While the Cash Money Records label continues to suffer through the free-agent exodus of its hottest emcee, Juvenile, Lil Wayne has been slotted in as the crew's go-to griot. However, on 500 Degreez Wayne's inability to rap about subjects other than Bentleys, babes, blunts, and booze severely limits his career possibilities. On the profanity-laced "F*** You" and "Gangsta S***," his mediocre and indistinct rhymes and flows are barely saved by Mannie Fresh's electro-funk beat schemes. That's not to say that Fresh isn't coasting either, performing his normal interpolation-heavy productions (e.g., "Way of Life" is a spin-off on Junior Mafia's "Get Money"). Why Lil Weezy would spend three-quarters of his studio time boasting about how much moola he makes ("Get That Dough") and how great he thinks he is ("Look at Me") is anybody's guess. The one time Weezy does go introspective on "Young'n Blues" it's already too late, because he's already branded himself a hip-hop jester. --Dalton Higgins
