If you were to ask any fan of Rap music what the biggest album of the year was, Tha Carter 3 would most likely be the most common answer, and with great reason. In 2008, Lil Wayne would be an unavoidable force in music.

With a flood of mixtape material and countless guest appearances, he dominated the air time and developed a cult following in one fell swoop. But even with that immense momentum behind him, the question if whether or not he could and would deliver a classic with his sixth studio album Tha Carter 3 still remained.

Off top C3 seemed doomed as many tracks prematurely leaked unto the internet. Heading into the official release, Wayne gave the streets “A Milli” as an appetizer. An unconventional track featuring an automated and rather repetitive chorus, “A Milli” wasn’t embraced instantly.

Additionally, the first radio single “Lollipop” strayed away from the world play and mastery of flow that made Weezy a mixtape phenomenon with its poppy feel and less than perfect use of auto tune. But nevertheless both songs were diamonds in the rough as “A Millie” would singlehandedly become every rapper’s favorite instrumental and “Lollipop” would hit number one on the charts. Now everyone was a believer.

Upon its release, Tha Carter 3 would sell over a million copies within its first week. A monumental feat to say the least, this milestone achievement would make his claim of being the best rapper alive that much more credible. But did C3 meet the gigantic hype? We thought it was good but not great.

Other media outlets disagreed; even jumping on the bozack with claims of classic before its release. Now with a couple of months for everyone to properly digest it, we put it to a real test. We put in a couple calls, sent a few emails, and flew a kite or two and got his peers to chime on whether or not Tha Carter 3 was all that. Who else but us? No-one.

Black Milk: Listened to that album like two times since its been out, not saying it wasn’t good but compared to Tha Carter 1, its no match. I even still listen to Tha Carter 2 every once and while. I think Wayne definitely deserved every unit that was sold of Tha Carter 3 because I can’t think of one artist that put in as much work and dropped as many verses and mixtapes leading up to there debut in Hip-Hop history. 

I think we all was caught in the hype whether a person wants to admit it or not, but when the album dropped, for me personally I thought he probably should have kept some of those mixtape verses. Overall I think “A Milli” is still a dope song to this day and the “Dr. Carter” joint was an ill concept too.

Kardinal Offishal: Tha Carter 3 was important for Hip-Hop, because it showed that with proper artist development which no label does anymore, including his own, you can build a story and a demand. Wayne was able to spend time working the net, shows, mixtapes, magazines etc. and make a name for himself before the album was even near a release date!

At the end of the day, people were magnetized by this kid who claimed to be “the best rapper alive” and wanted to see what the album was going sound like in comparison to all the legendary mixtapes and appearances. Wayne gave you Wayne on Tha Carter 3 so the only people who were disappointed were those who weren’t sure of who Lil Wayne was.

He’s an ill lyricist who has certain “addictions” and is attracted to a lifestyle which some see as dangerous. That’s what u got on the album, some verses that sounded like he had the “cup” in his hand half full and some that sounded like the “cup” was half empty [laughs].

Basically, there was something for everybody on that album; concepts, beats, the infamous “swag”, and a good ol’ dose of extra testosterone. You may not have f***ed with the whole sh*t; but whatever you didn’t like, somebody else did.

Wale: Ya’ll are trying to start some beef or something AllHipHop? I think it was great for Wayne because he challenged himself with his content. Well done Mr. Carter!

?uestlove: I got respect for anyone who keeps longer hours than I do. Post 2000 art has discounted “good” or “bad” or opinions in general. The new standard is “was it effective or not effective?” Carter 3 was effective.

Juelz Santana: I liked it, I love Tha Carter. Sh*t was hard. But to be honest my favorite out of the all of them was Tha Carter II. I love Carter 3, but my favorite was 2. But Carter 3 was a more mature Weezy and I love it for the time it came out and for how much he’s grown and to sell over a million records. It’s like the things you have to do to get these things.

I love part two for a lot more personal reasons. So you know, that’s pretty much it. Carter 2 is a lot more harder I would say. This album is hard too, I liked the way he moved on it. But that’s just my personal opinion. Like with me, when I got an album coming out I know I got to go with a radio single, I rather put out a harder record know what I’m saying? But you know what the game requires and what you have to do meet certain standards you dig? That’s what it pretty much is.

