I Am Not a Human Being (album)

## ***I Am Not a Human Being***

### **Producer(s)**

Lil Wayne (exec.) \ Cortez Bryant (exec.) \ Slim (exec.) \ Birdman (exec.) \ 40 \ Boi-1da \ Cool & Dre \ Drew Correa \ DVLP \ Jahlil Beats \ Kane Beatz \ Infamous \ Matthew Burnett \ Mike Banger \ Mr. Beatz \ Mr. Pyro \ Streetrunner \ Tha Bizness \ The Olympicks \ \ The Runners

***I Am Not a Human Being*** is the eighth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on September 27, 2010, to coincide with his 28th birthday. It was recorded before Wayne's eight-month prison term for criminal possession of a weapon. The album features guest appearances from Drake, T-Streets, Nicki Minaj, Lil Twist, Jay Sean, Jae Millz, Gudda Gudda, and Tyga.

The album debuted at number two on the US *Billboard* 200 chart, with first-week digital sales alone. Following its physical release, it topped the chart, becoming Wayne's second US number-one album and the first studio album since Tupac's *Me Against the World* in 1995 to reach the top position on the *Billboard* 200 while its artist was in prison. The album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

## Synopsis

The album has everything that made *Tha Carter III* an artistic triumph. The beats are more bombastic, and the guest list more predictable, but the rhymes are more stunning and peculiar than ever. Wayne now raps with the teetering, unhurried attitude of someone who has already won, but whether it's the clock-melting beat of "I'm Single" or the solo anthem "Bill Gates," the rapper can still pull off feats of deranged bravado which other rappers are only able to imitate. – *Apple Music*

## Critical reception

*I Am Not a Human Being* received generally favorable reviews from music critics upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted average score of 67, based on 17 reviews. On the aggregator AnyDecentMusic?, it received 6.8 out of 10 based on 16 critic reviews.

David Jeffries of AllMusic penned, "This is too short and scattered to put on his top shelf, but it comes awfully close, which is downright astonishing considering the circumstances." *Rolling Stone*'s Jody Rosen remarked upon its resemblance to his mixtapes with the "loose-limbed feel" and concluded, "is pop's most reliable deliverer of unadulterated fun. He's also the greatest rapper alive." Sean Maloney of *American Songwriter* felt it to be "sub-par" in comparison to his hit records, and "lacks the relevance and immediacy of his mixtape works and the quality-control of his albums." *Billboard* guessed the project to compile leftover songs from previous projects, though positively said, "Wayne returns to classic form" on a few tracks.

*Boston Globe* called it a "placeholder" and "uninteresting", while *Drowned in Sound* called it "somewhat one-dimensional". In similar assessment, *Entertainment Weekly* wrote, "half-cooked songs" and "light on new ideas". Jeff Weiss of *Los Angeles Times* stated, "unable to sustain his notorious prolificacy", where he thought the songs were generic. Writing for *Pitchfork*, Ryan Dombal opined, "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, several of which attempt to replicate the space-snap wallop of his biggest hit, "Lollipop". But 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".

Nathan Rabin of *The A.V. Club* critiqued the album's linearity, and its direction of being a mixtape rather than an album. He conceded, "it's nevertheless full of intriguing experiments and infectious tracks. [...] serves as a potent reminder that Wayne is still capable of both greatness and awfulness". *Spin*'s Ben Detrick panned the album, likening it to "finding a nine-month-old cheesecake in the back of the fridge". However, they optimistically finished, "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. Indulge in the unfiltered humor, the dense, stream-of-consciousness rambling, the gleeful personality, and simply file it away. As his endless catalogue illustrates, Wayne is nothing if not generous. There will always be more". *The Independent* was mixed, where the "best tracks" were ones with Drake, highlighting "Right Above It". Jon Caramanica of *New York Times* observed, "Too often Lil Wayne lapses into predictable flow structures, quick ideas paired with built-in rejoinders".

## Personnel

* Alton Bates, Jr. – recording assistant
* Joshua Berkman – A&R
* Matthew "Boi-1da" Samuels – producer
* Cortez Bryant – executive producer
* Matthew Burnett – additional production
* Michael "Banger" Cadahia – engineer, mixing, producer
* Noel Cadastre – mixing assistant
* Dwayne "Tha President" Carter, Jr. – executive producer
* Ariel Chobaz – engineer
* Cool – producer
* Andrews "Drew Correa" Correa – producer, engineer
* DJ Folk – production co-ordination
* Elizabeth Gallardo – mixing assistant
* Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering
* I.L.O. – additional production, keyboards
* Marco "DJ Infamous" Rodiguez-Diaz, Jr. – producer
* Daniel "Kane Beatz" Johnson – producer
* Edward "Jewfro" Lidow – recording assistant
* Mack Maine – executive producer
* Rondell "Mr. Beatz" Cobbs – producer
* Daen "Mr. Pyro" Simmons – producer
* The Olympics – producer
* Fareed Salamah – digital editing
* Noah "40" Shebib – engineer, mixing, producer
* Nicholas "Streetrunner" Warwar – producer
* Finis "KY" White – engineera
* Bryan "Baby Birdman" Williams – executive producer
* Ronald "Slim Tha Don" Williams – executive producer
* Kevin Zulueta – engineer

## References

1. ↑ "I Am Not a Human Being Review by David Jeffries". *AllMusic*.
2. ↑ Rosen, Jody (September 29, 2010). "I Am Not a Human Being". *Rolling Stone*.
3. ↑ Maloney, Sean (October 12, 2010). "Lil Wayne: *I Am Not a Human Being*". *American Songwriter*.
4. ↑ "Lil Wayne, "I Am Not a Human Being""'. *Billboard*. October 22, 2010.
5. ↑ Benbow, Julian (October 18, 2010). "Lil Wayne, 'I Am Not a Human Being'". *Boston Globe*. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012.
6. ↑ Pott-Negrine, David (October 28, 2010). "Lil' Wayne *I Am Not A Human Being*". *Drowned in Sound*.
7. ↑ Wete, Brad (October 6, 2010). "I Am Not a Human Being". *Entertainment Weekly*. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010.
8. ↑ Weiss, Jeff (October 12, 2010). "Album Review: Lil Wayne's 'I Am Not a Human Being'". *Los Angeles Times*.
9. ↑ Dombal, Ryan (October 5, 2010). "*I Am Not a Human Being*". *Pitchfork*.
10. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (November 9, 2010). "Lil Wayne: *I Am Not A Human Being*". *The A.V. Club*.
11. ↑ Detrick, Ben (September 30, 2010). "Lil Wayne, 'I Am Not a Human Being' (Cash Money)". *Spin*.
12. ↑ Gill, Andy (October 15, 2010). "Album: Lil Wayne, I Am Not A Human Being (Island)". *The Independent*.
13. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (October 10, 2010). "New CDs". *New York Times*.

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