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I Am Not a Human Being

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Untitled

I Am Not a Human Being is the eighth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released digitally on September 27, 2010. Its physical version will be released on October 12, 2010. It was recorded in 2010 prior to Wayne's nine-month prison term for criminal possession of a weapon. Production for the album was handled by Wayne and several record producers, including Boi-1da, Cool & Dre, StreetRunner, Noah "40" Shebib, and DJ Infamous, among others.

The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, based on its first-week digital sales alone. Its debut single "Right Above It" became a top-ten hit in the United States. Upon its release, I Am Not a Human Being received mixed to positive reviews from most music critics.

Background

On August 4, 2010, Billboard magazine announced that Lil Wayne would release an EP called I Am Not a Human Being and would have a single from the EP called "Right Above It". The single debuted on DJ Funkmaster Flex's show, which Lil Wayne called and gave an interview. The album is a prelude to Lil Wayne's upcoming Tha Carter IV.[1]

"I'm putting out a [Wayne] album called I Am Not a Human Being and I'll probably drop it on his birthday, September 27...I'm not even putting it out in stores. We just gonna put it out virally and maybe package it up for Christmas. Give 'em a hard copy later for fan appreciation."[2]

Drake, Jay Sean, Lil Twist, Nicki Minaj, Jae Millz, Tyga, Gudda Gudda, Lil Chuckee and T-Streets are all guests who are featured on the album.[3][4]

Vibe Magazine spoke with DJ Scoob Doo about Tha Carter IV and I Am Not a Human Being. This is what Scoob Doo had to say:

"I got videos for the Carter IV and the I’m not a Human Being EP all ready. I can’t say the name of the song but Wayne was singing on the hook, but they’re getting Drake to re-do it and it’s off the Human Being EP,” Scoob Doo says. “Carter IV is probably the best album I’ve heard in the last decade, but Wayne is such a different artist now that wants to record new music when he comes home. The stuff he’s talking about now is just on another level. That’s why a lot of the songs on the EP were originally taken from the Carter IV.”[5]

Lil Wayne’s manager Cortez Bryant told SPIN that Weezy’s EP, I Am Not a Human Being will actually be a full length album. Initially, the tracks were to be appear on Tha Carter IV, but Wayne decided to start from square one.[6][7]

The last three songs on the album, "YM Banger", "YM Salute", and "I Don't Like The Look Of It" are not on the digital download version of the album, but will be available on the physical copy.[8]

He uses no autotune on the album its just "raw rap" according to Birdman.[9]

The beat to bonus track "YM Salute" was originally recorded by Young Jeezy and Ester Dean as potential material for Young Jeezy's forthcoming album TM 103.

Singles

The album's lead single, "Right Above It" featuring Drake, was released to iTunes on August 17, 2010. The song debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and at number one on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart.

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week digital sales of 110,000 downloads.[10]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[11]
Entertainment Weekly(C)[12]
Los Angeles Times[13]
The New York Times(mixed)[14]
The Observer(favorable)[15]
Pitchfork Media(6.7/10)[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Slant Magazine[18]
Spin(6/10)[19]
USA Today[20]

I Am Not a Human Being received mixed to positive reviews from most music critics.[21] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[21] Los Angeles Times writer Jeff Weiss noted a "creative languor" and stated "Wayne reveals he’s mortal after all".[13] Pitchfork Media's Ryna Dombal stated "We get Wayne spouting classic Weezy-isms—explicit sex, cartoonish gunplay, and allusions to the intricacies of the digestive system abound—over at-least-decent original beats", but noted that "there's a lingering sense that the rapper is not in top gear; his flow is often slow and static, his wordplay lively yet less energized than what we're now used to".[16] Entertainment Weekly's Brad Wete called the album "stale" and wrote that "none of the new songs on this set hold a candle to [No Ceilings], much less... Tha Carter III".[12] Sean L. Maloney of American Songwriter gave the album 2½ out of 5 stars and called it "a completely superfluous release that lacks the relevance and immediacy of his mixtape works and the quality-control of his albums".[22] Andy Gill of The Independent gave it 3 out of 5 stars and called it "a perfunctory affair".[23] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called it "an uncentered collection of odds and ends", writing that "Too often Lil Wayne lapses into predictable flow structures, quick ideas paired with built-in rejoinders: 'They say money talks/ but it’s my spokesperson,' and so on".[14]

Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo perceived "half-assed rhyme work" from Wayne and called it "kind of a crummy album, rife with laziness and repetition ... It may have a decidedly lazy presentation, but I Am Not a Human Being inevitably succeeds at what it sets out to do: remind us of Wayne's artistic validity and whetting our appetite for more".[18] Ben Detrick of Spin gave I Am Not a Human Being a 6/10 rating and found its production "unfashionable", but stated "Though this is a flawed and scattershot project, Wayne remains an artist who makes music like a pâtissier–his songs are frivolous, delicious, and meant to be relished for just a moment".[19] Allmusic writer David Jeffries gave it 3½ out of 5 stars and stated "This is too short and scattered to put on his top shelf, but it comes awfully close, which is downright astonishing considering the circumstances".[11] Luke Bainsbridge of The Observer called the album "a return to classic Weezy".[15] Rolling Stone writer Jody Rosen commended its "unadulterated fun" and Wayne's "irrepressibly wacked-out spirit", writing that the album "has the loose-limbed feel of the rapper's many mixtapes".[17] Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album 3 out of 4 stars and stated "he has enough hits here to make sure he's not missed much".[20] Despite viewing its tracks as inconsistent, Vibe's Chris Yuscavage wrote that the album is "enough to hold diehard Weezy fans over until Tha Carter IV hits".[24]

