1996–99: Career beginnings and Hot Boys
In 1996, Carter joined the Hot Boys along with rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. At age 15, 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 reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 5 on the Billboard 200.1 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.1 Carter was also featured on Juvenile's single "Back That Azz Up", which reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.1 Let 'Em Burn, a compilation album of unreleased tracks recorded during 1999 and 2000, came out in 2003, several years after the group disbanded.1 It reached No. 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 14 on the Billboard 200.
1999–2002: Tha Block Is Hot, Lights Out, and 500 Degreez
Carter's debut solo album Tha Block Is Hot was released when he was 17 and featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum by the RIAA. The album earned Carter a 1999 Source magazine nomination for "Best New Artist",1 and also became a Top Ten hit. The lead single was "Tha Block Is Hot". After the release of Tha Block is Hot, Carter was featured on the single "Bling Bling", with B.G., Juvenile, and Big Tymers. His verse appeared only on the radio version of the song, while on the album version he performed on the chorus.
His 2000 follow-up album Lights Out failed to attain the level of success achieved by his debut but was certified gold by RIAA.1 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.1 The lead single was "Get Off the Corner", which was noticed for an improvement in its lyrical content and style. The second single, which received less attention, was "Shine" featuring the Hot Boys. Near the release of Lights Out, Lil Wayne was featured on the single, "Number One Stunna" with Big Tymers and Juvenile, which peaked at No. 24 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Lil Wayne's third album 500 Degreez, released in 2002, followed the format of his previous two, with significant contributions from the Hot Boys and Mannie Fresh. While being certified gold like its predecessor,1 it also failed to match the success of his debut. The title was a reference to the recently estranged Hot Boys member Juvenile's recording, 400 Degreez. The lead single was "Way of Life" which failed to match the success of his previous singles. After the release of 500 Degreez, Wayne was featured on the single "Neva Get Enuf" by 3LW.2
2003–06: Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, and Like Father, Like Son
In the summer of 2004, Wayne's album Tha Carter was released, marking what critics considered advancement in his rapping style and lyrical themes.2 In addition, the album's cover art featured the debut of Wayne's now-signature dreadlocks. Tha Carter gained Wayne significant recognition, selling 878,000 copies in the United States, while the single "Go DJ" became a Top 5 Hit on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.2 After the release of Tha Carter, Lil Wayne was featured in Destiny's Child's single "Soldier" with T.I., which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.2
Tha Carter II, the follow-up to the original Tha Carter album, was released in December 2005, this time without production by longtime Cash Money Records producer Mannie Fresh, who had since left the label. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and went on to sell 2,000,000 copies worldwide. The lead single "Fireman" became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other singles included "Grown Man" with Currensy, "Hustler Musik", and "Shooter" with R&B singer Robin Thicke. Lil Wayne also appeared on a remix of Bobby Valentino's "Tell Me", which rose to No. 13 on the U.S. R&B Charts. In 2005, Lil Wayne was named president of Cash Money, and in the same year he founded Young Money Entertainment as an imprint of Cash Money.2 However, as of late 2007, Lil Wayne reported that he has stepped down from the management of both labels and has handed management of Young Money over to Cortez Bryant.2
In 2006, Lil Wayne collaborated with rapper Birdman for the album Like Father, Like Son, whose first single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy", reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Lil Wayne performing at the Beacon Theatre on July 23, 2007
2006–08: Mixtapes and collaborations
Instead of a follow-up solo album, Lil Wayne reached his audience through a plethora of mixtapes and guest appearances on a variety of pop and hip-hop singles. Of his many mixtapes, Dedication 2 and Da Drought 3 received the most media exposure and critical review. Dedication 2, released in 2006, paired Lil Wayne with DJ Drama and contained the acclaimed socially conscious track "Georgia Bush," in which Lil Wayne critiqued former US president George W. Bush's response to the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans. Da Drought 3 was released the following year and was available for free legal download. It contained Lil Wayne rapping over a variety of beats from recent hits by other musicians. Numerous of features in prominent hip-hop magazines such as XXL2 and Vibe1 covered the mixtape. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine considered the mixtapes Da Drought 3 and The Drought Is Over 2 (The Carter 3 Sessions) "among the best albums of 2007."
