Flares of 2011: Male of The Year

 5. Chris Brown

After having a few tough years, Chris Brown finally made a comeback album. The album is his first no. 1 album selling 270,000 copies in the first week and is already certified gold for selling more than 500,000 copies. F.A.M.E. is also nominated for three Grammys this year.

 4. Pitbull

A few hits of his own (Hey Baby, Give Me Everything) and few featuring hits (On The Floor, I Like How It Feels), Pitbull is dominating the male music industry. But can he stay on top this year?

3. Justin Bieber

It's been a little over 2 years since we got to know this boy when he release his first single, One Time. Two studio albums later and another one on the way in 2012, Justin Bieber is not slowing down. With his voice changing can he still be the 'teen heartthrob' of 2012.

2. Lil Wayne

Tha Carter IV sold an impressive 964,000 copies in the first week and was already certified two times platinum thanks to the help of the single, How To Love which enjoy mainstream success. Will this actually be his last album? All we can do is wait.

1. Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars is the only artist in this list that didn't release an album this year. Yet he is our no. 1 Male of the Year. Well thanks to his grammy-nominated album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans that spawned several hits and his latest hit, It Will Rain, he didn't need so. Will he continue his success this year or will have a sophomore slump. I think he will do just fine.

Flares: Lil Wayne - Tha Carter IV

An interesting story came out as Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV leaked to the Internet five days early. Special guest Busta Rhymes, being interviewed from his tour bus, had not even heard the leak within those first 48, and seemed fascinated to hear that Bun B, Nas, and Shynewere also on his track. This was in spite of the his line “Tunechi, thanks for giving us a whole 'nother classic with Tha Carter IV” the album's final words, delivered by Busta during the “Outro,” one of two tracks on which Wayne doesn’t even appear. Busta’s mix of excitement and confusion perfectly captures this album’s magic in that there’s an electricity in the air here, one so attractive that you don’t care about what’s missing, so don’t hold this up next to Tha Carter II or III because you just might miss a grand Jay-Z diss (“Talkin' about baby money, I got your baby money/ Kidnap your bitch, get that how much you love your lady money”) while considering the differences. If II and III were the arguable masterpieces, this one is less convincing, but it is a solid, above average hip-hop album that would be in held high and wide regard if it carried any other name. Wayne seems to address this new, sometimes B+ era with “Some of us are lovers/Most of y’all are haters/But I put up a wall/And they just wallpaper” on “Blunt Blowing,” a track which is Young Money’s seductive and flossy version of the blues. If dazzling rhetoric and shameless bombast is what grabs his audience, it absolutely overflows during the album’s unstoppable first quarter, which boils over when the short blue mobster called “Megaman” shoots forth “Life is shorter than Bushwick.” The totally T-Pain track “How to Hate” is the album’s first speedbump, and Wayne remains a guest on his own album as Tech N9ne and Rick Rossdominate the following cuts, but the uncontroversial “Abortion” (“I know your name, your name is unimportant/We in the belly of the beast, and she thinkin’ of abortion”) puts the spotlight back on Weezy. After John Legend adds some purposeful polish, it’s all smooth sailing plus with those high Carter standards, bouncing between tracks fans can singalong and connect with (the pure and simple “How to Love”) or marvel at (“It’s Good” where Jay-Z diss meets Alan Parsons sample). In the end, Busta’s pre-cog declaration of “classic” is the download generation’s more “in the moment” definition of the word, and it is fittingly delivered while the venerated Wizard Weezy is out the door and off the track in that “pay no mind to that man behind the curtain” style. On Tha Carter IV, Wayne’s world feels more like a dream than reality, but the loyal subjects of Young Money get a wild ride and the great feeling of flashing those ruby slippers one more time.

Based on Critics - 30/50

Based on Public - 50/50

Based on Hype - 50/50

Based on Pop Flares - 28/50

Overall:

Album: Lil Wayne - Tha Carter IV

Tha Carter IV is the upcoming ninth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It will be release on August 29 and features the hit single, How To Love and 6 Foot 7 Foot. And below is the video premiere for the song How To Love.