Joe Budden: I liked it. I liked it, but again I don’t know if I was the right guy to answer the question? I wasn’t ever caught in the Lil Wayne hype? So when I went into the album I wasn’t expecting – the bar wasn’t set so high for me. I bought the album, I put it in the car; it was one of the first albums I played in the car in a long time.

I really enjoyed it except the f***ing Martian bullsh*t (“Phone Home”). For a guy that put out as much work as he presented throughout the year, I think he delivered. Like I wasn’t expecting the greatest rapper in the world to give me all of these crazy crazy lyrics; I just thought it was entertaining. He went left, he went right; he went hard. My favorite joint was “Tie My Hands”.

Sheek Louch: Lil Wayne album was hot man. I think he’s doing his thing. He’s grinding man. I don’t know him personally but he sound like a good dude. ‘Kiss got him on his new album and say if you need him on a record, he’ll do it that night. It’s like that with him; he’s not running you around all crazy.

Charles Hamilton: I used to listen to Wayne. Dedication 2 was a classic mixtape to me. He defined the mixtape rapper. When it came time for C3, he had already started taking himself too serious. The fire was gone it seemed. So when the album dropped, artist to artist I bought it to support.

It was a mixtape over original grade A beats. Does that make the album wack? Whatever makes it wack is what makes it great. I have my opinion on Lil Wayne himself, but I never met him to say what’s on my mind about him. I’m starting to learn that lesson more and more [laughs].

Mick Boogie: I thought it was his best album to date. I don’t know if it’s a classic but I thought it was an amazing growth and he also showed he could make real records and not just mixtape material.  

Corey Gunz: I thought it was his best release. It was well put together. I was supposed to make the album but I’m not going to throw him under the bus. But when I first heard it I bugged out. Sh*t is fire.

Alchemist: I mean I thought it was solid. I guess I’m a little biased because I was able to get down and give him something for the album. But in banging the album I really like what the other producers did on there. I like the Swizz joint, I think it met up to the expectations as far as him putting out a record that signified him as an artist. It seems he’s been bigger than his records for the last two years getting on everyone’s record and smashing them. He deserves it, I don’t think anyone grinded as much as he did in a couple of years.

Paul Wall: Weezy F Baby set the standard for all rappers with this album. He killed it. He’s one of the most creative artists in music. He does whatever he wants and doesn’t give a damn what people think. Before he started putting auto tone on his vocals it seemed like mainly something that only T Pain did, but after Wayne everybody started doing it too.

I’m sure if I would have came out with “Lollipop” I would have got laughed out of the Rap game but Wayne set it off and made a huge impact. Also on songs like “A Milli” he doesn’t rap the usual traditional sixteen bar verses and there’s really not a chorus, yet it was still a huge song for ’08. That shows that he’s trying new styles and changing what we think of a normal rap song. He definitely lived up to his potential. He’s on top of not only the rap game but music in general. It’s a great thing for Hip Hop.

Shawty Lo: Yes, I think Wayne’s album matched the hype, he’s a very talented artist, he’s one of the greatest right now, if not the greatest. He made a complete all-around album. You can put it in and listen to it from the beginning to the end.

D Nice: Let me tell you, Wayne’s album totally lived up to the hype. The album was crazy but “A Milli” was probably my least favorite as a DJ because of the eq’s, it was driving me crazy to play that record. I would blow systems with that song. It became a frustrating record to play but overall that dude’s album was brilliant.

I may not agree with him lyrically on every song. But the fact he took chances on certain songs and he talked about a lot of different things, it was a great album. I’m proud of Wayne and he definitely deserves it. A lot of these dudes will say I made my album in a week, to me I’m not impressed with that. I’m more impressed with people taking a chance, I feel that way about Kanye’s record.

Chamillionaire: Anyone that says it didn’t match up to the hype is hating on Wayne because he had the bar set higher than the cost of a Dr. Dre track and he jumped over it with flying colors. Everyone knows Wayne can spit but in the past the only thing people could use against him was the fact that his singles and albums didn’t match up to the high standards.

The album had dope ideas, plenty of lyricism, and he still managed to have success in this auto-tuned Pop world we are living in. I would hope that anyone who disagrees would be able to show me someone that did it better in ‘08.

Killer Mike: Did Carter 3 match the hype, 1milli sold ya’ got damn right it did! Hype is about numbers and hit songs and Wayne produced both and congrats to that weird lil’ syrup sipping ‘dro puffing Martian Rap phenomenon for doing so. I however as a Weezy listener since Cash Money, I want my fugging Hot Boys reunion, still regard The Carter II as his one and only classic.

