Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne entered the music industry as something of an oddity, a youngster laying down intense Southern rap verses. Over an extended stretch of development and tireless releases, his approach to witty, intricate wordplay gradually shifted from sharp and combative toward mellow and gravelly, turning him into a multi-platinum seller whose vast catalog proved inventive enough to lend weight to his self-proclaimed title as the "best rapper alive." He made his entrance at age 12, earned an initial platinum plaque five years afterward while part of the Hot Boys, and soon established himself as a commanding solo force via Tha Block Is Hot (1999), the first of his 12 Billboard 200 Top Ten albums. Amid relentless productivity that encompassed not only hit full-length projects but also influential mixtapes and guest spots on mainstream successes such as Destiny's Child's "Soldier" (2004), he achieved widespread icon status with Tha Carter III (2008). That triple-platinum juggernaut yielded the chart-topping pop single "Lollipop" along with the number-six follow-up "A Milli" and secured three Grammy trophies, among them Best Rap Album. Across the 2010s, even while navigating repeated legal and artistic conflicts, Wayne maintained a steady foothold near the summit of the charts through projects like Tha Carter IV (2011) and I Am Not a Human Being II (2013), further headlining smashes, and an ever-growing roster of joint successes that included the multi-platinum "Sucker for Pain" (from the 2016 Suicide Squad soundtrack) and "I'm the One" (led by DJ Khaled in 2017). Following that latter triumph, Wayne has led the Billboard 200 with successive LPs Tha Carter V (2018) and Funeral (2020) while continuing to drop standalone singles and mixtapes such as his 2021 Rich the Kid collaboration Trust Fund Babies, 2023's Tha Fix Before Tha VI, and the Lil Yachty- and Kyle Richh-assisted 2024 single "Can't Hold Me Down."

Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and raised in New Orleans' notorious Hollygrove district, Lil Wayne excelled as a straight-A pupil yet sensed that his real intellect never surfaced on any report card. He discovered that music offered the clearest outlet for self-expression, and after adopting the name Gangsta D he started crafting rhymes. Blending fierce diligence with bold self-advocacy, the 11-year-old persuaded Cash Money Records to bring him aboard, initially for miscellaneous office tasks. Twelve months later, staff producer Mannie Fresh paired him with 14-year-old B.G. and branded the duo the B.G.'z. Although only B.G.'s name graced the artwork, the 1995 album True Story has since been recognized by fans and the label alike as the B.G.'z debut. The intended 1997 sequel Chopper City instead became a solo B.G. release after Wayne suffered an accidental self-inflicted chest wound from a 9mm pistol.

That same year he formally adopted the moniker Lil Wayne, shedding the "D" from his given name to distinguish himself from an estranged father. He teamed with B.G., Juvenile, and Young Turk for another Mannie Fresh venture, the teen hardcore rap outfit the Hot Boys, whose first album Get It How U Live! surfaced in 1997. Two years afterward Cash Money inked a distribution pact with Universal. That major-label arrangement propelled the year's Hot Boys album Guerrilla Warfare to the top of Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 1998 Lil Wayne featured on Juvenile's hit single "Back That Thing Up," alternatively titled "Back That Azz Up" on the 400 Degreez album. Wayne opened his solo run the following year with Tha Block Is Hot, whose title track became a hit single; the project earned double-platinum status, though Middle America remained largely unaware because his raw rhymes and the gritty Cash Money aesthetic had yet to cross over. His sophomore effort Lights Out (2000) fell short of matching that commercial peak yet still achieved gold certification, and a cameo on the Big Tymers' "#1 Stunna" single confirmed his expanding reach. While Mannie Fresh had chiefly guided his ascent, Wayne now aligned more closely with Fresh's Big Tymer partner and Cash Money CEO Birdman. Following Juvenile's departure, Wayne—by then styling himself "Birdman Jr."—signaled loyalty to his executive by issuing an album whose title outstripped Juvie's breakthrough: 500 Degreez arrived in 2002, went gold, and coincided with swirling rumors of Cash Money's financial woes and possible collapse. The remaining Hot Boys members had exited, and Wayne's slated 2003 album was shelved only to emerge instead as the underground mixtape Da Drought.

Wayne grew captivated by the mixtape circuit once Da Drought attracted substantial hip-hop press attention. He leveraged these underground drops to heighten anticipation for his next official release, the breakthrough Tha Carter. Issued in 2004, the album retained a familiar element through Mannie Fresh's beats, yet the dreadlocked figure on the cover presented a striking new image, and the rhymes displayed clear maturation. His promotional instincts had sharpened as well, evident in the hit single "Go DJ," which deliberately referenced hip-hop's premier influencers in its very title. The track climbed to number five, and a guest appearance on Destiny's Child's number-three single "Soldier" confirmed his mainstream arrival. Conversely, his street credibility stayed intact thanks to a wave of 2005 mixtapes, among them the well-received Dedication with DJ Drama and Tha Suffix with DJ Khaled. Cash Money's prospects had stabilized, and conventional industry protocols appeared obsolete as tracks surfaced online and across various DJ mixtapes. "Get Something" represented another daring step when a Universal-backed video was produced without the song ever receiving an official release.

