Critics pan Lil' Wayne's 'Rebirth'

Critics have panned Lil' Wayne's seventh studio album, according to reports.

Rebirth was released on Tuesday, a week before the rapper is due to commence a one-year jail term for attempted criminal possession of a weapon. The LP was billed as the "rock" follow-up to 2008's Tha Carter III and is currently streaming for free on MySpace.

"Rebirth deserves its reputation as one of the worst albums of the year," said Jeff Weiss of the Los Angeles Times. "With luck, Wayne will return to what he does best."

Weiss criticised the record's "insipid" lyrics and called it a "Frankenstein's monster of an album with grafted parts sewn on by someone whose musical repertoire is limited to System of a Down, Fall Out Boy and Creed".

The sentiment was echoed by Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot, who referred to the release as among the "worst career misstep(s) by a major artist in recent history".

Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III sold over three million copies and earned him Grammy awards for 'Best Rap Album', 'Best Rap Solo Performance' and 'Best Rap Song'.