Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. arrived in the world on the 27th of September 1982 within the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans. His mother was only nineteen years old when she gave birth to him while working as a cook. The family lived in Louisiana's 17th Ward where poverty defined their daily existence. His parents divorced when he turned two and his father left permanently without returning. Carter later explained that he dropped the D from his name because his father remained absent from his life. He chose Wayne instead to distinguish himself from his junior status. A stepfather named Reginald McDonald became the father figure Carter honored with a tattoo. He attended Lafayette Elementary School before moving to Eleanor McMain Secondary School. There he played the Tin Man in a school production of The Wiz. He eventually left high school during tenth grade after his mother found a gun in his bag for protection.
In the summer of 1991 twelve-year-old Carter met Bryan Williams who went by the stage name Birdman. This encounter changed the trajectory of his young life forever. Williams mentored the boy and encouraged his love for hip-hop music. By 1994 Carter formed a duo called the B.G.'z with Christopher Dorsey known professionally as B.G. They released an album titled True Story that same year. Carter appeared on only three tracks under the name Baby D. Two years later he joined Juvenile and Turk to form the group Hot Boys. Their debut album Get It How U Live! arrived in 1997 when Carter was fourteen years old. The group gained mainstream attention through their second album Guerrilla Warfare which reached number five on the Billboard 200 chart. They also shared a track called Bling Bling on B.G.'s solo album Chopper City in the Ghetto. The group disbanded shortly after but released one final compilation album Let Em Burn in March 2003.
Carter began releasing mixtapes instead of traditional albums during 2006 and 2007. Dedication 2 paired him with DJ Drama and included the socially conscious track Georgia Bush. Da Drought 3 followed the next year and was available for free legal download. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine considered these projects among the best albums of 2007. He rapped over beats from recent hits by other musicians throughout the collection. Vibe magazine ranked his verse in DJ Khaled's We Takin Over as his best performance of that year. An MTV poll selected him as Hottest MC in the Game at the end of 2007. The New Yorker magazine named him Rapper of the Year while GQ called him Workaholic of the Year. This strategy revitalized his career before he returned to major label releases. Critics noted his creative practice as an example of post-performance artistry.
Tha Carter III arrived on the 10th of June 2008 with first-week sales exceeding one million copies domestically. It became the first album to achieve this milestone since 50 Cent released The Massacre in 2005. The lead single Lollipop featuring Static Major topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album won four Grammy Awards including Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song. A month after its release Carter began serving an eight-month jail sentence for criminal possession of a weapon. He was incarcerated on Rikers Island starting in late 2008. During his imprisonment he released I Am Not a Human Being on the 27th of September 2010 which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. That album climbed to number one making him the first rapper while incarcerated to top the charts since Tupac Shakur's Me Against the World in 1995. Tha Carter IV followed months after his release from prison in August 2011.
Legal battles with Cash Money Records delayed the release of Tha Carter V for several years. Birdman had previously stated that the album would be packaged as a double disc with Rebirth but Carter denied this claim. Financial disputes caused multiple postponements throughout 2014 and 2015. Carter self-released Sorry 4 the Wait 2 in January 2015 to compensate fans for the delay. He announced Free Weezy Album exclusively through TIDAL in July 2015 before finally releasing Tha Carter V on the 27th of September 2018. The album debuted at number one with 480,000 album-equivalent units including 140,000 pure sales. It became the second-largest streaming week for an album behind Drake's Scorpion. Every song on the record charted on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. This marked his fourth number-one Billboard 200 album despite the long legal struggle.
Carter is known for creative lyrical ability using punchlines homonyms word play and braggadocio. His music often deals with subjects like wealth drugs and sex. He cites Missy Elliott as his biggest musical inspiration saying she influenced everything he ever did. Carter also pulled inspiration from Tupac Shakur for his 2011 single How to Love. American Songwriter credits Jay-Z for inspiring him to freestyle rhymes while recording over an instrumental. His usage of autotune influenced the modern sound of hip-hop music and its subgenres especially trap development. Many rappers have cited him as an influence including Nicki Minaj Drake Fall Out Boy Kendrick Lamar and Future. Young Money Entertainment signed artists like Tyga and Nicki Minaj after he founded it in 2005. He became president of Cash Money Records before handing management to Cortez Bryant in late 2007.
On the 25th of October 2012 Carter's private jet made an emergency landing in Texas due to a medical episode. TMZ reported he suffered a seizure aboard the plane though his publicist claimed it was a severe migraine. The following day another emergency landing occurred in Louisiana after a second seizure required hospitalization. In March 2013 he was treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after experiencing seizures on a music video set with Nicki Minaj. Reports alleged the seizures were linked to high amounts of codeine possibly from bingeing purple drank. Multiple celebrities including Drake and Birdman visited him during his six-day stay. He later acknowledged trouble remembering songs due to memory problems caused by epilepsy. On the 22nd of June 2010 he pleaded guilty to weapon possession charges and served time on Rikers Island until the 4th of November 2010. A federal firearms charge brought against him in December 2020 resulted in a pardon by President Donald Trump on the 19th of January 2021.
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Common questions
When and where was Lil Wayne born?
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. arrived in the world on the 27th of September 1982 within the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans.
How did Lil Wayne get his stage name?
Carter later explained that he dropped the D from his name because his father remained absent from his life and chose Wayne instead to distinguish himself from his junior status.
What happened during Lil Wayne's time in jail starting in late 2008?
He was incarcerated on Rikers Island starting in late 2008 and released I Am Not a Human Being on the 27th of September 2010 which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 before climbing to number one making him the first rapper while incarcerated to top the charts since Tupac Shakur's Me Against the World in 1995.
When was Tha Carter V released after legal delays with Cash Money Records?
Carter finally released Tha Carter V on the 27th of September 2018 after announcing Free Weezy Album exclusively through TIDAL in July 2015 to compensate fans for the delay caused by financial disputes throughout 2014 and 2015.
Why did Lil Wayne have medical episodes involving seizures in 2012 and 2013?
Reports alleged the seizures were linked to high amounts of codeine possibly from bingeing purple drank and he later acknowledged trouble remembering songs due to memory problems caused by epilepsy.