Lil Wayne
Lil' Wayne (born DeWayne Michael Carter on September 27,1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American, Grammy-nominated rapper and president of the Cash Money Records label and Young Money Entertainment. Lil' Wayne claims himself to be the best rapper alive in his song titled Best Rapper Alive on his album Tha Carter II, beginning the chorus of this song by saying: "Who am I...the best rapper alive." Lil Wayne is also known as Birdman Jr., Young Tune, Raw Tune, Weezy F. Baby, Weezy Baby, Dwayne Carter (using the last name of his step father), Young Weezy,Da Young Don, or simply, Weezy.
Biography
Carter was born as the only child his mother ever had in the poverty and crime ridden Hollygrove section of New Orleans, which is part of the 17th Ward. His biological father left him when he was an infant, and until the age of twelve Reginald "Rabbit" Carter was his stepfather. Despite his unpleasant surroundings, he struggled off the streets and to stay in school. Wayne's first contact with hip-hop was listening to local Cash Money artists such as Pimp Daddy and U.N.L.V., whom he also credited as his earliest influences.
At first he started rapping at the block parties; his performance at one of them caught the ear of Lil Slim (an earlier Cash Money Records artist who was from the same neighborhood as Lil Wayne), who soon after the show gave him their phone numbers. He went on an autograph signing session with Lil Slim, where at the first time he met Cash Money Records owners, Brian "Baby" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams. His freestyling abilities impressed the Williams brothers, but they didn't sign him at first. 11-year old Wayne started to record freestyles on Baby's answering machine and haunted Cash Money offices nearly every day. When Baby saw so much engagement in the young rapper, he soon signed him and hooked up with another newcomer Lil' Doogie (who would later become famous as B.G.) to form group The B.G.'z. Group released their first and only album, True Story, in 1995. At the young age of 13, Wayne would drop out of school to fully pursue a rap career.
It should be noted that Wayne didn't rap about adolescent issues(His rhymes were written by Howard Fields), unlike most child rappers who perform bubblegum rap until their late teens. He did, however, refrain from swearing in his rhymes at the behest of his mother, which has contributed to his rapping skills (by not having swear words as "filler" in his lyrics, he had to be more creative and think of other things to say instead).
In 1997, Wayne formed the Hot Boys along with Juvenile, Turk, and B.G., and they dropped their seminal debut CD Get It How You Live. The record's success earned the young teenagers fans throughout the south and midwest. He further distinguished himself on the Hot Boys' platinum selling Universal debut Guerilla Warfare released in 1998, followed by their 2003 release Let Em Burn.
In 1999, at age 17, Wayne launched his solo career with the release of Tha Block Is Hot. This was followed by Lights Out in 2000 and 500 Degreez in 2002, an allusion to Juvenile's 400 Degreez.
In 2004, Wayne Carter released Tha Carter. This album is marked as a personal milestone as he claimed to have finally perfected his trade as a rapper.
On December 6, 2005 Wayne released Tha Carter II which further solidified his spot as a contemporary rapper, noticeably producing the album without the prominent beats of Mannie Fresh. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies debuting at no. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart and has been certified platinum. The lead single off the album, "Fireman", became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second single, "Grown Man", was solicited to urban radios in January of 2006 in hopes of spreading to Top 40 Mainstream and then to the Hot 100, but failed to do so and failed to receive any attention due to lack of promotion and no video.[citation needed] The third single "Hustler Muzik" received a video and gained minor attention also. "Hustler Muzik" reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100. His newest single, "Shooter" which is sampled from the Robin Thicke song of the same name and also features the singer, is in steady rotation and receives descent television play.