Despite no album release for two years, Lil Wayne appeared in numerous singles as a featured performer, including "Gimme That" by Chris Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe, "You" by Lloyd, and "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. On Birdman's 2007 album 5 * Stunna, Lil Wayne appeared on the singles "100 Million" and "I Run This" among several other tracks. Wayne 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. "Make it Rain", a Scott Storch production that peaked at number 13 on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Rap Tracks chart,2 was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for 2008.2
Vibe magazine ranked a list of 77 of Lil Wayne's songs from 2007 and ranked his verse in DJ Khaled's "We Takin Over" as his best of 2007, with "Dough Is What I Got" (a freestyle over the beat of Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got") from Da Drought 3 the second song.1 At the end of 2007, an MTV poll selected Lil Wayne as "Hottest MC in the Game",3 The New Yorker magazine ranked him "Rapper of the Year", and GQ magazine named him "Workaholic of the Year".3 In 2008 he was named "Best MC" by Rolling Stone. Another article, built around Lil Wayne's 2007 mixtape work, cites his creative practice as an example of post performance creative practice.3
2008–10: Tha Carter III, We Are Young Money, and Rebirth
Lil Wayne performing in concert at Rogers Arena in Vancouver B.C., January 2009
In 2007, Lil Wayne 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.3 Tha Carter III was originally scheduled to be released in 2007, though 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". Lil Wayne initially planned to release The Leak, a separate album with leaked songs and four additional tracks, on December 18, 2007, with Tha Carter III delayed to March 18, 2008.3 Instead, The Leak became an EP with five songs and was released digitally on December 25, 2007.3
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).3 The first single "Lollipop", featuring Static Major, became the rapper's most successful song at the time, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming his first top 10 single as a solo artist and his first number one on the chart. The third single "Got Money", featuring T-Pain, peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 100. The album went on to win four Grammy Awards, including best rap album and best rap song, which he won for "Lollipop".3 On July 14, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America certified Tha Carter III two times platinum.3 In October 2008, Lil Wayne announced plans to MTV News to re-release the album with new tracks, including a duet with Ludacris and remixes of "A Milli".3
Lil Wayne also appeared on R&B singles "Girls Around the World" by Lloyd, "Love In This Club, Part II" by Usher, "Official Girl" by Cassie, "I'm So Paid" by Akon, "Turnin' Me On" by Keri Hilson, and "Can't Believe It" by T-Pain; rap singles "My Life" by The Game, "Shawty Say" by David Banner, "Swagga Like Us" by T.I., "Cutty Buddy" by Mike Jones, All My Life (In the Ghetto) by Jay Rock and the remix to "Certified" by Glasses Malone; and pop single "Let It Rock" by new Cash Money artist Kevin Rudolf.
In 2008, Lil Wayne 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.4 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".4 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.4 He later performed at the homecoming rally at Vanderbilt University4 and the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards, where he received 12 nominations.4 He won eight awards at the BET Hip Hop Awards, one of which included the "MVP" title.4 After M.I.A. dropped out of performing on the I Am Music Tour due to her pregnancy, Jay-Z performed "Mr. Carter" with Lil Wayne at select shows.4
Following Tha Carter III's achievement of selling over 3 million copies, becoming 2008's best-selling record, Wayne re-signed with Cash Money Records for a multi-album deal.4 On November 11, 2008, Wayne became the first hip-hop act to perform at the Country Music Association Awards, playing "All Summer Long" alongside Kid Rock, in which Wayne inaudibly strummed guitar strings alongside the guitarist in Kid Rock's band.4 Shortly after, Wayne was nominated for eight Grammys – the most for any artist nominated that year.4 He was then named the first MTV Man of the Year at the end of 2008.5 He won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for "A Milli", Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his appearance in T.I.'s single "Swagga Like Us", and Best Rap Song for "Lollipop". Tha Carter III won the award for Best Rap Album.3 MTV News listed Lil Wayne number two on their 2009 list of the Hottest MCs In The Game.5
On January 6, 2009, Lil Wayne was a guest debater against Skip Bayless on the "1st & 10" segment of ESPN First Take.5 On February 10, 2009, he appeared on ESPN's Around the Horn and beat out veterans Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti and fellow New Orleanian Michael Smith to win that show's episode.5 Prior to the 2009 Grammy Awards, Wayne was featured in an interview with Katie Couric. On February 7, 2009, he presented the Top Ten List on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman.5 On April 24, 2009, he appeared on The View, discussing his GED and addictions.5 In September 2009, Wayne was profiled in an episode of VH1's Behind the Music5 and was a presenter of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.5 In film, Wayne produced and composed music for and starred in the direct-to-video film Hurricane Season. A documentary of Lil Wayne titled The Carter was released at the Sundance Film Festival.5
On December 23, 2009, Wayne released a collaboration album with Young Money, We Are Young Money, with its lead single being "Every Girl".5 The second single was "BedRock", featuring Lloyd, with the third being "Roger That". On May 24, 2010, the album was certified gold by the RIAA with over 500,000 copies sold.6 Wayne is featured on the song, "Revolver", with Madonna for her greatest hits album, Celebration (2009). He was also featured on a Weezer song, "Can't Stop Partying", on Raditude (2009).6 In late 2008, Wayne announced plans to reissue Tha Carter III with leftover recordings, and was to be titled Rebirth. Originally scheduled to be released on April 7, 2009 before being delayed several times, Rebirth instead became his debut rock album, released on April 7, 2009.6
To support its release and that of We Are Young Money, he was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone6 and headlined the 'Young Money Presents: America's Most Wanted Music Festival', a United States and Canada–only concert tour which began on July 29, 2009. "Prom Queen", the first official single, debuted on January 27, 2009 immediately after a live Internet broadcast on Ustream6 of his concert in San Diego.6 It peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. On December 3, 2009, the second single, "On Fire", produced by Cool & Dre6 "On Fire" peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. "Drop the World", which features Eminem, was the third single from the album.6
2010–11: I Am Not a Human Being and Tha Carter IV
In an interview on MTV's Mixtape Monday, Wayne asserted the possibility of Tha Carter IV,6 later announcing that it would be released in 2009 before the holiday season.6 Birdman had previously stated that Tha Carter IV would be packaged with Rebirth as a double disc album.6 However, Wayne denied this idea saying that "Tha Carter IV deserves Tha Carter IV", adding that We Are Young Money may be packaged with Rebirth.77 However, both albums were released separately.
