Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. Formerly of the rap group Hot Boys, he joined the Cash Money Records collective as a teenager. He worked with B.G. on the album True Story and eventually recorded for the label
. Get It How U Live, released in 1997, was Lil Wayne's first album with Hot Boys, and Tha Block is Hot, his solo debut, came out 1999. Block debuted in the top ten on the American Billboard 200 chart and Lil Wayne was nominated for "Best New Artist" from The Source magazine the same year. Following this success, Wayne soon featured on other rappers' singles, including "Bling Bling" by B.G. and "#1 Stunna" by the Big Tymers in 2000.
After his hit debut album "Tha Block Is Hot" and two albums released with little promotion, Lil Wayne reached higher popularity with 2004's Tha Carter and its two subsequent albums Tha Carter II (2005) and Tha Carter III (2008). During that period, he appeared on several mixtapes and singles of other artists.
Personal life
Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. to Jacida "Cita" Carter and Dwayne Michael Turner, and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana.first=Jason Carter was in the gifted program at Lafayette Elementary School, and was in the drama club in middle school.first=Jonah At age eleven, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Lil Wayne recorded freestyle raps on Williams' answering machine; Williams would eventually mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs.first=Sasha He dropped out of school at age 14, but later earned his GED. When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz.first=Josh He also accidentally shot himself in the chest with a .44-caliber. Carter has a daughter named Reginae Carter with Antonia "Toya" Johnson, his high school sweetheart. The two were married on Valentines Day of 2004; they divorced in 2006. In an interview with Blender, Lil Wayne revealed one of his favorite bands from childhood to be rock group Nirvana, and cites them as a major influence in his music.
Hot Boys
In 1997, Lil Wayne formed the group Hot Boys along with rappers Juvenile, Turk, and B.G., Wayne being the youngest member. Hot Boys' debut album, Get It How You Live, was released the same year. In 1998, the group's major-label debut Guerrilla Warfare was released. Lil Wayne was also featured on the song "Back That Azz Up" by Juvenile. The group released its final album, Let Em Burn, in 2003.
Solo career
Tha Block Is Hot (1999)
Lil Wayne's debut solo album Tha Block Is Hot at only age 16 featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys and went double platinum, climbing to #3 on the Billboard album charts. The album earned him a 1999 Source magazine award nomination for "Best New Artist",url=www.lilwayne-online.com/bio.asp and also became a Top Ten hit. The lead single was "Tha Block Is Hot" which attained big recognition as a new artist and a music video. After the release of Tha Block is Hot, Lil Wayne was featured on the single, "Bling Bling", with B.G., Juvenile, Turk, and Big Tymers.
On January 23, 2008, Lil Wayne was arrested alongside two others. His tour bus was stopped by Border Patrol agents near Yuma, Arizona. A K-9 Unit recovered 105 grams of marijuana (3.7 ounces), almost 29 grams of cocaine (1.02 ounces), 41 grams of Ecstasy (1.4 ounces) and $22,000 dollars in cash. Lil Wayne was charged with four felonies: possession of narcotic drug for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was granted permission to travel outside of the state and re Tha Carter III was released on June 10, 2008, selling more than a million copies in its first week of release, the first to do so since 50 Cent's The Massacre in 2005. The first single "Lollipop", featuring Static became the rapper's most commercially successful song at that point, topping the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first Top 10 single for Lil Wayne as a solo artist, as well as his first #1 on the chart. It also gave him his first #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks. The second single, "A Milli", peaked at #8 on the Billboard 100, becoming the second-highest peaking single as a solo artist behind "Lollipop," and #2 on the Hot Hip-Hop/R&B Tracks charts. For the chart week of June 21, 2008, Lil Wayne tied T-Pain in having the most songs on the Hot 100 in one week for a rapper, appearing on seven songs in the Hot 100 that week. His third single from Tha Carter III, "Got Money" featuring T-Pain, peaked at #13 on the Billboard 100. Along with his album singles, Lil Wayne charted on "Girls Around the World", "Love In This Club, Part II", and various other singles featuring Wayne as a performer.
On June 17, 2008, Lil Wayne posted a video blog on YouTube thanking fans for buying Tha Carter III. At the end of the video, he said "Gettin' back to work. Carter IV."
Tha Carter III, nine weeks after being released, had officially become certified as double platinum selling two million copies in the United States.
Future work
He has announced several possible projects following Tha Carter III, including a collaboration album ''I Can't Feel My Face with rapper Juelz Santana that has been in production for several years. On the website HipHopDX.com, he has discussed a possible R&B album titled Luv Sawngz, for which he will heavily rely on a vocoder.first=Andres He has also talked with singer Lloyd about doing a collaboration album in the future.first=Alexis DJ Drama stated that there would be a third installation of the Dedication mixtape series with Lil Wayne,first=Allen who has instead stated that he will do an full album under the title.
On June 19, 2008, Lil Wayne and T-Pain formed a supergroup called T-Wayne and planned to release an album.
The lineup for New Orleans' 2008 Voodoo Experience concert, to be held in October, will feature Lil Wayne. Jonathan Cohen of Billboard magazine reported that the event will mark his biggest hometown headlining set of his career. Lil Wayne will be reuniting with Hot Boys alongside Juvenile, Turk, and B.G. They plan to release an album after B.G.'s solo album Too Hood to Be Hollywood is completed.
Wayne also performed as the 2008 Virgin Mobile Music Fest with Kanye West, performing his "Lollipop (remix)" featuring West and also lip-syncing to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". Lil Wayne is also set to perform at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. Lil Wayne is also set to be featured on the 34th season premiere episode of Saturday Night Live as the musical guest and is also set to perform at Vanderbilt University's homecoming on October 23.
In a recent interview, Wayne was asked about Carter IV and he responded. quote Carter IV? It's gonna be crazy. Because you know, I'm only getting better. Even thought I'm getting older I'm only getting better. I'm in my prime right now. And my light is shining very, very bright right now and I know that. So I'm gonna take advantage of that. And I promise you, I will never fail you.
Discography
Tha Block Is Hot (1999), Cash Money
Lights Out (2000), Cash Money
500 Degreez (2002), Cash Money
Tha Carter (2004), Cash Money
Tha Carter II (2005), Cash Money
The Leak (2007), Cash Money, Young Money – extended play