[DOWNLOAD THE FULL ALBUM]

Song: Lil Wayne - She Will

Track Listing: Lil Wayne - Tha Carter IV

Tha Carter IV is the upcoming ninth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne set to be release on August 29, 2011. The album features the hit single, How To Love.

Standard Edition

01. Intro

02. Blunt Blowin’

03. MegaMan

04. 6 Foot 7 Foot (feat. Cory Gunz)

05. Nightmares of the Bottom

06. She Will (feat. Drake)

07. How to Hate (feat. T-Pain)

08. Interlude (feat. Tech N9ne)

09. John (feat. Rick Ross)

10. Abortion

11. So Special (feat. John Legend)

12. How to Love

13. President Carter

14. It’s Good (feat. Drake and Jadakiss)

15. Outro (feat. Bun B, Nas, Shyne, & Busta Rhymes)

Deluxe Edition (Features TBA)

16. I Like the View

17. Mirror

18. Two Shots

Video Premiere: Lil Wayne (feat. Cory Gunz) - 6 Foot 7 Foot

[I Don't Mind Being Thanks]

MTV's Most Anticipated Albums of 2011

Artist: Lady Gaga

Title: Born This Way

Anticipated Release Date: May 23

The Buzz: According to Gaga, Born This Way will sound like, "bad kids going to church." Expect a mix of the dance-pop that made her famous, with the addition of an epic, classic rock sound in the vein of Bruce Springsteen and Elton John.

Artist: Britney Spears

Title: TBA

Anticipated Release Date: March (according to Britney's Twitter)

The Buzz: Things are heating up around Britney's upcoming seventh album. Soon enough we'll get a taste of things to come when the Dr. Luke and Max Martin produced lead single, "Hold It Against Me," drops. As for the album, Britney's manager, Adam Leber, told MTV News to expect the unexpected: "It'll be a departure from what you've heard."

Artist: Beyoncé

Title: TBA

Anticipated Release Date: TBA

The Buzz: Last fall we heard rumblings that a new Beyoncé single, co-penned with The-Dream, would be hitting the airwaves and Internets soon. That has yet to pass, but according to another producer, Los Da Mystro, the track was, "INSANE." As for the album itself, according to producer Jim Jonsin, Bey's fourth solo full-length might have an '80s vibe.

Artist: Patrick Stump

Title: Soul Punk

Anticipated Release Date: February

The Buzz: The first solo effort from the Fall Out Boy. What's he going to sound like without his partner in rhyme, Pete Wentz (who wrote the lyrics for their old band)? Well, if the first single, "Spotlight," is anything to go by, we're in for a R&B/arena rock/emo treat.

Artist: No Doubt

Title: TBA

Anticipated Release Date: TBA

The Buzz: No Doubt have been reunited for a little while now, touring with Paramore and reconnecting with fans. They spent much of '10 writing new material, and, as of this writing, had hit the studio to record their sixth studio...23 hours ago! That is, according to the No Doubt Twitter, which has been updating followers on the band's progress. Great to have Gwen Stefani and the boys back.

Artist: Lil' Wayne

Title: The Carter IV

Anticipated Release Date: TBA

The Buzz: Upon being released from prison, Weezy almost immediately hit the studio, recording the ferocious "6'7." If that's anything to go by, expect a clearheaded and hungry Lil Wayne to take us all back to the Carter, soon.

Artist: Blink-182

Title: TBA

Anticipated Release Date: Summer

The Buzz: Blink has been recording, on and off, since the group's reunion in 2008. Drummer Travis Barker told MTV News the album will be "heavy" and pick up where the band left off with the wonderful (and relatively more mature) 2003 self-titled album.

Artist: All-American Rejects

Title: TBA

Release Date: TBA

The Buzz: Main Reject Tyson Ritter has been pretty vague when it comes to details about his band's forthcoming fourth album. Talking to Rolling Stone last year, he said that fans should expect an evolutionary step from the band: "It feels good, feels like something organic that we've been trying to step into for years now." Sounds like things are going well, though; in a recent, somewhat cryptic Twitter message, Ritter said, "Just got a lovely thumbs-up from my mentor that what we are writing for this next record is special."

[I Don't Mind Being Thanks]