Lil Wayne

If the record's volume number wasn't enough to suggest that Lil Wayne's long-running Dedication mixtape series was getting a little stale, a few short verses into this repetitive and lyrically lazy affair should definitely set those thoughts in motion. Wayne's current stylistic tack of relying entirely on rap metaphors, along with a thematic scope limited almost exclusively to sex and periodic sprinkles of king-of-the-hill braggadocio, leaves listeners awash in an endless streams of exhausting wordplay, with relatively few moments of genuine, smirk-inducing entertainment. Taking on chart hits like Kanye's "Mercy," Meek Mill's "Amen" and even Lil' Mouse's disconcerting "Get Smoked" earns Weezy easy points for familiarity and provides the rapper with some welcome direction by which to set his rhymes. Similarly, a handful of guest spots, particularly one from J Cole, who provides a blessed bit of lyrical respite on the stylistically disparate "Green Ranger," challenge the Young Money kingpin to turn in a few more memorable lines, though that's little consolation on what unfortunately is otherwise a largely forgettable affair.