Lil’ Wayne has officially lost his former title of “Best Rapper Alive” with the release of his new album, “Tha Carter IV.”

The album came out August 29. While spirited, it does not match up to his previous effort, “Tha Carter III.”

“Tha Carter IV” is still really good, though. Lil’ Wayne is a sick genius and, on every song, his verses are filled with bizarre metaphors and wordplay.

The beats, despite being created by different producers, also have a nice sense of uniformity.

As opposed to Game’s “The R.E.D. Album,” the album’s beats sound and feel cohesive.

On the subject of uniformity, however, there is none to be found in Wayne’s verses.

His bragging, while clever, comes across as a series of scattered thoughts barely strung together.

To call it a “stream-of-consciousness” would imply that one thought logically follows the next, and that’s just not the case here.

It’s like he made a mind map and rapped the entire thing.

This wouldn’t be an issue if he had clever concepts to back up the clever phrases.

On “Tha Carter III,” Wayne had songs like “Doctor Carter,” in which he acted like a surgeon to awful rappers, and “Mrs. Officer,” in which Wayne illustrates an affair with a police officer.

Those songs were good because their concepts allowed Wayne to challenge himself and come up with great lines.

In contrast, Lil’ Wayne’s only challenge is finding how many clever lines he can throw into a song.

Wayne as a rapper has been better before. On “Tha Carter IV,” he only has two modes: shrill and stoned.

In fact, the best rapping to be had on the album occurs in the final track, in which Bun B (of UGK), Nas, and Busta Rhymes all perform amazing verses while Wayne is nowhere to be found.

It’s like if your friend was recording a rap album and he walked out of the booth long enough for Wu Tang Clan to come in and cause a ruckus.

Despite the issues, “Tha Carter IV” is still worth the money. Almost all of the songs are good but the album lacks the content of a true classic.