Lil Wayne

1. LiL Wayne
AKA Wizzy

3. •Formerly a member of the rap group the Hot boys, he
joined the Cash money records collective as a teenager.
Get It How U Live, released in 1997, was Lil Wayne's
first album with Hot Boys, and Tha block is hot, his solo
debut, came out in 1999.
•After gaining fame with two other albums in the early
2000s, Lil Wayne reached higher popularity with 2004's
Tha carter and its two subsequent albums Tha carter 2
(2005) and Tha carter 3 (2008). He earned various
accolades following Tha Carter III, including being
nominated for eight Grammy awards. He will release a
rock album titled Rebirth in 2009.
•Early life

5. •Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born
September 27, 1982), and grew up in the Hollygrove
neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter enrolled
in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School
and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary
School. He wrote his first rap song at age eight. At age
eleven, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of
Cash money records. Lil Wayne recorded freestyle raps
on Williams' answering machine; Williams would
eventually mentor the young Carter and include him in
Cash Money-distributed songs. When he was 12, he
played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school
drama club's production of The Wiz. He dropped out of
school at age 14 but later earned his GED.

7. Music career
•Hot Boys
•In 1997, Lil Wayne formed a group called Hot Boys along with
rappers Juvenile, Turk, and B.G. At the age of 15, Wayne was the
youngest member at that 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 #1 on the
Billboard magazine Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #5 on the
Billboard 200. 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. Lil Wayne was also featured on
Juvenile's single “Back that ass up", which reached #18 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
Let 'Em Burn, a compilation album of unreleased tracks recorded
during 1999 and 2000, came out in 2003, several years after the
group disbanded. It reached #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart and #14 on the Billboard 200.

9. Early solo career (1999-2003)
•Lil Wayne's debut solo album The block is hot at age 17 featured
significant contributions from the Hot boys and went double
platinum, climbing to #3 on the Billboard album charts. The album
earned him a 1999 Source magazine award nomination for "Best
New Artist and also became a Top Ten hit. The lead single was
“The block is hot". After the release of Tha Block is Hot, Lil Wayne
was featured on the single, “Bling Bling", with B.G., Juvenile, Turk,
and Big Tymers.
•His 2000 follow-up album Lights out failed to attain the level of
success achieved by his debut but was certified gold by RIAA.
Critics pointed to the lack of coherent narratives in his verses as
evidence that he had yet to mature to the level of his fellow Hot
Boys. The lead single was "Get Off The Corner" which was noticed
for an improvement in lyrical content and style, it also received a
music video. The second single which received less attention was
"Shine" featuring The Hot Boys.

11. •Near the release of Lights Out, Lil Wayne was featured
on the single, "1# Stunna" with Big Tymers and Juvenile,
which rose to 24th place on the Hot rap tracks charts.
•Lil Wayne's third album 500 Degrees, released in 2002,
followed the format of his previous two, with significant
contributions from the Hot Boys and Mannie Fresh.
While certified Gold like its predecessor, it too failed to
match the success of his debut. The title was a reference
to the recently estranged Hot Boys member Juvenile's
recording, 400 Degrees. The lead single was "Way Of
Life" which like the album failed to match the success of
his previous singles. After the release of 500 Degreez,
he was featured in the single “Neva get enuf" by 3LW.

13. Tha Carter (2004)
•In the summer of 2004, Wayne's album Tha carter came
out, marking what critics considered advancement in his
rapping style and lyrical themes.In addition, the album's
cover art featured the debut of Wayne's now-signature
dreadlocks.Tha Carter gained Wayne significant
recognition, selling over 1 million copies in the United
States, while the single "Go DJ" became a Top 5 Hit.
After the release of Tha Carter, Lil Wayne was featured
in Destiny’s child single “Soldier" with T.I., which peaked
at #3 on the U.S. Hot 100 and the U.S. R&B Charts. The
song Get Something (featuring Mannie Fresh) was
supposed to appear on the album but failed to make the
cut, however the music video was released.

15. Tha Carter 2 (2005)
•Tha carter 2, 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 world wide.
The lead single, "Fireman," became a hit in the US,
peaking at 32 on the Biilboard 100 chart. Other singles
included "Grown Man", "Hustler Muzik", and "Shooter"
(featuring R&B singer Robin Thicke). Lil Wayne also
appeared on a remix of Bobby Valentino “Tell me", which
rose to #13 on the U.S. R&B Charts.

17. •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.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 Entertainment over to
Cortez Bryant.

19. Collaborations and mixtapes
(2006-2007)
•In 2006, Lil Wayne collaborated with rapper Birdman for
the album Like Father Like Son, whose first single
“Stuntin like my daddy", reached #21 on the Billboard hot
100. 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 Hurricana Katrina on the city of
New Orleans.

21. •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 XXL and Vibe covered the
mixtapes. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone
magazine considered the mixtapes Da Drought
3 and The Drought Is Over 2 "among the best
albums of 2007."

23. •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“
and “the Crack house 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
(remix)" 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.

25. •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. "Make it Rain", a
Scott Storch production that peaked at #13 on
the Hot 100 and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart,
was nominated for the Grammy award for best
rap peformance by a duo or group for 2008.

