A game-changing artist and an impervious celebrity, Lil Wayne began as
his career as a near-novelty -- a preteen delivering hardcore hip-hop --
but through years of maturation and reinventing the mixtape game, he
developed into a million-selling rapper with a massive body of work, one
so inventive and cunning that it makes his famous claim of being the
"best rapper alive" worth considering. Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.
and raised in the infamous New Orleans neighborhood of Hollygrove, he
was a straight-A student but never felt his true intelligence was
expressed through any kind of report card. He found music was the best
way to express himself, and after taking the name Gangsta D he began
writing rhymes. Combining a strong work ethic with aggressive
self-promotion, the 11-year-old convinced the Cash Money label to take
him on, even if it was just for odd jobs around the office. A year
later, in-house producer Mannie Fresh partnered him with the 14-year-old
B.G. and dubbed the duo the B.G.'z. Although only B.G.'s name appeared
on the cover, the 1995 album True Story has since been accepted as the
B.G.'z debut album both by fans and the Cash Money label. The 1997 album
Chopper City was supposed to be the follow-up, but when Wayne
accidentally shot himself in the chest with a .44, it became a solo B.G.
release.
That same year, he officially took the moniker Lil Wayne, dropping the
"D" from his first name in order to separate himself from an absent
father. He joined B.G., Juvenile, and Young Turk for another Fresh
project, the teen hardcore rap group the Hot Boys, who released their
debut album, Get It How U Live!, in 1997. Two years later, Cash Money
would sign a distribution deal with the major label Universal.
Mainstream distribution would help that year's Hot Boys album Guerrilla
Warfare to reach the number one spot on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop
Albums chart. In 1998, Lil Wayne would appear on Juvenile's hit single
"Back That Thing Up," or "Back That Azz Up" as it appeared on Juvie's
album 400 Degreez. Wayne would launch his solo career a year later with
the album Tha Block Is Hot, featuring the hit single title track. It
went double platinum but the rapper was still unknown to Middle America,
since his hardcore rhymes and the rough Cash Money sound had not yet
crossed over. His second album, Lights Out (2000), failed to match the
success of its predecessor but it did go gold, and with an appearance on
the Big Tymers' hit single "1 Stunna," his audience was certainly
growing. While Fresh was primarily responsible for launching his career,
Wayne was now much closer to Fresh's fellow Big Tymer and Cash Money
CEO Birdman. When Juvenile left the label, Wayne -- or "Birdman Jr." as
he was calling himself -- showed his allegiance to his CEO by releasing
an album with a title much hotter than Juvie's breakthrough effort. 500
Degreez landed in 2002 and while it went gold, rumors began flying about
Cash Money's financial troubles and possible demise. The rest of the
Hot Boys had defected and Wayne's planned 2003 album was scrapped,
coming out instead as an underground mixtape called Da Drought.
Wayne became enamored with the mixtape world after Da Drought drew so
much attention from the hip-hop press. He used these underground
releases to drum up anticipation for his next official album, the
breakthrough effort Tha Carter. Released in 2004, the album seemed
familiar on one hand with Mannie Fresh's production, but the Wayne on
the cover was a dreadlocked surprise, and the rhymes he laid on the
tracks showed significant growth. His marketing skills had become
sharper, too, and it was no mistake that the album's hit single, "Go
DJ," mentioned hip-hop's greatest tastemakers right in the title. It
reached number five on the singles chart, and with a guest shot on
Destiny's Child's number three single, "Soldier," Wayne had officially
crossed over. On the flip side, his street cred was supported by a slew
of mixtapes released in 2005, including the popular titles Dedication
with DJ Drama and Tha Suffix with DJ Khaled. Cash Money's future was no
longer in doubt and traditional music business rules no longer seemed to
apply, as tracks would be leaked onto the Internet and various DJs'
mixtapes. "Get Something" was another bold move, as a Universal-funded
video was made without the track ever seeing official release.
With his alternative marketing scheme working in overdrive, the 2005
landing of Tha Carter II was a major event, selling over a
quarter-million copies the week of its release. "Fireman" and "Shooter"
with Robin Thicke were released as singles, while the album -- which for
the first time featured no Mannie Fresh productions -- went platinum.
It also introduced his Young Money posse, with appearances from Currensy
and Nicki Minaj, and initially came with a bonus disc featuring Wayne's
greatest hits screwed and chopped by Swishahouse DJ Michael "5000"
Watts. A year later he collaborated with Birdman for the Like Father,
Like Son album, featuring the hit single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy." His
mixtapes were still flooding the underground, including the stunning
Dedication 2, which came with an iconic image of the rapper on the cover
plus the much talked-about track "Georgia...Bush," a venomous response
to President George W. Bush's handling of the Katrina disaster. With no
official follow-up to Tha Carter II in sight, numerous collaborative
tracks kept the rapper in the mainstream with "Gimme That" by Chris
Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe, and "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle
becoming three of the biggest hits.
Tha Carter III was promised for 2007 but didn't arrive until a year
later, setting off Wayne's infamous reputation of delayed releases. Part
of the problem became unauthorized leaks of the album's tracks,
something combated by the official, downloadable EP The Leak released
that same year. Preceded by the number one hit "Lollipop," Tha Carter
III arrived in May of 2008, selling more than a million copies in its
first week of release. An appearance on Saturday Night Live and
four Grammy Awards -- including Best Rap Album -- spoke to Wayne's
mainstream acceptance. He also performed at that year's Country Music
Awards with Kid Rock, but rather than rap, he played guitar. The guitar
playing was part of Wayne's new involvement with rock music, including
his help in signing Kevin Rudolf to Cash Money plus an appearance on
Rudolf's massive hit "Let It Rock." His planned rock album was previewed
with the 2009 single "Prom Queen," but when the album failed to meet
its promised April release, the music press began to portray the rapper
as the king of missed street dates. Unconcerned, Wayne forged ahead with
his Young Money crew, releasing the underground mixtape Young Money Is
the Army, Better Yet the Navy, the aboveground single "Every Girl," plus
the official album We Are Young Money that same year. His rock album,
Rebirth, would finally appear in early 2010, which coincided with Wayne
being sentenced to a nine-month prison term for criminal possession of a
weapon. The rapper may have been behind bars on Riker’s Island, but
that didn’t stop his ten-song EP I Am Not a Human Being from seeing the
light of day in September 2010. In early 2011, Cash Money announced Tha
Carter IV would be arriving later that year. David Jeffries, Rovi
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