<\/a>Reagan Harvey<\/strong>
\n MC301-01 Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the fifth entry in the \u201cDedication\u201d series, New Orleans bred rapper Lil Wayne released \u201cDedication 5\u201d on Sept. 1, 2013. In recent years, we have seen Wayne\u2019s transition from a leading title-holder in the rap industry to a guy that references skateboarding and his clothing label, Trukfit, in every verse he spits.<\/p>\n

After hearing \u201cDedication 4\u201d in 2012, I was not up for being reminded that my once favorite rapper was not what he used to be. I mean, I had not even heard of anyone anticipating the mixtape\u2019s release.
\nI went to Live Mixtapes for the download (it\u2019s free), sat down with a notebook, and pressed play for track one. Instantly, you hear that it\u2019s a DJ Drama production. The Weeknd proves to be a nice feature for the first track, and if you\u2019ve listened to previous works in the \u201cDedication\u201d series, you will notice that this one has a slightly different vibe.<\/p>\n

Patrick Lane, a junior mass communications major from Meridian, Miss. said, \u201cDedication 5\u201d is a good starting point for Wayne to rework himself and become an industry leader again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preceding tracks are pretty standard of Lil Wayne mixtapes\u2014revamped industry beats from other artists. I have always had the mentality that if an artist is going to rap over another artist\u2019s beat, they should bring something innovative with the flow and essentially \u201ckill it\u201d, or at least do it better than the original rapper. His beat sampling of Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Kill My Vibe,\u201d and Kanye West\u2019s \u201cNew Slaves\u201d was definitely not innovative.<\/p>\n

Nicole Williams, a junior theatre major from Ridgeland, Miss., was pleased with the latest offering from Lil Wayne.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t his best production, but it is so much better than \u201cD4\u201d was. You can tell he put more of himself into this one,\u201d said Williams.<\/p>\n

Other than the signature repetitive similes and basic rhyme schemes I noticed throughout \u201cD5,\u201d Lil Wayne seems more engaged with his listeners. It has a spectrum of material from fresher sounding tracks like \u201cYou Song\u201d featuring up-and-coming Chicago artist, Chance the Rapper, to a grittier David Banner produced, \u201cThinkin About You\u201d which is dedicated to Hollygrove, the 17th Ward of New Orleans.<\/p>\n

In a Hip-hopDX.com review, William Ketchum III states, \u201cTo Wayne\u2019s credit, Dedication 5 is the best the series has showcased since its legendary sequel from seven years ago, even if it pales in comparison. Occasionally, the YMCMB head honcho shows that he still has a portion of the skills that earned him his spot among rap\u2019s elite.\u201d
\nAshlee Brown, a senior political science major from Jackson, Miss. said, \u201cThis mixtape sort of reminds me of the old Wayne. I respect his ability to be diverse and appease a larger audience, but this is more of the style that I like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top industry names like T.I, 2Chainz, and Cash Money\u2019s own artists Gudda Gudda and Lil Chuckee are among the featured artists on \u201cDedication 5.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reagan Harvey MC301-01 Writer As the fifth entry in the \u201cDedication\u201d series, New Orleans bred rapper Lil Wayne released \u201cDedication 5\u201d on Sept. 1, 2013.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}