Birdman & Lil Wayne - "Like Father, Like Son"

[StevePulaski]

Like Father, Like Son (2006)
By: Birdman & Lil Wayne

Rating: ★★★

Cash Money Records has always emphasized the significance and importance of maintaining a family dynamic amongst its CEO and artists. Instead of looking at the relationship as a dichotomous one of power and productivity, Cash Money CEO Brian "Birdman/Baby" Williams looks at it as a father/son bond and ever since he signed Dwayne "Lil Wayne" Carter in the 1990's knowing he'd struck gold, he has taken Wayne under his wing. In doing so, he has helped shaped Wayne as an artist, but above all, a son of sorts with him as the father figure.

Their 2006 collaborative album, appropriately titled Like Father, Like Son, succeeds in demystifying this unique relationship in addition to celebrating two workaholic artists doing what they do best. Boasting twenty tracks brimming with energy, swagger, and bravado, a laundry list of guest stars, and the topics of money, murder, and more money, Birdman and Lil Wayne assert themselves as two dominant forces in a crowded field with this effort.

The only constant on the album, aside from the recurring theme of money, are the three skits taken directly from the HBO TV series The Sopranos, emphasizing the importance of love, loyalty, and unmatched dedication to work. These ideas fit Cash Money's ideology like a glove and match the cut-throat mentality they boast in their music.

The song opens with two immediate bangers, the glacially paced "Over Here Hustlin'," which works as an intoxicating and humorously written track and serves as one of many tracks that have Wayne servicing melody and flow on the album instead of his typically experimental side. The second immediate hit is "Stuntin' Like My Daddy," a horn-heavy track that has Wayne affirming the love he holds for Birdman and more-or-less shows what he's capable of as an artist. Wayne, especially during this era, following the release of Tha Carter II, has a love for witty metaphors, goofy flows, and experimental, sometimes out-of-this-world instrumentals, and this song sort of capitalizes on that with its horns and synths.

Like Father, Like Son persists on, with melodic tunes like "Know What I'm Doin'," which is assisted by a terrific chorus by T-Pain, who was gaining traction at this point in time, "Get That Money," an addicting and well-paced tune with Birdman and Lil Wayne affirming their sole love in the world aside from their record label family, "Like Father, Like Son" has another horn/snare-dominated instrumentation, complete with a chorus that finds itself addicting from the very beginning, and "Leather So Soft," the softer and more R&B-driven crooner.

The only thing lacking on Like Father, Like Son is some lyrical variety, with Birdman and Lil Wayne affirming the amount of commas and zeroes in their net worth to what seems to be no end. Normally, on rap albums, most comments revolving around one's worth fall on deaf ears, but Birdman and Lil Wayne do it enough to where, upon falling on deaf ears, the boastfulness becomes audible once more to the point of tedium. One wishes that the two would tackle more idealistic concepts or personal philosophies rather than redundant monetary values.

At the end of the day, however, Like Father, Like Son's purpose is to affirm the strength of the Cash Money empire and how it could only get bigger and better from there. Following Wayne's successful, not to mention daring and different, Tha Carter II, while resorting to repetitive, easy-to-listen-to hooks, Birdman seems to be affirming Wayne's creative genius (and metaphorical hilarity, with lines like "keep the Maggie like my name is Homer,") by concocting this twenty-track-testimony of his greatness. This is an album where cockiness and boastful statements are as common as the word "the" in the average human conversation and the result is a lot better than anyone would've predicted it to be based on that sole statement.

Recommended tracks: "Stuntin' Like My Daddy," "Get That Money," "Over Here Hustlin'," "Know What I'm Doin'," and "Like Father, Like Son."