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Lil Wayne's Big Shot
Tha Carter III
Out December 18th

"Recording is an addiction," Lil Wayne says. "I can't stop." Wayne has lived in the studio for the past two years, often churning out five complete songs a night for Tha Carter III, the Miami rapper's sixth solo disc -- and one of the most anticipated hip-hop albums of the fall. Wayne says he doesn't yet know what will be on the record, but the eleven "favorite" songs Wayne played Rolling Stone are long on terrifically hooky beats and virtuosic id-channeling rhymes. Standouts include "Layway," featuring a stellar beat from Kanye West, an untitled Cool and Dre production in which Wayne claims to be an alien and "Pussy Monster," on which Wayne spits rapid-fire verses, rhyming "Dracula" with "spatula" and "catfish" within three seconds. "You just gotta be real," Wayne says. "I live a song. I am a song. I'm loud, I'm humorous, I'm passionate. Whatever I get on a song, I'm that."