Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne
Birth name	Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.
Also known as	Baby D, Shrimp Daddy
Born	27 September 1982
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper, record producer, entrepreneur
Years active	1995-present
Label	Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Associated acts	2 Chainz, The B.G.'z, Birdman, Cash Money Millionaires, Drake, Hot Boys, Juelz Santana, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, T.I., T-Pain

Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born 27 September 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. Lil Wayne has had a successful career since the early 2000s, selling over 100 million records worldwide and being one of the best-selling artists of all time. Along with being the flagship artist of Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne is also the chief executive officer of his own imprint, Young Money Entertainment, which he founded in 2005.

In 1995, at the age of twelve, Lil Wayne signed to Cash Money as the youngest artist on the label and half of the duo The B.G.'z alongside Lil' Doogie. In 1996, Lil Wayne formed the group Hot Boys, with his Cash Money label-mates Juvenile, Young Turk and Lil' Doogie (who had changed his name to B.G.). Hot Boys made their debut with the album Get It How U Live! the following year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare in 1999.

Lil Wayne's 1999 solo debut album Tha Block Is Hot was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. His following albums, Light's Out in 2000 and 500 Degreez in 2002, were certified gold. He reached higher popularity with his fourth album Tha Carter in 2004, which was led by the single "Go D.J.". The album was followed by Tha Carter II in 2005 and several mixtapes and collaborations throughout 2006 and 2007. Wayne's sixth album Tha Carter III, released in 2008, became his most successful album to date, with first-week sales of over one million copies in the United States. The album includes the number-one single "Lollipop", as well as "A Milli" and "Got Money", and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

Following the success of Tha Carter III, Wayne decided to record a rock-based album titled Rebirth. The album, released in 2010, was certified gold by the RIAA, despite a generally negative critical response. In March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an eight-month jail sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. Wayne's eighth album I Am Not a Human Being was released during his incarceration. His 2011 album and first following his release from prison, Tha Carter IV, sold 964,000 copies in its first week of release in the United States. It included the singles "6 Foot 7 Foot", "How to Love" and "She Will". On 27 September 2012, Lil Wayne passed Elvis Presley as the male with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 109 songs. Lil Wayne's twelfth studio album, Tha Carter V, was delayed numerous times before finally being released on September 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1999: Tha Block Is Hot
• 2000: Lights Out
• 2002: 500 Degreez
• 2004: Tha Carter
• 2005: Tha Carter II
• 2008: Tha Carter III
• 2010: Rebirth
• 2010: I Am Not a Human Being
• 2011: Tha Carter IV
• 2013: I Am Not a Human Being II
• 2015: Free Weezy Album
• 2018: Tha Carter V

Collaborative albums

• 2006: Like Father, Like Son (with Birdman)