Lil Wayne Biography

Dwayne Michael Carter, more commonly known as, "Lil Wayne," is a hip-hop icon and has become very popular over the last decade. Before he was known as, Lil Wayne, he was just another kid in New Orleans, Louisiana. He and his mother, Jacinda Carter were both abandoned by his father, Dwayne Michael Turner, when Lil Wayne was two. Throughout school, Lil Wayne was always a straight-A student and always applied in the classroom. By eleven, Lil Wayne was signed to the Cash Money Records label by owner, Bryan “Baby” Williams. At fourteen, Lil Wayne dropped out of school to pursue his music career. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. In 1999, Lil Wayne released his debut album "The Block is Hot" which would eventually sell over one million copies in the United States. Wayne would not stop there, after releasing The Block is Hot, he then released two albums entitled, "Lights Out" (2000) and "500 Degrees" (2002). Although both of the albums were not as successful, he still earned gold status. By 2004, Lil Wayne's career was on the up-rise as he released albums entitled "Tha Carter, Tha Carter II (2005) and eventually Tha Carter III (2008), which would turn out to be his most successful album. Tha Carter III sold one million copies in its first week and topped the charts as the number one Rap Album of 2008. After his release of Tha Carter III, Wayne really began to gain the recognition he deserved. He was now being recognized as a mainstream artist and the fans wanted more. So in the beginning of 2010, Lil Wayne decided to show his rocker side with the release of his new album entitled, Rebirth. But this new album was much different compared to his others; it was something that Lil Wayne had never done before and really shocked his fans. Instead of spitting his lyrics over “hip-hop like beats,” this time he decided to demonstrate his talent behind the strings of a guitar. Although the album was not as successful The Carter III, it received much publicity and it gave fans the chance to see a different side of Wayne. His most recent album that he released, I Am Not A Human Being (2010), also had much success and publicity considering the fact that it was released during his time in prison. Only two artists ever, related to rap/ hip-hop, have released albums during imprisonment, Lil Wayne being one of them; the other being Tupac. His next album to come, The Carter VI, has been highly anticipated and the date of its release is still unknown. Wayne promises to go multi-platinum upon the release of Tha Carter VI, and plans to continue his successful ways. Clearly, Lil Wayne has proved himself to be one of the elite artists in the rap/ hip-hop game, and has become a national icon.