Recently Wayne was recruited by the Boyz N Da Hood as their fourth member after Young Jeezy left the group to engage in his solo career. Due to scheduling conflicts involving the promotion of Tha Carter II, he would never be formally named an active member of Boyz N Da Hood but maintains a very good relationship with the group recording new tracks with them often. Florida rapper Rick Ross was rumored to then replace Wayne and in essence, Young Jeezy but he also has denied that he will be an official member of the group. Lil Wayne will also be featured on Roman Verone's up coming mix cd and LP due out soon. Roman Verone was asked about this and stated "Lil Wayne is a legend, I came up on that Hot Boys Shit. He is the best rapper Alive!""[citation needed]
In 2006 Lil Wayne released his critically acclaimed sequel to his Dedication mixtape with DJ Drama called Dedication pt. 2. On it, he included an outro track entitled "Georgia....Bush" on which he addresses the problems surrounding the government's response to Hurricane Katrina in his native New Orleans, Lousiana and also places a large amount of blame on President George W. Bush. Throughout the track, he claims that theories of the government sabotoging the levees of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward were indeed true. The track was recorded on the beat to Ludacris' single "Georgia" which sampled the Ray Charles track "Georgia On My Mind." At the end of the track, and in silence, DJ Drama says "oh yea, u thought we was done?.....nah..." followed by the instrumental to the 2Pac track "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" plays with Wayne flowing over it for at least the next three minutes. This was actually a freestyle Lil Wayne had previously done on Rap City promoting the release of tha Carter II.
Lil' Wayne is set to release two collaboration LP's this year. A prequal to the mixtape, 'I Can't Feel My Face' with Juelz Santana was released in August 2006 with production done by Mick Boogie. Also, Wayne is working on a collabo with Baby called "Like Father, Like Son" which is set to be released on October 10th. The first single is entitled 'Stuntin Like My Daddy'. He is also working on Tha Carter III and is aiming to release it before the year's end.
Personal life
Lil' Wayne has been linked to female rapper Trina ever since around the time of the 2005 NBA All-Star Game at the Pepsi Center in Denver. They later recorded a single, Don't Trip, which appeared on her album Glamorest Life, and appeared on the remix for Remy Ma's Conceited (along with Papoose and Jae Millz). After that rumors started flying around about what was going on between the two. There were rumors that the two were dating or even engaged. On a radio interview, Trina said that the relationship was more of a "brother-sister" relationship. Later, on victoria's RapBasement, Lil Wayne said he knew nothing of the rumors.
Both would later retract that statement. In an issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine, Trina would later say that she made a huge understatement at that radio interview, and that "He's one of the sweetest people I've ever met...I have so much love for him!" However, she just burst out in huge giggles when further questions were asked, and she said "We're both happy. That's all the world needs to know." In the March 2006 issue of VIBE magazine, Lil Wayne said that this relationship was better than his past ones because "She's (also) a rapper, so we understand each other." When asked about the ring, he smiled and said, "She just likes rings. I saw a nice one, so I got it for her."
It appears that he has also gained a powerful ally in her, as on her mixtape track "What's Beef," along with dissing her own rival Khia, she takes shots at B.Gizzle and Gillie da Kid (who, like BG, is a former Cash Money artist now beefing with Wayne), calling them both "Cash Money rejects."
Lil' Wayne has one daughter, Reginae Carter, by his stylist.
Arrest
On August 14, 2006, Lil' Wayne was arrested on charges of possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance. Police claim the rapper was in possession of several unlabeled bottles — one containing 60 pills of Alprazolam, a generic form of Xanax that is used to treat anxiety disorders and panic attacks; another containing 59 hydrocodone pills — along with "two small burnt joints of marijuana" (roaches,) the report read. A second man, Derick Lawrence, 37, was also charged with possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana. He was released from Georgia's Fulton County Jail on $11,000 bond following his arrest.
