Also known as: Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., Dwayne Carter, Tune, Tunechi...
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
1982-09-27 (age 43)
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S. Although his next two albums Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter, which included the single "Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the Destiny's Child top ten single "Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B singles. His most successful album, Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 which went on to sell over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "Lollipop" and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Lil Wayne released his debut rock album, Rebirth, in 2010 to primarily negative reception from critics. The album eventually went gold. In March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8 month prison sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. While in jail he released another album entitled I Am Not a Human Being in September 2010, featuring Young Money artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Twist.
From Wikipedia
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer and record producer. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip-hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Born and raised in New Orleans, he was discovered by hometown rapper Birdman in 1993 and signed with his record label, Cash Money Records, at age eleven. He emerged as the label's flagship artist until his departure in 2018.
Carter was first placed in a duo with Cash Money labelmate B.G. in 1994—known collectively as the B.G.'z—and they released the album True Story that year, although Carter (at the time known as Baby D) appeared on only three of its tracks. Carter and B.G. then formed the Southern hip-hop group Hot Boys with labelmates Juvenile and Turk in 1997, and released their debut album, Get It How U Live! that year. The Hot Boys gained mainstream success after the release of their second album Guerrilla Warfare (1999) and their appearance on B.G.'s single, "Bling Bling." The group briefly disbanded after the album due to each member (besides Carter) parting ways with the label, although one further album—Let 'Em Burn (2003)—was released.
Carter's debut studio album, Tha Block Is Hot (1999), was his breakthrough as a solo artist, quickly achieving commercial success. It was followed by Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2003). Carter is credited with revolutionizing the mixtape scene with his innovative approach in the 2000s. His fourth and fifth albums, Tha Carter (2004) and Tha Carter II (2005), both debuted within the top five of the Billboard 200 and received critical acclaim. His sixth album, Tha Carter III (2008), yielded the pinnacle of Wayne's career, with first-week sales of over one million units domestically. It won the Best Rap Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards and was supported by his first Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Lollipop" (featuring Static Major), and the top-ten singles "A Milli" and "Got Money" (featuring T-Pain).
Carter's seventh studio album, Rebirth (2010), experimented with rap rock and was released to generally negative critical reception. A month after its release, he began serving an 8-month jail sentence for criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in 2007. His eighth album, I Am Not a Human Being (2010), was released during his incarceration, while his ninth album, Tha Carter IV (2011), followed months after his release from prison. Despite mixed reviews, Tha Carter IV sold 964,000 units in its first-week in the U.S. His twelfth studio album, Tha Carter V (2018)—preceded by I Am Not a Human Being II (2013) and Free Weezy Album (2015)—was released following long-term delays and label disputes, and was met with 480,000 in first-week sales. His thirteenth album, Funeral (2020), became his fifth non-consecutive number one album. He released his fourteenth album, Tha Carter VI, in June 2025.
Carter has sold over 120 million records worldwide, including over 25 million albums and 95 million digital tracks in the U.S, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has won five Grammy Awards, eleven BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards and eight NAACP Image Awards. On September 27, 2012, he became the first male artist to surpass Elvis Presley with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100, with 109 songs. Carter founded the record label Young Money Entertainment in 2005, which has signed artists including Drake, Tyga and Nicki Minaj.