Track listing

The track listing was confirmed by iTunes and Rap-Up.[25][26][27]

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Gonorrhea" (featuring Drake)Kane Beatz4:22
2."Hold Up" (featuring T-Streets)The Olympicks4:11
3."With You" (featuring Drake)StreetRunner3:49
4."I Am Not a Human Being"DJ Infamous, Andrew "Drew" Correa4:05
5."I'm Single"Noah "40" Shebib, Omen5:33
6."What's Wrong With Them" (featuring Nicki Minaj)DVLP for The Machine Room3:31
7."Right Above It" (featuring Drake)Kane Beatz4:32
8."Popular" (featuring Lil Twist)Cool & Dre4:40
9."That Ain't Me" (featuring Jay Sean)StreetRunner4:03
10."Bill Gates"Boi-1da, Matthew Burnett4:19
CD bonus tracks
No.TitleProducersLength
11."YM Banger" (featuring Gudda Gudda, Jae Millz & Tyga)Mike Banger3:55
12."YM Salute" (featuring Lil Twist, Lil Chuckee, Gudda Gudda, Jae Millz & Nicki Minaj)Mr. Pyro, Polow da Don5:14
13."I Don't Like the Look of It" (featuring Gudda Gudda)Jahlil Beats3:18
  • The booklet says Drake is on 'I'm Single', but he isn't on both the digital download version or the CD version.

Personnel

Credits for I Am Not a Human Being adapted from Allmusic.[28]

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[29] 72
Canadian Albums Chart[30] 16
US Billboard 200[31] 2
US Digital Albums [32] 1
US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[33] 1
US Rap Albums[34] 1

Release history

Country Date Format
United States September 27, 2010 [25] Digital download
October 12, 2010 [27] CD
United Kingdom September 24, 2010 [citation needed] Digital download
October 18, 2010 [35] CD

References

  1. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1643374/20100709/lil_wayne.jhtml
  2. ^ http://www.sohh.com/2010/07/lil_wayne_putting_out_im_not_a_human_bei.html
  3. ^ http://www.down-south.com/videos/4803-birdman-speaks-on-50-cent-turk-a-lil-wayne.html
  4. ^ http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2010/08/11/22331175.aspx
  5. ^ http://www.lilwaynehq.com/2010/09/02/dj-scoob-doo-speaks-on-lil-wayne-tha-carter-iv-im-not-a-human-being/
  6. ^ http://www.spin.com/articles/exclusive-preview-lil-waynes-new-album
  7. ^ http://rapradar.com/2010/09/17/lil-wayne-ep-now-full-lp/
  8. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1648768/20100927/lil_wayne.jhtml
  9. ^ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.12356/title.lil-wayne-drops-vocoder-and-returns-to-raw-rap-according-to-birdman
  10. ^ Caulfield, Keith (October 6, 2010). Kenny Chesney Claims Sixth No. 1 Album with 'Hemingway's Whiskey'. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-10-11.
  11. ^ a b Jeffries, David (October 4, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-10-06.
  12. ^ a b Wete, Brad (October 6, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2010-10-06.
  13. ^ a b Weiss, Jeff (October 12, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2010-10-13.
  14. ^ a b Caramanica, Jon (October 10, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2010-10-11.
  15. ^ a b Bainsbridge, Luke (October 3, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. The Observer. Retrieved on 2010-10-03.
  16. ^ a b Dombal, Ryan (October 5, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2010-10-06.
  17. ^ a b Rosen, Jody (September 27, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-10-02.
  18. ^ a b Cataldo, Jesse (October 14, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2010-10-14.
  19. ^ a b Detrick, Ben (September 30, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. Spin. Retrieved on 2010-10-02.
  20. ^ a b Jones, Steve (September 28, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. USA Today. Retrieved on 2010-10-02.
  21. ^ a b I Am Not a Human Being (2010): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2010-10-13.
  22. ^ Maloney, Sean L. (October 12, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. American Songwriter. Retrieved on 2010-10-13.
  23. ^ Gill, Andy (October 15, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. The Independent. Retrieved on 2010-10-14.
  24. ^ Yuscavage, Chris (September 28, 2010). Review: I Am Not a Human Being. Vibe. Retrieved on 2010-10-02.
  25. ^ a b "I Am Not a Human Being - Lil Wayne (album)". iTunes. 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  26. ^ http://defpenradio.com/lil-wayne-i-am-not-a-human-being-tracklist-album-cover/
  27. ^ a b http://www.amazon.com/I-Am-Not-Human-Being/dp/B00437DYLI
  28. ^ Credits: I Am Not a Human Being. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-10-13.
  29. ^ "UK Albums Top 75", acharts
  30. ^ "I am Not a Human Being-Lil Wayne", Billboard
  31. ^ "I am Not a Human Being-Lil Wayne", Billboard
  32. ^ "I am Not a Human Being-Lil Wayne", Billboard
  33. ^ "I am Not a Human Being-Lil Wayne", Billboard
  34. ^ "I am Not a Human Being-Lil Wayne", Billboard
  35. ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Am-Not-Human-Being/dp/B00437DYLI
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