He’s a Cash Money Records CEO, a Louisiana G, and more notably Lil’ Wayne’s daddy. Throughout his come up, Birdman has lost friends, family, and even his New Orleans hood; still his presence lingers. One would think with ten plus years in the game, and not to mention all of his materialistic treasures, Baby has nothing to prove but many believe the Cash Money empire can’t survive without Weezy. With his first stand-alone album in two years, 5 * Stunna (Cash Money), Birdman offers a couple of keepers, but does nothing to really establish himself outside of his son’s success.
In seventeen tracks, Baby finds a thousand ways to utter M.O.B., and stunt over any and everyone. His rhymes are mediocre, but then again complex verses were never expected of him. He does however deliver what he has in the past; catchy beats and top-tier features. The first single “100 Million” caters more to the streets with its hustle hard feel courtesy of Wayne, Young Jeezy and Rick Ross. Cool & Dre utilize heavy synthesizers for the four to rock over as DJ Khaled hypes it up with his signature call outs.
The production recipe does somewhat save the album from being a total loss. The ingredients include the standard gun c####, birdcalls and handclaps. For the clubs Baby does it big on “Pop Bottles.” With a Jadakiss sample used as the hook, the song has a similar feel to “Diamonds” by Fabolous. Additionally, the faint soul sample and moving keys found on “Believe That,” add some authenticity to his empty bars. In fact, if you’d just listen to the tracks minus the words you would almost anticipate an album of in-depth anecdotes laced with complex lyrics.
When all’s mixed and mastered, lyrically, the quote “Like Father Like Son” doesn’t apply. In other words, don’t expect Birdman to sit amongst the greatest rappers of all time. While diehard fans won’t be completely disappointed in 5 * Stunna, those who enjoy true lyricism may be a bit unenthused.