His unorthodox marketing machinery operating at full tilt, the 2005 arrival of Tha Carter II became a major happening that moved more than a quarter-million copies in its opening week. "Fireman" and "Shooter" featuring Robin Thicke served as singles, while the album—marking the first without any Mannie Fresh contributions—attained platinum status. It also introduced his Young Money collective through appearances by Curren$y and Nicki Minaj, and initially included a bonus disc of Wayne's hits chopped and screwed by Swishahouse DJ Michael "5000" Watts. A year later he joined Birdman for Like Father, Like Son, which spawned the hit "Stuntin' Like My Daddy." Mixtapes continued inundating the underground, highlighted by the acclaimed Dedication 2 whose iconic cover image accompanied the widely discussed "Georgia...Bush," a scathing critique of President George W. Bush's response to the Katrina catastrophe. Absent an immediate sequel to Tha Carter II, several collaborative tracks sustained his mainstream visibility, with "Gimme That" by Chris Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe, and "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle ranking among the biggest.

Tha Carter III had been slated for 2007 yet surfaced a year later, reinforcing Wayne's reputation for postponed drops. Track leaks contributed to the delay, prompting the official downloadable EP The Leak that same year. Preceded by the number-one smash "Lollipop," Tha Carter III landed in May 2008 and sold more than a million copies during its first week. A Saturday Night Live performance and multiple Grammy wins, including Best Rap Album, underscored his broad acceptance. He also appeared at that year's Country Music Awards alongside Kid Rock, choosing guitar rather than rap. This guitar work formed part of Wayne's emerging rock explorations, which encompassed helping sign Kevin Rudolf to Cash Money and guesting on Rudolf's blockbuster "Let It Rock." His projected rock album received an early listen via the 2009 single "Prom Queen," but when the project missed its promised April release, critics began casting the rapper as the master of missed deadlines. Unfazed, Wayne pressed forward with his Young Money entourage, issuing the underground mixtape Young Money Is the Army, Better Yet the Navy, the commercial single "Every Girl," and the official album We Are Young Money that year. His rock album Rebirth finally emerged in early 2010, coinciding with a nine-month prison sentence for criminal weapon possession. Even while incarcerated on Riker's Island, the ten-song EP I Am Not a Human Being reached listeners in September 2010. Tha Carter IV finally arrived in 2011 accompanied by lead single "6 Foot 7 Foot" and topped the Billboard 200.

In 2013, undeterred by backlash over a contentious verse on Future's "Karate Chop" that referenced Emmett Till—the Black teenager brutally murdered in 1955 by white men—Wayne issued a second volume of I Am Not a Human Being. The album debuted at number two and featured the singles "No Worries" and "Love Me." A series of tracks intended for the repeatedly postponed Tha Carter V followed, among them the platinum-certified "Believe Me" featuring Drake. Another cut, "Nothing But Trouble" with Charlie Puth, appeared in 2015 on the soundtrack for 808: The Movie. That year, aiming to offset fan frustration with Tha Carter V delays, Wayne self-released Sorry 4 the Wait 2.

By 2016 Wayne had entered a legal dispute with Birdman and Cash Money Records that further clouded Tha Carter V's prospects. Persistent postponements led to the Free Weezy Album mixtape as another stopgap for supporters. Late that year he released the memoir Gone 'Til November recounting his Riker's Island experience and scored another hit with "Sucker for Pain," a multi-artist contribution to the chart-topping Suicide Squad soundtrack that led the Billboard rap chart and reached number three on the R&B/hip-hop tally. DJ Khaled's "I'm the One" became one of Wayne's biggest joint efforts the next year, topping the pop chart en route to quintuple-platinum certification. Primarily collaborative output persisted into 2018, including a track for the Future-driven Superfly soundtrack, until Wayne finally delivered the often somber Tha Carter V, the chart-topping conclusion to the Carter series. After teaming with blink-182 in 2019 for a co-headlining tour and the mashup single "What's My Age Again/A Milli," Wayne completed album 13, Funeral. Boasting a wide array of guest MCs—Jay Rock, Lil Baby, and XXXTentacion among them—the set arrived in January 2020 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In July of that year Wayne reissued his 2015 mixtape Free Weezy Album as FWA; the broader version differed substantially, omitting several tracks and presenting new mixes of songs that had previously contained uncleared samples. 2021 brought the chart-topping tracks "B.B. King Freestyle (with Drake)" and "Funeral," plus the standalone single "Ain't Got Time" featuring Fousheé. In October he collaborated with Rich the Kid on the ten-song mixtape Trust Fund Babies, which contained only one guest appearance from YG. January 2022 saw his 2011 mixtape Sorry 4 the Wait reach streaming platforms for the first time; the refreshed edition, originally a stopgap while awaiting the delayed Carter IV, added four new recordings with guest spots from Lil Tecca and Allan Cubas. February 2023 brought the single "Kant Nobody" featuring posthumous DMX contributions, later serving as the opening track of the career-spanning best-of compilation I Am Music, which arrived a month afterward. I Am Music gathered many of Wayne's most recognized and highest-charting songs across his discography and entered the Billboard 200 at number 25. September of that year yielded the mixtape Tha Fix Before Tha VI, a ten-track collection of assorted material previewing the sixth Carter installment and featuring guests Euro, Fousheé, and Jon Batiste alongside production from Cool & Dre; it debuted at number 40 on the U.S. charts. Before year's end Lil Wayne rejoined Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz for the collaborative album Welcome to Collegrove. Issued on Def Jam in November 2023, it served as a sequel to the 2016 project ColleGrove, which the pair had created equally yet credited solely to 2 Chainz owing to label disagreements. His early 2024 activity centered on prominent features such as "Lifestyle" from the second album by Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign's supergroup ¥$ and "Can't Hold Me Down" alongside Lil Yachty and Kyle Richh.