Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He has sold over 120 million records worldwide, including over 25 million albums and 95 million digital tracks in the U.S, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists.
Throughout his illustrious career, Carter has garnered numerous accolades, including five Grammy Awards, eleven BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and eight NAACP Image Awards.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. was born on September 27, 1982. He spent his first few years in the impoverished Hollygrove neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana's 17th Ward. His mother, a cook, gave birth to him when she was 19 years old. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and his father permanently abandoned the family.
In a 2009 interview, CBS News anchor Katie Couric asked the rapper why he used the name Wayne instead of his given name. Carter replied, "I'll tell you why I dropped the D right here on TV. I dropped the D because I am a junior. My father, he’s livin', and he is not in my life and he’s never been in my life. So I don't wanna be Dwayne. I’d rather be Wayne." Carter has said that he considers his deceased stepfather Reginald "Rabbit" McDonald to be his real father.
Carter was enrolled in the gifted program at Lafayette Elementary School. He later attended Eleanor McMain Secondary School for two years, where he was an honor student and a member of the drama club, playing the Tin Man in the school's production of The Wiz. Despite matriculating to Marion Abramson Senior High School, Carter left during his tenth grade year to pursue a GED. Carter's mother made the decision to remove him from school for his safety.
Read also: Learn more about Chad M. Wayne
In 1994, at age 12, Carter suffered a near-fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. At the time, he said the injury was accidental. After recovering from his self-inflicted gunshot wound, Carter linked with Christopher Dorsey, a local New Orleans rapper known as B.G., his longtime friend, future Cash Money labelmate and Hot Boys bandmate.
Early Music Career
Carter was first placed in a duo with Cash Money labelmate B.G. in 1994-known collectively as the B.G.'z-and they released the album True Story that year, although Carter (at the time known as Baby D) appeared on only three of its tracks. Carter and B.G. then formed the Southern hip-hop group Hot Boys with labelmates Juvenile and Turk in 1997, and released their debut album, Get It How U Live! that year.
In 1997, Carter and Dorsey then joined the hip-hop quartet, the Hot Boys, along with rappers and labelmates, Juvenile, and Turk. Having joined at age 14, Carter was the youngest member at the time. Hot Boys' debut album, Get It How U Live!, was released the same year, followed in 1999 by the group's major-label debut Guerrilla Warfare, which respectively reached number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number five on the Billboard 200. During their career, the Hot Boys had two charting singles, "We on Fire" from Get It How U Live! and "I Need a Hot Girl" from Guerrilla Warfare.
The group shared a track, "Bling Bling", alongside another Cash Money group, duo Big Tymers (consisting of Birdman and producer Mannie Fresh). Carter's verse appeared only on the radio version of the song, while on the album version he performed on the chorus.
Solo Breakthrough and Initial Success
Carter's debut solo album, Tha Block Is Hot, was released on November 2, 1999, when he was 17 and featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys. His second album, Lights Out, was released on December 19, 2000. Critics noted the lack of coherent narratives in his verses as evidence that he had yet to mature to the level of his fellow Hot Boys. The lead single was "Get Off the Corner", which was noticed for an improvement in its lyrical content and style.
Read also: Adventures in Africa with John Wayne
Carter's third album, 500 Degreez, was released in August 2002. It followed the format of his previous two, with significant contributions from the Hot Boys and Mannie Fresh. While being certified gold like its predecessor, it also failed to match the success of his debut. The title was a reference to the recently estranged Hot Boys member Juvenile's debut solo studio album, 400 Degreez (1998). Its lead single was "Way of Life", featuring Birdman and singer TQ with narration by its producer, Mannie Fresh; it reached number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 23 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
The Carter Era and Critical Acclaim
Carter is credited with revolutionizing the mixtape scene with his innovative approach in the 2000s. His fourth and fifth albums, Tha Carter (2004) and Tha Carter II (2005), both debuted within the top five of the Billboard 200 and received critical acclaim.
Tha Carter II, the sequel to 2004's Tha Carter, was released on December 6, 2005. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200; the album went on to sell two million copies worldwide. Instead of a follow-up solo album, Carter began to reach his audience through a plethora of mixtapes and guest appearances on a variety of pop, R&B and hip hop singles.
Of his many mixtapes, Dedication 2 and Da Drought 3 received the most media exposure and critical review. Da Drought 3 was released the following year and was available for free legal download. It contained Carter rapping over a variety of beats from recent hits by other musicians. A number of prominent hip hop magazines such as XXL and Vibe covered the mixtape.