Discography
Mixtapes
| Dedication | Dedication 2 | W.Carter Collection | W.Carter Collection 2 | Sweet 16 Vol.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:TheDedication.jpg | File:TheDedication2.jpg | File:TheWCarterCollection.jpg | File:TheWCarterCollection2.jpg | File:Sweet16Vol5.jpg |
| Sùffix | The Mixtape Legend | Wayne's World 3 | Please Say The Baby | Hustle Nomics |
| File:Suffix.jpg | File:TheMixtapeLegend.jpg | File:WaynesWorld3.jpg | File:Pleasesaythebaby.jpg | File:HustleNomics.jpg |
| Tha Carter 2 Mixtape | Tha Carter 2.5 | 2.5 (Chop & Screw) | Nolia Solja 4 | Mixtape Collabo |
| File:Carter2Mix.jpg | File:Carter2.5.jpg | File:2.5chop&screw.jpg | File:Noliasolja4.jpg | File:MixxMobb-Collabo-Vol-4-mid851.jpg |
Solo albums
| Album cover | Album information |
|---|---|
|
Tha Block Is Hot
|
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Lights Out
|
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500 Degreez
|
| File:Thacarter.jpg | Tha Carter
[[2]]
|
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Tha Carter II
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Tha Carter III
|
Collaborative albums
| Album cover | Album information |
|---|---|
| File:BGz-Truestory.jpg | True Story
|
| File:Getithowulive.jpg | Get It How U Live!
|
| File:Guerillawarfare.jpg | Guerrilla Warfare |
| File:Letemburn.jpg | Let 'Em Burn |
|
Like Father, Like Son
|
I Can't Feel My Face
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | US Rap | |||
| 1999 | "Tha Block Is Hot" | - | - | - | Tha Block Is Hot |
| 2000 | "Get Off The Corner" | - | #88 | - | Lights Out |
| 2001 | "Shine" | #96 | #39 | - | Lights Out |
| 2001 | "Everything" | - | - | - | Lights Out |
| 2002 | "Way Of Life" (feat. Big Tymers and TQ) | #71 | #23 | #16 | 500 Degreez |
| 2002 | "Where You At" | - | - | - | 500 Degreez |
| 2004 | "Go DJ" | #14 | #4 | #3 | Tha Carter |
| 2004 | "Bring It Back" (feat. Mannie Fresh) | - | #47 | - | Tha Carter |
| 2005 | "Fireman" | #32 | #15 | #10 | Tha Carter, Vol. 2 |
| 2006 | "Hustler Musik" | #87 | #26 | #16 | Tha Carter, Vol. 2 |
| 2006 | "Shooter" (feat. Robin Thicke) | - | - | - | Tha Carter, Vol. 2 |
| 2006 | "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" (Birdman & Lil' Wayne) | #82 | #16 | - | Like Father, Like Son |
| 2006 | "Get Real Gangsta" | TBA | TBA | TBA | Tha Carter III |
Guest appearances
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | US Rap | |||
| 2004 | "Soldier" (Destiny's Child feat. T.I. and Lil Wayne) | #3 | #3 | - | Destiny Fulfilled |
| 2005 | "Tell Me" (Bobby Valentino feat. Lil' Wayne) | #51 | #13 | - | Bobby Valentino |
| 2005 | "Don't Trip" (Trina feat. Lil' Wayne) | # | # | - | Glamorest Life |
| 2006 | "Gimme That" Remix (Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne) | #15 | #5 | - | Chris Brown |
| 2006 | "Holla At Me" (DJ Khaled feat. Cool & Dre, Fat Joe, Lil' Wayne, Paul Wall, Pitbull & Rick Ross) | #58 | #24 | - | Listennn... The Album |
| 2006 | "Suck It Or Not" (Cam'ron feat. Lil Wayne) | - | #62 | - | Killa Season |
| 2006 | "Where Tha Cash At" (Currency feat. Lil Wayne & Remy Ma) | - | - | - | Dedication 2 |
| 2006 | " You Know What" (Avant feat. Lil Wayne) | - | - | - | Director |
| 2006 | "Hollywood Divorce" (Outkast feat. Lil Wayne & Snoop Dogg) | - | - | - | Idlewild |
See also
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
External links