F*** these new stans. “Hustler music”, “Shooters”, Money On My Mind”; best rapper alive the lil’ n**** was spazzing and making sense [laughing] Whoa all ya’ll new listeners grab that and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and EFIL4ZAGGIN too. Bye Um Gone [In Lil’ Wayne Voice].

Slim Thug: I think it lived up to the expectations, I was definitely satisfied with the record. I think he did a hell of a job on it. I think he definitely did what he was supposed to do and it had enough hits. For all the anticipation, I think he actually answered it and delivered.

The self proclaimed prince of swag is back at it with his second installment of studio magic on iSouljaBoyTellEm (Interscope). For sixty minutes or so, Soulja raps over what seems to be the same beat, talking about, well, mostly nothing. If Soulja planned on presenting the world with something new, he surely missed the mark on this one.

What Soulja does deliver on is a new ridiculous dance for Soulja Nation to learn. “Bird Walk” renders the same one-two step beat as “Marco Polo,” but the new steps have a little more flight to it. Ice-T may see Soulja Boy as the apocalypse of Hip-Hop, but one thing’s for sure, Soulja’s definitely profiting from his swagger as he prophesizes on “Turn My Swag On”, “I gotta question why they hatin’ on me? / I ain’t do nothing to them but count this money”.

From telling the world how great he looks in Gucci on “Gucci Bandana”, to boasting about his copious amounts of ice on “Shoppin’ Spree,” to dishing about his run-ins with the mall police on “Hey You There”, Soulja quickly runs out of topics to rap about. So naturally like any teenager, he turns his attention to chasing after the ladies.

Soulja yearns for those luscious assets on “Booty Got Swag”, as he painfully boasts that “her booty so big I can hang my chain from it.” Hooking up with Jamaica’s own teenage sensation Sean Kingston, the two take on dating on “Yahama Mama,” as they sing about being “Gs” and one night with them “will drive you crazy.”

Overall he takes the “Eazy” way out on iSouljaBoyTellEm by avoiding any sort of musical challenge and sticking with a product he already knows will make him tons of loot. Profit margins aside, Soulja Boy fails here with his limited subject matter and elementary lyrics. Yes he’ll keep the kiddies entertained for a couple of days, but life is not a game.

Soulja Boy

“Bird Walk”

Soulja Boy

“Turn My Swag On”

The last twelve months have been far from an easy ride. Economically, Wall Street stocks plummeted to astronomical lows causing our country to go into a financial collapse. Tragedy struck in all shapes and forms with the losses of all star comedian Bernie Mac and iconic Soul artist and composer Isaac Hayes. Furthermore Pop songstress Jennifer Hudson would suffer a great loss with the murder of three family members and newly appointed president of Def Jam Records passed due to an apparent suicide.

Within the spectrum of Rap, things weren’t as tragic but far from a smooth sail.

The Yonkers, New York patriarch DMX continued to slip further and further into a life of despair with several arrests for various offenses. Queens own Nas pushed the social and creative envelope with his then titled album N*****. 2007’s musical darling Kanye West went left with the exasperating auto-tune laden 808s & Heartbreak which was met with mixed reviews.

Even the respected but somewhat still fresh faces had it tough. Infamous for his often admitted cocaine background, Rick Ross was exposed for being a correctional officer during his earlier years. On a lower scale, Yung Berg probably had it the worst with community uproar, beat downs, and missing jewelry.

Amongst all these aforementioned let-downs, the bright spots that did occur during 2008 illuminated the skies. We saw Barack Obama make history by bobbing and weaving through the personal character attacks on his way to win the Presidential election. Additionally, Lil Wayne had a monumental year with the release of sixth album Tha Carter 3.

To put this year in its proper perspective, we polled our AHH YEAR IN REVIEW Hip-Hop brain trust to see what were the best and of course worst moments of 2008. While all the replies don’t match, you’ll see what made your favorites think and blink.

Black Milk: Besides Tronic dropping, Barack Obama getting elected as our next President was the biggest moment in 08. I don’t think there has been a bigger moment then that in the past decad, especially for black people.  I just hope he can actually bring change like he always talks about.

