The story of Lil' Wayne is an interesting one. Signing with Cash Money Records as a teenager, Wayne became part of one of southern Rap's most popular groups Hot Boys. Surrounded by fellow group members Juvenile, Turk and B.G., Wayne played his role as supporting group member and while the group as a whole was popular, Wayne was only a piece of the puzzle rather than the whole picture or front man as it may be. Then something happened. After 3 lukewarm solo albums, Lil' Wayne delivered "Tha Carter" and a successful solo career was born. Countless mixtapes, guest appearances, the wildly successful "Tha Carter II" and even calls of Lil' Wayne being one the best lyrically in the game followed.

"3 Peat" sets off "Tha Carter III" with Lil' Wayne saying "they can't stop me...even if they stopped me". The Cool & Dre track has Lil' Wayne spazzing out lyrically over a bouncy, tension building track. While their "Hello Brooklyn" collaboration from Jay-Z's "American Gangster" album received mixed reviews, there is no denying "Mr. Carter" as Weezy and Jigga link up again over a somewhat sparse Just Blaze track. And while Jay-Z does outshine Lil' Wayne on his own song, the finished product is one of the album's standout cuts. "I don't write shit 'cause I don't got time" Wayne spits on the frantically paced 1 a.m. club track "A Milli". The requisite T-Pain song ("Got Money") is anything but as the king of the auto-tune and Lil' Wayne craft a nice club cut with the help of producers Play-N-Skillz. "Got money...you know it...take it out ya pocket and show it" croons T-Pain on the hook which has a light "Good Life" influence to it.

When "Tha Carter III" slows down, the album is equally as effective. "Comfortable" feat. Babyface is about a sure fire a hit as one could find on the album. The Kanye produced cut will immediately connect with the women thanks to Babyface's hook while the beat and Wayne's lyrics give the song a head factor making it an excellent R&B/Hip-Hop collabo. Their last hook-up was a hit ("Shooter"), so why not try it again? Wayne and Robin Thicke connect their very different sounds once again on "Tie My Hands". The song is beautifully produced by Kanye West. Part of it almost has a haunting feel thanks to echoed vocals from Thicke. The song is also the only ultra low tempo moment on the album and provides Wayne with a clean canvas to spit some truly insightful lyrics including touching on Hurricane Katrina.

Production is the true shining star on "Tha Carter III". "Let The Beat Build" produced by Kanye West feels like a film called "Southern Hip-Hop Goes To Church". It's easily a contender for the album's standout track. But then again, there is so much good on "Tha Carter III" that each song is outstanding in its own right. "Playing With Fire" sees Lil' Wayne and producer Streetrunner channeling 80s hair metal as Wayne calls out the haters as he spits "I don't Rap...I film movies". Additional standouts include "Shoot Me Down" and the lyrically strong closer "Misunderstood".

The negatives of "Tha Carter III" are minimal. "Phone Home" and "La La" break-up the pace of the album as they both should have probably been left for use on one of Wayne's hundred mixtapes. Lyrically the album isn't going to set the world on fire mainly because when it boils right down to it, Wayne is a slightly above average lyricist at times, and at others, he leaves the listener wondering what the hell he's talking about it. Then again, maybe that's the gem in Wayne's style. Instead of spoon feeding people punchlines and concepts, he makes the listener think and listen multiple times to truly catch what Weezy is talking about.

One of the most anticipated albums in music for 2008 lives up to the hype and in some ways exceeds it with creative production, a good dose of introspective lyrical content, strong hooks and a style that only Lil' Wayne can bring.