27. •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. At the end of
2007, an MTV poll selected Lil Wayne as "Hottest MC in
the Game",The New Yorker magazine ranked him
"Rapper of the Year", and GQ magazine named him
"Workaholic of the Year". In 2008 he was named "Best
Rock Star Alive" by Blender magazine and "Best MC" by
Rolling Stone.

29. Tha Carter 3 (2008)
•The Carter 3 was planned to be released in 2007, Tha Carter 3
largest delay came after the majority of the tracks were leaked and
distributed on mixtapes, such as "The Drought Is Over Pt. 2" and
"The Drought Is Over Pt. 4". Lil Wayne initially decided to use the
leaked tracks, plus four new tracks, to make a separate album, titled
The Leak. The Leak was to be released December 18, 2007, with
the actual album being delayed until March 18, 2008,The release of
The Leak in this format never came to fruition, but an official EP
titled The Leak and containing five tracks was released digitally on
December 25, 2007.
•Tha Carter 3 was released on June 10, 2008, selling more than a
million copies in its first week of release, the first to do so since 50
Cent’s The Massacre in 2005

31. •The first single “Lollipop", featuring Static Major became the rapper's
most commercially successful song at that point, topping the
Billboard hot 100, making it the first Top 10 single for Lil Wayne as a
solo artist, as well as his first #1 on the chart. His third single from
Carter 3', “Got Money" featuring T-Pain, peaked at #13 on the
Billboard 100. Along with his album singles, Lil Wayne appeared on
R&B singles “Girls around the world" by Lloyd, “Love in this club" by
Usher & Beyonce, “Official" by Cassie, "I'm So Paid" by Akon witch
also features Young Jeezy, "Turnin' Me On" by Keri Hilson, and
“Can’t Belive It" by T-Pain; rap singles “My Life" by The Game,
"Shawty Say" by David Banner, "Swagga Like Us" by T.I. witch also
feat’s Kayne West & Jay Z, "Cutty Buddy" by Mike jones, and
"Haterz“, Out here grindin by Dj Khaled and the remix to “Certified"
by Glasses Malone & Akon; and pop single “Let it rock" by new
Cash Money’s artist Kevin Rudolf. On July 14, 2008, Tha Carter 3
went two times platinum. In an October 2008 interview with MTV
News, Lil Wayne announced plans to re-release this album with all
new tracks, including a duet with Ludacris and remixes of "A Milli".

33. •On November 11, 2008, Wayne became the first hip-hop
act to ever perform at the Country music adwards. He
played alongside Kid Rock for the song, “All Summer
Long", in which Wayne did not rap but instead played
guitar along Kid Rock's band. Shortly after, Wayne was
nominated for eight Grammey’s the most for an artist
nominated. Wayne was then named the first ever MTV
man of the year at the end of 2008.DJ Drama stated that
there would be a Third installation of the Dedication
mixtape series with Lil Wayne, who insisted that it will
would be a full album under the title. However despite
the fact Wayne wanted to release Dedication 3 as an
album, it was released as a mixtape on November 14,
2008.

35. Rebirth (2009)
•Wayne stated that he would release a debut
rock album titled Rebirth. It was set to be
released on April 7th, 2009 but is now slated for
a June 23, 2009 release. "Prom Queen", the
lead single, debuted on January 27 immediately
after a live Internet broadcast of his concert in
San Diego."Prom Queen" peaked at #15 on the
Billboard hot 100 charts.

37. Personal life
•Family
•Wayne has two daughters. One was born when
he was a teenager, and another named Reginae
Carter with his high school sweetheart Antonia
"Toya" Johnson. Carter and Johnson married on
Valintines Day of 2004 and divorced in 2006. His
newborn son, Dwayne Carter III, was born on
October 22, 2008 at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati.

39. Drug use and arrests
•Wayne told CBS Evening news reporter Katie
Couric on her All Access Grammy Special in
2009 that he enjoys smoking weed
recreationally. He has been arrested for use or
possession of weed and other drugs.
•In the latter half of 2007, Lil Wayne was arrested
twice. On July 22, 2007, Lil Wayne was arrested
in New York City following a performance at the
Beacon Theater, the NYC police department
discovered Lil Wayne and another man smoking

40. Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana

41. •Weed near a tour bus. After taking Lil Wayne
into custody, police discovered a pistol on him,
and he was charged with criminal possession of
a weapon and weed. Another arrest was on
October 5, 2007, following a performance at
Qwest Arena in Bosie, Idaho on felony fugitive
charges after Georgia authorities accused the
rapper of possessing a controlled substance.
The incident was later described as a "mix-up"
and the fugitive charges were dropped.

43. •On January 23, 2008, Lil Wayne was arrested alongside
two others. His tour bus was stopped by Border Patrol
agents near Yuma, Arizona. A K-9 Unit recovered 105
grams of weed (3.7 ounces), almost 29 grams of cocaine
(1.02 ounces), 41 grams of ecstacy (1.4 ounces) and
$22,000 in cash. Lil Wayne was charged with :
possession of narcotic drug for sale, possession of
dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and
possession of drug paraphernalia. He was granted
permission to travel outside of the state and remain out
of custody on the $10,185 bond he posted. On May 6,
2008 Wayne returned to court in Arizona to plead not
guilty to the charges.

45. •In February 2009, production company
RMF Productions filed a $1.3 million
lawsuit against Wayne, following a
$100,000 advance payment for three
shows, all of which were cancelled by the
artist.

46. THE END