Ol’ girl that dropped the song titled “Its So Cold In The D” was the worst moment. Yo that joint wasn’t the best representation of Detroit’s musical talent but it was funny as hell though; guess I’m hating because she got more pub then I did for Tronic.

Wale: Obama winning over McStain! My president is Black or half Black, but who’s counting? [Worst moment was] Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes [dying] in one week was a f***ed up week.  Mac was the funniest comedian. “I ain’t scared of u n****s”

Kardinal Offishal: My best moment in 2008 was performing on the beach in Malaga, Spain in front of 250,000 people! They spoke very little English, but knew all the words to “Dangerous”. That was an event that opened my eyes to the power of Hip-Hop and the power and universal energy of music in general.

The worst moment of 2008 is when I realized that the more successful you are, the less time you have to spend with the people with whom you want to share your success with.

?uestlove: Escaping a fatal crash in Paris without a scratch; I couldn’t enjoy my brand new president, or my new job, or my first trip to Africa, or my tenth record, or discovering my schoolmates on Facebook, or not going under after the Wall Street debacle, or seeing [George] W [Bush] pardon John Forte, or see the remaining episodes of Soul Train, or hear some lost Dilla scraps, or end my feud with D’Angelo, or witness the Glow In The Dark tour, or the Fela Kuti musical twelve times, or cracking mad applications on my IPhone 3G, or guest lecturing at Princeton with a job offer, or bringing Hip-Hop culture to all corners of the globe or seeing my tireless staff survive another year despite the stress if I were not in working order huh (laughing)?

[With the worst moment] as a by product of post Obama thinking I’ve turned every negative into a positive. However waiting for new boondocks and D’Angleo ain’t making me all that happy either.

Juelz Santana: Yeah, Barack that was definitely it and me voting for the first time. It was a special thing to be apart of political change, it was history made. I’m glad I could be apart of that. That was definitely the biggest thing year for me. The worst and disappointing sh*t are some of these artists. They not doing what they supposed to be doing, I think people too comfortable. They think they can do whatever the f*** they want because they got fans already. So I thought that was disappointing to see some of these artists doing what they did this year. I don’t want to name the individuals, just artists in general.

Chamillionaire: It’s not a good time when a man can’t be proud of his middle name, his nationality, and his religion, and there were a bunch of those moments on ‘08. Seems like ‘08 was dominated by the bad moments and negativity and every time I turned on the news I saw something that surpassed whatever was the worst moment. Once I saw Barack win that election and the excitement on so many people’s faces, that cleaned everything bad in ‘08 off the slate for me. You never get to witness something like that in a lifetime and I feel more powerful everyday when I wake up because of that moment.

[Worst moment] was watching the Hurricane Ike storm rip through Texas had to be one of the worst moments of ‘08 for me. You see it happening to other people all over the world all the time but when it happens to you the way it did for Texas it can be a real wakeup call. So many people had no lights, no money, and nowhere to go. That storm left a lot of people that had nothing with less than nothing.

Joe Budden: Barack when they found out that he was elected and Stevie Wonder “Signed, Sealed And Delivered” came blasting through the speakers. That was the best thing in the universe. Worst moment, I don’t know what happened in ’08. You know what let’s go with Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. I’m definitely an Isaac Hayes fan, Bernie Mac also.

Sheek Louch: In ’08, I had a couple of great moments. Definitely [Hot 97’s] Summer Jam with fifty five thousand people and we destroyed that. We brought out LL Cool J out. One of our LOX shows at BB Kings was sickening to see the crowd and that love. Those are a couple. Worst moment, I can’t really think of one right now.

Charles Hamilton: “Swagger Like Us”, “Slaughterhouse”, “Change Gon’ Come”. Those are moments because they show how rappers with different viewpoints on life, be it swag or culture, if there’s a difference, can co-exist on a track together. [As far as bad moments] this wasn’t really a bad year for Hip-Hop to be honest. Anything I mention would look like I’m hating. We actually progressed. There were moments that had me tight, but everything was pretty cool. The [Yung] Berg thing was pretty wack though [laughs].

Mick Boogie: Wayne selling a milli the first week [was the best moment]. In this era of no one selling sh*t anymore, it was refreshing for a good, quality album to do its numbers. It shows that it can be done; just has to be done right. Worst moments for me are just the sad by-products that come from Hip-Hop stars being normal people too. MC Breed’s sad death, AM’s plane crash, etc.

