I Am Not A Human Being II officially drops today, but the reactions have been pouring in since last week's leak. While fans have been mixed in their reception for the album, members of Wayne's camp are unsurprisingly positive about Weezy's new offering. Both Wayne's manager, Cortez Bryant, and Birdman spoke with Rolling Stone and voiced their approval for what they are decribing as the rapper's return to his roots.
"It reminds me of the traditional Cash Money sound," said Birdman, adding "he went back to raw rapping and beats with lots of swagger." Baby also spoke of the otherworldly feel of the TNGHT sampling, Diplo-produced track "Lay It Down,". "It's not a normal hip-hop track," he explained. "At first, I thought it was kinda weird – the beat sounds like it came from outer-space – but it grew on me, and Nicki killed it."
Cortez likened Wayne's new material to his beloved early work on his mixtapes. "It's mixtape Weezy – straight street bangers you're going to hear in the club," he declared. "The sound is more urban, with no R&B hooks, and the wordplay is still incredible and shocking – every bar has some witty punchline. Wayne really took it back to his roots."
Bryant also praised Gudda Gudda's verse on the album, suggesting Wayne may have even been a bit intimidated by it. "Gudda Gudda just kills on that," he said. "Wayne said he almost couldn't get his bars off because Gudda's voice is so nice."
Weezy's manager then spoke on the track "Romance", which was actually left off of the iTunes version of the album. "That's
one for the females," Bryant explained. "It's about real
love and relationships. Wayne's delivery on the song is crazy – it
really penetrates."
Cortez shed some light on the significance of the DONDA-provided artwork, seemingly confusing moths and caterpillars, but still getting the point across. "Moths always transform into
butterflies," he said. "Wayne continues to reinvent
himself, but every phase always ends up a beautiful thing."
Lil Wayne's I Am Not A Human Being 2 is in stores now. Check out the full album lyrics over at GotBars.