American rapper ‘Lil Wayne’ turns 37. All you have to know about him

Born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, known professionally as Lil Wayne,turns 37 today.

The father of 4 is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record executive, entrepreneur, and actor. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was discovered by Birdman and joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo The B.G.’z, alongside fellow New Orleans-based rapper B.G.

EARLY LIFE

Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. was born on September 27, 1982, and grew up in the impoverished Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother, a cook, gave birth to him when she was 19 years old. His parents divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family.

Although Wayne and Birdman have a father-son relationship and Birdman calls Carter his son, Wayne’s biological father and namesake (Dwayne Carter) is still alive. Lil Wayne has also spoken about his deceased stepfather, Reginald “Rabbit” McDonald, who he has said he considers his real father. Carter has a tattoo dedicated to Rabbit, who was murdered before Carter became a star.

Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School.

Wayne attended McMain in the early 1990s for two years. He moved to the Marion Abramson Senior High School.

CAREER

He wrote his first rap song at age eight.

In the summer of 1991, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Carter recorded freestyle raps on Williams’s answering machine, leading him to mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He also recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G.. At the time, Carter was 11, and B.G. was 14, and was billed as “The B.G.’z”.

When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club’s production of The Wiz.

At age 12, he deliberately shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, and off-duty police officer Robert Hoobler drove him to the hospital.

At McMain Magnet School, Carter was an honors student, but he dropped out at the age of 14 to focus on a musical career.

1997–99: Career beginnings and Hot Boys

In 1997, Carter joined the Hot Boys along with rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. At age 14, Carter was the youngest member at the time. Hot Boys’ debut album Get It How U Live! was released the same year, followed in 1999 by the group’s major-label debut Guerrilla Warfare.

1999–2004: Tha Block Is Hot, Lights Out, and 500 Degreez

Carter’s debut solo album Tha Block Is Hot was released when he was 17 and featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum by the RIAA.

2004–06: Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, and Like Father, Like Son

In the summer of 2004, Wayne’s album Tha Carter was released, marking what critics considered advancement in his rapping style and lyrical themes. In addition, the album’s cover art featured the debut of Wayne’s now-signature dreadlocks

2006–07: Mixtapes and collaborations

Instead of a follow-up solo album, Lil Wayne reached his audience through a plethora of mixtapes and guest appearances on a variety of pop and hip-hop singles. Of his many mixtapes, Dedication 2 and Da Drought 3 received the most media exposure and critical review.

2007–10: Tha Carter III, We Are Young Money, and Rebirth

In 2007, Lil Wayne stated that he would reunite with Hot Boys, with plans to release an album after B.G.’s solo album Too Hood to Be Hollywood was completed. Tha Carter III was originally scheduled to be released in 2007, though it was delayed after several recordings were leaked and distributed through mixtapes, including “The Drought Is Over Pt. 2” and “The Drought Is Over Pt. 4”. Lil Wayne initially planned to release The Leak, a separate album with leaked songs and four additional tracks, on December 18, 2007, with Tha Carter III delayed to March 18, 2008. Instead, The Leak became an EP with five songs and was released digitally on December 25, 2007.

2010–13: I Am Not a Human Being series and Tha Carter IV

Originally thought to be an EP, Lil Wayne released his tenth album, I Am Not a Human Being, on his 28th birthday, September 27, 2010. The album has sold over 953,000 copies in the U.S. and has spawned successful single “Right Above It”, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Tha Carter IV was later delayed into 2011, after Lil Wayne began recording from scratch after his release from prison.

2014–present: Free Weezy Album and Tha Carter V

On February 10, 2014, Lil Wayne’s Young Money signee Drake, tweeted “CARTER V”.

On October 18, 2013, Cash Money Records Vice President of Promotion Mel Smith, tweeted: “Happy Friday!! New YMCMB music coming soon!! Carter 5.”

Nearly four months later, in an interview with The Griffin, released on February 14, 2014, Smith spoke on the upcoming album: “We’re very close to dropping the album. It’s going to be a huge surprise to everyone, it’s an incredible album … I can’t release the date because he wants to surprise people, he wants his true fan base to get excited, but he’s worked extremely hard on it and you won’t be disappointed.”

On February 15, 2014, during the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities at Sprite’s NBA All-Star concert at the House of Blues in New Orleans, Lil Wayne appeared as a special guest during Drake’s set and performed various hits. Wayne and Drake then broke the news that Tha Carter V is set to be released on May 5, 2014.

However, on March 27, 2014, Wayne’s manager Cortez Bryant, would announce the album had been delayed.