Corey Gunz: I don’t want to be cocky or anything, but the attention that Corey Gunz got was ridiculous. All the exposure I got this year. I got to thank XXL period for even picking me as one of the top ten dudes. I got to thank the fans and the public. If you like real Hip-Hop I am not going to disappoint you. The worst in Hip-Hop, sh*t I don’t know man. I’m really trying to focus on the positive.

Alchemist: The best moment was Barack Obama getting elected to be president of the United States. I was on the Method Man and Redman tour, we were backstage and everyone was watching it on the TV. It was just a joyous moment. Things are crazy and the world gives you a little bit of hope that things can turn for the better. I never felt like we could ever have a president that would even acknowledge or know the music we create. It’s just incredible to have a president that you feel you can have a regular conversation with and him respecting you. I think it’s going to be a good look for Hip-Hop. It just puts a positive charge into everybody and that will hopefully trickle into the music. But we’ll see where it goes.

Worst moment was in 08 was the plane crash with my man DJ AM and Travis Barker. It was great they survived but it was a tragedy that Lil Chris and the security guard passed away. It was a terrible tragic moment. I go way back with AM. He did beats before I did. He thought me how to use the ASR-10. It’s funny he taught me how to produce and I taught him how to DJ.

Paul Wall: The best moment had to be when Obama won. That was the first time I evervoted. It was an incredible feeling watching the election coverage on television and seeing him win. Not only because he’s Black, but because he’s a real leader. He’s not a politician trying to please everybody and bullsh*tting all of us, he’s a real leader. Our country hasn’t had a real leader like this in my lifetime.It was a good year for me but losing my friends has to be the worst. My friend Emanuel Hobbs was murdered and then Lil Chris and Che died in a plane crash. They were very close friends of mine and they will always be remembered and missed.

Shawty Lo: The best moment in ’08 for me has got to be when Barack-O became president. I’m not just proud because he’s black but also because he was the most qualified candidate and I think he’s going to really make a positive change in this country. Also, I won an Ozone Award and a BET Hip-Hop Award so those were some of the best moments of my year.My worst moment of ’08 has got to be my projects where I grew up off of Bankhead Highway, Bowen Homes are being torn down. Just to see them boarding up the apartments and not letting anybody else move in and having the elderly and families moving out, starting over, it’s been rough for me to see, it’s crazy. I’m sad because that’s the place I was raised but when I think about it, I hope that the people find a better place to live because it was a lot of crime, so even though I hate it, it’s probably for the best.

D Nice: The biggest moment for me is Barack winning the presidential election. When I voted I snuck my camera and took a picture of it as well. This is so real, just being thirty eight years old I was around the Black Power era during the Public Enemy era where we never thought we would ever see this day. So to be in the position to pull the lever for a Black man; and not even for just a Black man, like Chris Rock said “If it was Flavor Flav I wouldn’t have voted for him”. Standing there voting for a qualified Black man to run our country was big.

As far as my worst moment, I’m going to be absolutely honest with you. I have nothing against like Soulja Boy, but that record was the worst thing for me watching it. Like I listen to a lot of music and that’s the one thing I didn’t understand. I don’t understand super soaking hoes and all of that in this time. What was disappointing to me about that song was that the song was actually degrading to women. It had such a catchy hook that the kids were singing and didn’t know what they were saying. That part was definitely disappointing. It wasn’t something I supported at all.

Killer Mike: July 4 thru 8th “Pressure” dropped on Myspace on July 4, and Youtube went crazy. Pledge II did a meager four thousand (downer). Pledge II went on to do a constant one thousand a week and developed what’s growing into a cult following. I am Still in my greatest moment. Thanks to every supporter of the grind. Disclaimer I did not use the Barack is President line because I know other Rap n****s are going to claim that and I want that and King day to be my best day in ‘09 when he becomes official!

[Worst moment was] Big Boi smashing on me at [DJ] Envy’s Show [laughing]. Man I was hot! That n**** wiped me down with Rap vet precision, whew. Lucky I was ready and counter attacked with a wrestling spoof youtube video which actually lead to us mending our differences. Not so bad after all. Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son Of Chico Dusty coming soon, 16 In The Kitchen coming soon.

Slim Thug: Musically it was Lil Wayne selling all those records first week. That was big for the South. That was big for Lil Wayne to sell over a million records, who topped that? But Barack winning the election was the biggest moment for me outside of music. As far as worst moment, ah man. I can’t even think of nothing.