Originally thought to be an EP, Lil Wayne released his tenth album, I Am Not a Human Being, on his 28th birthday, September 27, 2010. The album has sold over 953,000 copies in the U.S.7 and has spawned successful single "Right Above It", which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Tha Carter IV was later delayed into 2011, after Lil Wayne began recording from scratch after his release from prison.7 He described his first song sine his release as "a 2010 version of A Milli on steroids." The album's lead single, "6 Foot 7 Foot" featuring Cory Gunz, was released on December 15, 2010 and made available for digital download on iTunes on December 16, 2010. The song is produced by Bangladesh, who also produced "A Milli".7
On March 8, 2011, Lil Wayne released another song, "We Back Soon", produced by StreetRunner, though it was not included on the official track listing of Tha Carter IV.7 The second single, "John", was released on March 24, 2011, which features Rick Ross and is produced by Polow Da Don.7 The album's artwork was unveiled on April 20, 2011. The album was originally scheduled to be released on May 16, 2011,7 but Mack Maine had confirmed its delay to June 21. On May 26, 2011, the third single, "How to Love", was released. A song called "Dear Anne (Stan Part 2)" was released in June. Lil Wayne said the song was a throwaway track from Tha Carter III and was originally supposed to be on Tha Carter IV, but decided not to put it on there because of its age. Lil Wayne said that he liked the beat, but not the lyrics, and was thinking about revamping the song.
In July 2011, Lil Wayne confirmed in an interview with MTV that Tha Carter IV was finished, and was released on August 29, 2011. For preparation for Tha Carter IV, Lil Wayne released a mixtape, Sorry 4 the Wait, with all the beats coming from other artist's songa, similar to his "No Ceilings" mixtape. Tha Carter IV debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 964,000 copies, making it Lil Wayne's third chart topping album of his career. On January 8, 2012, According to Nielsen SoundScan was elected the seventh artist (second male artist) all-time best-selling tracks digital with 36,788,000 million to the end of 2011.7
2012–present: I Am Not A Human Being II
In October 2011, it was reported that Lil Wayne was working on sequels to I Am Not a Human Being and Rebirth.7 In January 2012, Birdman announced that he and Wayne had finished recording Like Father, Like Son 2.8 On November 22, 2012, he announced that Tha Carter V would be his final album.8
After numerous delays, I Am Not a Human Being II was released on March 26, 2013 debuting at #2 by moving 217k copies;8 "My Homies Still", "Love Me", and "No Worries" were released as singles prior to its release. Lil Wayne is expected to tour to promote the album.8
On May 3, 2013, Pepsi dropped Lil Wayne, who was a spokesperson for Mountain Dew, due to offensive lyrics about about civil-rights icon Emmett Till.
Future projects
Lil Wayne has announced several possible upcoming projects, including a collaborative album entitled I Can't Feel My Face with Harlem-based rapper Juelz Santana, that has been in production for several years.88 On June 19, 2008, Lil Wayne and T-Pain formed a duo called T-Wayne8 with plans to release an album however those plans have died down.8 According to an interview with Drake, in the December 2011 issue of XXL, plans for an upcoming album with Lil Wayne had been scrapped for the time being because of the Jay-Z and Kanye West collaboration Watch the Throne.89
In late 2011, it was announced by Mack Maine, that Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana have gone back to working on their collaborative album I Can't Feel My Face, which had been delayed for a few years due to "label politics".9 In April 2012, on the premiere of MTV’s Hip Hop POV, Wayne sat down with Amanda Seales and spoke briefly about an album he put together titled Devol (loved, backwards), an album full of “love songs” that he wrote during his imprisonment at Rikers Island. Recently in May 2013 he has confirmed the album will still be released.999 He also announced that a new Big Tymers album would be released, which would result it Drake and himself being added to the group. Wayne has indicated that some of these projects will be released prior to his final album, which will be Tha Carter V.9
Retirement
On March 29, 2011, in an interview with Hot 97's Angie Martinez, Lil Wayne announced that he would retire at age 35; saying "I have four kids," and that "I would feel selfish still going to the studio when it's such a vital point in their lives."9 He said in November 2012 that Tha Carter V will be his last album as he wanted to go into other interests. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Wayne]
