Shortly after establishing himself as a prominent member of the Hot Boys,
Lil Wayne entered the solo realm with
Tha Block Is Hot. From beginning to end, the teen rapper gets plenty of assistance from his former group mates (
Juvenile,
B.G., and
Turk), who back him on just over half of the album's 17 songs. In addition,
the Big Tymers (Brian "Baby" Williams and
Mannie Fresh) make several appearances as well, and
Fresh produces the entire album. Considering all this,
Tha Block Is Hot isn't much different from other late-'90s
Cash Money releases like 400 Degreez, Chopper City in the Ghetto, and How You Luv That? Like those albums,
Tha Block Is Hot is essentially a group effort despite
Wayne's solo billing. Even so, he still gets plenty of time to shine here, particularly on the fiery album-opening title track, which proved to be one of
Cash Money's biggest hits to date. The remainder of the album is as solid as late-'90s
Cash Money albums get -- a few standouts here and there, mostly because of
Fresh's beats, with lots of filler toward the latter half of the album. Taken as a whole,
Tha Block Is Hot surely has its moments, though
Wayne still seems a little green here. Thankfully, the
Cash Money posse comes to his aid often, resulting in an excellent debut for the youngster, highlighted by the title track. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi
