Released on December 11, 2007,
on Cash Money Records and Universal Motown.
Birdman is a vulture, a thoroughly nasty bird of prey. There is nothing endearing about the boss and founder of Cash Money. Nor is there anything remarkable about him as a rapper. Unlike plenty of other gangsta rappers, he may well be the real thing – a genuinely crooked businessman – but his lyrics amount to little more than platitudes. His protective-godfather routine and his constant celebration of his own success are just clichés, delivered with complete transparency, no originality, no verbal flair, and not the slightest thrill of authenticity.
Birdman reeks of phoniness, lies and hypocrisy, and he has nowhere near enough talent to disguise any of it, let alone transcend it. And yet his discography is far from negligible. Bryan “Baby” Williams’s albums deserve to be remembered, and 5 Star Stunna is a case in point.
Birdman’s greatest asset in the mid-2000s was Lil Wayne. Back when the self-proclaimed “best rapper alive” and his surrogate father were still kissing each other on the cheek, every contribution from the younger Carter felt like a blessing. In the period between the second and third installments of Tha Carter, Lil Wayne was splashing his talent all over his mixtapes and guest appearances, as well as his mentor’s records.
He had already proved it the year before with Like Father, Like Son, an album worthy of a place in the rap pantheon. And he does it again on this very similar solo record. Alongside Rick Ross and Jeezy, he appears on the dazzling “100 Million,” the flagship single from 5 ★ Stunna. He also plays a decisive role on the hugely enjoyable hit “Pop Bottles.” Never short of ideas, he even tries his hand at a strange reggae-dancehall hybrid on “Make Way.”
Lil Wayne, however, appears on only a third of the tracks. And even then, on many of them his contribution is reduced to the bare minimum, sometimes no more than a few words in the hook. And, truth be told, some of these collaborations, such as “I Run This,” are hardly memorable. On 5 ★ Stunna, we are often left alone with Birdman’s bargain-basement Don Corleone act and his grotesque interludes as an aging sage of the gangster life. However, the Cash Money boss has another ace up his sleeve: the production.
The synths, piano, “no” ad-libs and gun-click effects that decorate the opening track, “Fully Loaded,” produced by Kane, are flawless, as is the guitar Young Yonny dug up for “Head Busta,” or the breathless piano on “I Love My Hood,” the obligatory tribute to the neighborhood. Even the macho love song “Bossy” is rather pretty. And on another bonus track, “We Gangsta,” he gets more first-rate support from Yo Gotti and All Star, the rapper who would later become Starlito. Birdman himself does nothing but spout empty lines devoid of the slightest imagination. Somehow, though, it works wonderfully.
