As Brian "Baby" Williams aka
Birdman's
5 * Stunna album arrived in late 2007, it landed pretty close to a street date once promised for
Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, the highly anticipated album from
Birdman's "surrogate son" that suffered numerous unsurprising delays. Just over a year before, they acted like two sides of the same coin on the collaboration album
Like Father, Like Son, so if this
Stunna was designed to be a placeholder while
Wayne finished Tha Carter III, it explains a lot. There's a
Wayne-free true solo album for
Birdman buried in these tracks, one that doesn't feel finished but has the uncompromising coldness he lays down when
Weezy is away. The main problem is
Birdman's delivery on these tracks just isn't up to snuff, like he was providing guide vocals to be improved upon later. While redundant numbers about cash, bling, and status aren't anything new for a Cash Money release, here they're particularly trying and the everyday production fails to overcome. Plus, the "Old Man" interludes are back and as boring as ever, save when the Mafia Don drops the laughable "I saw you guys on the TV thing." Swooping in to save the day are a handful of inspired tracks like the grand "100 Million" with
Wayne,
Young Jeezy, and
Rick Ross or the hooky "Pop Bottles" with
Wayne. Best of them all is the loose "Believe Dat," with
Wayne again, as it feels like an uptempo follow-up to
Like Father's great "Leather So Soft."
Wayne steals the show on
Birdman's own album not for the usual reasons -- much more talented -- but more for the way he remains comfortable and steady while dad bounces between hungry and listless. This inconsistent, everyday Cash Money release is carried by its highlights, but there's every indication it's rushed and could have been better. ~ David Jeffries