Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne in 2020
Born	Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (1982-09-27) September 27, 1982 (age 42) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Other names	Weezy Weezy F. Baby Tunechi President Carter Birdman Jr. Baby D
Education	University of Phoenix
Occupations	Rapper singer songwriter record executive entrepreneur
Years active	1991–present
Works	Albums singles videography
Title	Founder of Young Money Entertainment Co-founder of Trukfit Clothing
Spouse	Toya Johnson ​ ​ (m. 2004; div. 2006)​
Partners	Nivea (2002–2003, 2009–2010; ex-fiancée) La'Tecia Thomas (2019–2020; ex-fiancée) Denise Bidot (2020–2022)
Children	4
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Southern hip hop pop rap
Labels	Universal Young Money Republic Cash Money[1]
Formerly of	Cash Money Millionaires The B.G.'z Sqad Up Hot Boyz
Website	thacarterv.com lilwayneofficial.com
Musical artist

This article is part of a series about Lil Wayne
Albums Singles Studio albums Tha Block Is Hot (1999) Lights Out (2000) 500 Degreez (2002) Tha Carter (2004) II (2005) III (2008) Rebirth (2010) (Full List) Related Drake Nicki Minaj Young Money Entertainment Cash Money Records Birdman 2Chainz Captain Chronic Tyga
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Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982),^[2] known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, and widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time.^[3] Born and raised in New Orleans, he was discovered by hometown rapper Birdman in 1993 and signed with the latter's record label, Cash Money Records, at age eleven.^[4][5] He emerged as the flagship artist of the label in the following years until his departure in June 2018.^[6]

He was first placed in a duo with Cash Money labelmate B.G. in 1994—known collectively as the B.G.'z—and they released an album, True Story, in July of that year, although Carter (at the time known as Baby D) only appeared on three tracks.^[7] Carter and B.G. then formed the Southern hip hop group Hot Boys with labelmates Juvenile and Turk in 1997; they released their debut album, Get It How U Live! in October of that year. The Hot Boys gained mainstream success following the release of their second album Guerrilla Warfare (1999), as well as their hit single, "Bling Bling".^[8] 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.^[9]

Carter's debut studio album, Tha Block Is Hot (1999), quickly achieved commercial success and served as his breakthrough as a solo act, followed by Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2003). He further reached mainstream audiences with his fourth and fifth albums in which were the first 2 installments of Tha Carter albums (Tha Carter (2004) and Tha Carter II (2005), as well as several mixtapes and collaborations throughout 2006 and 2007. He propelled to the forefront of hip hop with his sixth album Tha Carter III (2008), with first-week sales of over one million units domestically. It won 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), as well as the top ten singles "A Milli" and "Got Money" (featuring T-Pain), and the top 20 single, "Mrs. Officer" (featuring Bobby V and Kidd Kidd).

Carter's seventh studio album, Rebirth (2010), experimented with rap rock and was released in February of that year to generally negative critical response. A month later in March, he began serving an 8-month jail sentence for criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 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 domestically.^[10] 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.^[11]

Carter has sold over 120 million records worldwide, including over 25 million albums and 92 million digital tracks in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists.^[12][13][14] 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.^[15][16] Carter founded the record label Young Money Entertainment in 2005, which has signed artists including Drake, Tyga and Nicki Minaj.