Wayne then serviced Tha Carter V’s first single “Believe Me”, which features vocals from Drake, to mainstream urban radio in the United States on May 6, 2014. Three more singles, “Krazy”, “Grindin'” (featuring Drake) and “Start a Fire” (featuring Christina Milian), were also released for the album.

On December 4, 2014, just five days before the album was due to be released again, Wayne issued a statement saying the album would not be released on its expected release date, due to his displeasure with Cash Money Records label-boss Birdman, refusing to release the album although it had been completed. Wayne also expressed his feelings by stating he felt both he and his creativity were being held “prisoner”.

On January 20, 2015, Wayne self-released Sorry 4 the Wait 2, a sequel to his 2011 mixtape, to compensate for the continued delay of Tha Carter V.

Upon Sorry for the Wait 2’s release, it was noted Wayne disses Birdman and Cash Money Records, several times throughout the mixtape.

Birdman was reported to be upset with this. In late January 2015, Lil Wayne sued Birdman and Cash Money Records for $51 million. In February 2015, due to Tha Carter V’s delay, Wayne announced a Free Weezy Album, would be released prior to the fifth installment in his popular series.

In June 2015, Wayne joined Jay-Z’s TIDAL, as an artist owner, kicking off the partnership by exclusively releasing a single on the service titled “Glory.”

He’s also announced plans on his own TIDAL X concert series. On July 4, 2015, Wayne released Free Weezy Album, exclusively through TIDAL, under Young Money and Republic Records.

Lil Wayne and Birdman supposedly accorded after being seen at Drake’s NYE Party, at Miami’s Club Liv, and in studio.

On January 27, 2016 when rapper 2 Chainz released his “Felt Like Cappin” EP Lil Wayne is featured on the lead single titled “Back On That Bullshit”.

On March 4, 2016, 2 Chainz released his third studio album, ColleGrove. The album was initially a collaborative effort between 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne, but due to his record label issues, only Chainz was credited as the primary artist. In 2017, Lil Wayne announced that he has signed with Roc Nation.

Later, Lil Wayne revealed that there was no official paperwork that he signed to the label. On August 8, 2017, he released the song “Like a Man” with sound engineer Onhel.

On June 7, 2018 it was announced that Lil Wayne had been released from Cash Money Records and will be releasing Tha Carter V via Universal Records.

Tha Carter V was finally released on September 27, 2018. Tha Carter V debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 480,000 album-equivalent units, including 140,000 pure album sales.

It is the second-largest streaming week for an album behind Drake’s Scorpion with 433 million streams. It is also Lil Wayne’s fourth US number-one album.

Retirement plans

On March 29, 2011, in an interview with Hot 97’s Angie Martinez, Lil Wayne announced that he would retire at age 35; saying “I have four kids”, and that “I would feel selfish still going to the studio when it’s such a vital point in their lives.”

He said in November 2012 that Tha Carter V will be his last album as he wanted to go into other interests.

In March 2014, Lil Wayne reconfirmed at SXSW that Tha Carter V will be his last album during his keynote with interviewer Elliot Wilson.

In September 2016, in regards to his contract dispute with Cash Money, he indicated a possible retirement on Twitter saying “I AM NOW DEFENSELESS and mentally DEFEATED” and then said, “I leave gracefully and thankful I luh my fanz but I’m done.” Many rappers responded with respect and encouragement.

Relationships and children

Lil Wayne has four children. His first child, daughter Reginae, was born when he was 16, to his high school sweetheart Toya Johnson. They married on Valentine’s Day 2004 and divorced in 2006.

Internet rumors started circulating in August 2008 that Wayne’s daughter had died in a car crash, which however he quickly cleared up as false saying “Please allow me to dispel any rumors or speculations and report that my daughter is alive, healthy and surrounded by family who cares and loves her dearly. The rumors are completely false and unfounded; neither Reginae nor any other member of my family has been involved in any car accident.”

His second child, Dwayne III, was born on October 22, 2008, at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati to radio broadcaster Sarah Vivan
His third child, Cameron, was born to actress Lauren London on September 9, 2009.

His fourth child, Neal, was born on November 30, 2009, to singer Nivea.

Trina also became pregnant with Wayne’s child, but later suffered a miscarriage.

In July 2014, it was rumored he was dating singer Christina Milian whom he attended the ESPY Awards with. They later confirmed their relationship in mid-2015 after which they received criticism from their interconnected exes, singer Nivea and songwriter The-Dream.

They split at the end of 2015 after collaborating on various singles, videos, and concert dates.

Reference: Wikipedia
Compiled by:
Gideon OFORI
Freelance Writer
Ghana-E/R