrumental takes a break, which I enjoy because the sound selection here is just bland. After a few listens of this track, I’m already bored of what it has to offer.
The lead single for the mixtape, “Kat Food,” received many bad reviews when it was initially released for good reasons. The main cause for its quick dismissal is the content matter of the track: this being oral sex. Yes, you heard that right. Paired with the song length, just under five minutes, the song was meant for disaster. While it is somewhat catchy I’ll admit, I just cannot stand to listen to it for five whole minutes.
Now for possibly the worst track on the mixtape, “Tuxedo.” If you were a fan of Lil Wayne in 2009, you may remember his rock-rap album, “Rebirth.” Many have described it as terrible, being called his worst work to date. This song pays homage to the sound captured on that record. However, this outing is slightly punk-rock, honestly making it worse. His auto-tune doesn’t fit the instrumental whatsoever. The feature on the album, euro, is slightly better than Wayne’s performance because he lacks autotune.
The tape starts to go up in quality with the next song, “To The Bank.” For once, I enjoy a beat on this album. The bass is at an all-time high and the instrumental is subtle but nice. The only negative of this track is Wayne’s verse. The rapping is fine but the actual lyrics are subpar at the very best.
“Chanel No. 5” uses the same piano chords that Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” uses for its instrumental. That being said, I enjoy the selection here quite a lot. Along with the hard-hitting bass and Wayne’s flow on this song, I believe this is one of, if not the best, songs on this mixtape. Fousheé is the polar opposite of Wayne with their soft vocals, adding even more depth to the song.
Nothing new is heard on the eighth track “No New Bitches.” Per usual, the lyrics within the chorus are terrible, constantly referring to sex. The instrumental, produced by Wheezy, is decent at best. This song is around the middle of the pack for me within the mixtape.
The longest track on the tape clocking in at slightly over five minutes is “Tity Boi.” I adore Wayne’s rapping performance here, but all great things must come to an end. Once again, the chorus and refrain are downright terrible. The chorus is decent until the end when Wayne just starts chanting about breasts. The refrain continues this and repeats his chant over and over again. He said a particular word a total of 45 times. What makes matters even worse is that this song isn’t even the worst on the tape.
The sound choice on “Good Morning” is appreciated since it sounds like the producers tried here. The instrumental is the true star of this song as it’s possibly the best on the record. It showcases angelic sounds, which sets up Wayne for success. Wayne matches the instrumental perfectly with his no-nonsense flow and delivery. Sadly, one of the best songs is the shortest.
This mixtape was made by Lil Wayne to prepare fans and get them excited for his highly anticipated album, “Tha Carter VI.” However, this did the absolute opposite of hype. After listening to the tape a few times front to back, I want anything but “Tha Carter VI” if it resembles this.