Lil Wayne Biography
Born 09/27/1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Birth Name Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.
Nicknames
Lil' Weezy
Baby Jr.
Weezy F. Baby
BM Jr.
Birdman Jr.
Tunechi
Mini Bio
Lil' Wayne was born on September 27, 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana,
USA as Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. He was previously married to Toya Johnson.
Spouse Toya Johnso divorced - 1 child)
Trade Marks
Red Bandana in his right pocket or tied on his right arm or leg
Has dreadlocks
Raspy voice
Sexually provocative lyrics
Usually appears shirtless
Clad in tattoos
Trivia
Was once a member of the group the Hot Boys.
Records for Ca$h Money/Universal Records.
Father, with Toya Johnson, of daughter Reginae Carter.
Has a record label called Young Money Entertainment.
He structured it on the model of CashMoney.
Has consistently built up his 'Carter' series of albums,
including a Mr. Carter EP.
Even though it bears a standard RIAA explicit-lyrics sticker
he was unable to curse on his first album, "Tha Block is Hot,
" because of his status of being a "minor".
Always refers to Birdman/Baby (Birdman)as his Pa.
Attends University of Houston, majoring in psychology.
Currently resides in Houston, Texas, after being displaced by
Hurricane Katrina. [2005]
Is CEO of Young Money records and president of Ca$h Money Records.
Names Prince as one of his favorite musicians and biggest influences.
Many Lil' Wayne songs contain lyrical references to past Prince hits.
More surprisingly, Wayne revealed in an interview that he's also inspired
by Kurt Cobain, having been a major Nirvana fan since childhood.
His music video for the hit song "Lollipop" was filmed at the Maloof brothers
multi-million dollar mansion in the Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas.
The Maloof brothers among many are owners of the Palms Casino and
Resort and the Sacramento Kings.
His sixth studio album, the highly-anticipated 'Tha Carter III', sold over
one million copies in the US during its first week of release.
Therefore, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA and debuted at #1
on The Billboard 200. 'Tha Carter III' is the first album to reach platinum
status within a week since 50 Cent's 'The Massacre' in 2005.
Did a prison sentence for criminal possession of a weapon and marijuana.
Running his label, Young Money Entertainment [June 2005]
Released his sixth album 'Tha Carter III' after
much anticipation and hype. [June 2008]
Working on his 5th album, "Tha Carter 2." [June 2005]
Released his latest Carter album to huge sales,
all the while building up his record label. [August 2011]
His favorite sports teams are the Boston Red Sox, Green Bay Packers,
and Los Angeles Lakers.
His estimated net worth is $135 million.
Suffers from epilepsy.
Friends with Birdman, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Rick Ross,
Kanye West, Christina Milian, and Chris Brown.
Biography
Lil Wayne grew up in New Orleans’s impoverished 17th Ward.
There he came to the attention of Cash Money Records head Bryan Williams,
and he soon became a member—with Juvenile, B.G., and Turk—of the label’s
all-star group Hot Boys and won notice for the albums Get It How U Live!
(1997) and Guerrilla Warfare (1999). Lil Wayne’s first solo LP, Tha Block
Is Hot, arrived later in 1999 and sold more than a million copies, but two
subsequent releases, Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002), were less
popular with the public.
Lil Wayne found a new avenue to success in 2003 with Da Drought,
his first solo mixtape. (Within the context of early 21st-century hip-hop,
the term mixtape typically referred to a recording produced and distributed
outside official music-industry channels, often as a free Internet download.)
His 2004 album Tha Carter reached number five on the Billboard 200 chart
and spawned a hit single, “Go D.J.” During this time Lil Wayne came into
his own as an artist, with lyrics that were both profound and clever and
that spoke to a wide range of people. His contribution in 2004 to the single
“Soldier” (by Destiny’s Child) was among the first of many guest performances
with other artists that attracted wider attention to his distinctive
gravelly drawl and his skillful flow. While continuing to build his reputation
through mixtapes and collaborations, Lil Wayne released the critically praised
album Tha Carter II (2005), which sold more than one million copies.
In 2008 more than a million copies of Tha Carter III, which contained
the ubiquitous singles “A Milli” and “Lollipop,” were sold in its initial
week of release in the United States. By the end of December, it had sold
more than 2.8 million, which made it the country’s best-selling album of
the year. In February 2009 he took home Grammy Awards for best rap album,
best rap song, best rap solo performance, and best rap performance by a duo
or group; the latter award was for the song “Swagga like Us,” on which he
performed alongside Jay-Z, T.I., and Kanye West.
Later that year Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession
of a weapon; the charge stemmed from a 2007 incident in which a loaded gun
was found on his tour bus. In February 2010, a month before being sentenced
to prison, he released the rock-influenced album Rebirth, which was met with
largely unfavourable reviews. The subsequent I Am Not a Human Being (2010),
released while he was in jail (he ultimately served eight months of a
one-year sentence), was stylistically more consistent with his previous
work and was better-received.
Lil Wayne debuted the single “6 Foot 7 Foot” in late 2010, several months
before embarking on a North American tour with Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross.
The full-length follow-up to I Am Not a Human Being was slow to materialize,
however, and its release date was pushed back multiple times. Lil Wayne
acknowledged those delays with his Sorry 4 the Wait mixtape, and he remained
a presence on the hip-hop scene as a frequent guest vocalist. In August 2011,
after a boisterous performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, he released
Tha Carter IV, which featured guest performances by John Legend, Busta Rhymes,
and OutKast’s Andre 3000. I Am Not a Human Being II followed in 2013. By then,
some critics had begun to suspect that Lil Wayne’s creative peak was behind him,
although he remained a vital commercial force.
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