Despite no album release for two years, Carter appeared in numerous singles as a featured performer, including in 2006 with the remix to "Gimme That" by Chris Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe and "You" by Lloyd, and in 2007 with "We Takin' Over" by DJ Khaled (also featuring Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, and Birdman), "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle, "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" by Wyclef Jean (also featuring Akon), and the remix to "I'm So Hood" by DJ Khaled (also featuring T-Pain, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Rick Ross). All these singles charted within the top 20 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Rap Tracks, and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
Read also: Gillen Joins USF Volleyball
On Birdman's 2007 album, 5 * Stunna, Carter appeared on the singles "100 Million" and "I Run This" among several other tracks. Carter also appeared on tracks from albums, Getback by Little Brother, American Gangster by Jay-Z, and Graduation by Kanye West and Insomniac by Enrique Iglesias.
In 2007, Carter stated that he would reunite with Hot Boys, with plans to release an album after B.G.'s solo album Too Hood to Be Hollywood was completed.
How Lil Wayne Influenced the Evolution of DRAKE'S Music Style
Commercial Peak and Grammy Success
His sixth album, Tha Carter III (2008), yielded the pinnacle of Wayne's career, with first-week sales of over one million units domestically. It won the Best Rap Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards and was supported by his first Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Lollipop" (featuring Static Major), and the top-ten singles "A Milli" and "Got Money" (featuring T-Pain).
Tha Carter III was originally scheduled to be released in 2007, but it was delayed after several recordings were leaked and distributed through mixtapes, including The Drought Is Over Pt. 2 and The Drought Is Over Pt. 4. Tha Carter III was released on June 10, 2008, with first-week sales of over 1 million copies, the first to do so since 50 Cent's The Massacre (2005). The album's first single, "Lollipop", featuring Static Major, became the Carter's most successful song at the time, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming his first top ten single as a solo artist and his first number one on the chart. The third single "Got Money", featuring T-Pain, peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard 100.
Throughout 2008, Carter performed at the Voodoo Experience in October in New Orleans, which was described by Jonathan Cohen of Billboard as his biggest hometown headlining set of his career. He also performed at the Virgin Mobile Music Fest with Kanye West, where they performed the remix of "Lollipop" and lip-synced to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". Lil Wayne also performed at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards with Kid Rock ("All Summer Long"), Leona Lewis ("DontGetIt (Misunderstood)") and T-Pain ("Got Money") and performed "Lollipop" and "Got Money" on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. He later performed at the homecoming rally at Vanderbilt University and the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards, where he received 12 nominations. He won eight awards at the BET Hip Hop Awards, one of which included the "MVP" title.
On November 11, 2008, Carter became the first hip hop act to perform at the Country Music Association Awards, playing "All Summer Long" alongside Kid Rock, in which Carter inaudibly strummed guitar strings alongside the guitarist in Kid Rock's band. Shortly after, Wayne was nominated for eight Grammys - the most for any artist nominated that year. He was then named the first MTV Man of the Year at the end of 2008.
He won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for "A Milli", Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his appearance on T.I.'s single "Swagga Like Us", and Best Rap Song for "Lollipop". Prior to the 2009 Grammy Awards, Wayne was featured in an interview with Katie Couric.
On December 23, 2009, Carter released his label, Young Money's first compilation album, We Are Young Money, with its lead single being "Every Girl". On May 24, 2010, the album was certified gold by the RIAA with over 500,000 copies sold.
| Album | Year | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Tha Block Is Hot | 1999 | Platinum |
| Lights Out | 2000 | Gold |
| 500 Degreez | 2002 | Gold |
| Tha Carter III | 2008 | 3x Platinum |
| We Are Young Money | 2009 | Gold |
Later Career and Incarceration
Carter's seventh studio album, Rebirth (2010), experimented with rap rock and was released to generally negative critical reception. A month after its release, he began serving an 8-month jail sentence for criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in 2007. His eighth album, I Am Not a Human Being (2010), was released during his incarceration, while his ninth album, Tha Carter IV (2011), followed months after his release from prison. His thirteenth album, Funeral (2020), became his fifth non-consecutive number one album.
Carter released his eighth album, I Am Not a Human Being, on his 28th birthday, September 27, 2010. The album also debuted at number two, but later climbed to number one on the Billboard 200, making Carter the first rapper while incarcerated (since Tupac Shakur's Me Against the World, released in 1995) to have a number one album.
Tha Carter IV was delayed into 2011, after Lil Wayne began recording from scratch after his release from prison. He described his first song since his release as "a 2010 version of A Milli on steroids". Finally released on August 29, 2011, Tha Carter IV debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 964,000 copies.
Throughout a two-year period between 2010 and 2012, Carter has been featured in many hit singles such as "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)" by Kevin Rudolf, "Miss Me", "The Motto", and "HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)" by Drake, "No Love" by Eminem, "Hit the Lights" by Jay Sean, "Look at Me Now" by Chris Brown, "Welcome to My Hood", "I'm on One", "Take It to the Head", and "No New Friends" by DJ Khaled, "Motivation" by Kelly Rowland, "Ballin'" by Young Jeezy, "Strange Clouds" by B.o.B, "I Can Only Imagine" by David Guetta, "Faded" by Tyga, "Pop That" by French Montana, and "Bandz a Make Her Dance" by Juicy J.
