Lil Wayne Biography
Biography
Lil' Wayne was born as the only child his mother ever had in
the poverty and crime ridden Hollygrove section of New Orleans,
which is part of the 17th Ward. His biological father left him
when he was a little infant, and until the age of twelve
Reginald "Rabbit" Carter was his stepfather. Despite his
unpleasant surroundings, he struggled off the streets and to
stay in school. Wayne's first contact with hip-hop was listening
to local Cash Money artists such as Pimp Daddy and U.N.L.V.,
whom he also credited as his earliest influences.
At first Lil' Wayne started rapping at the block parties; his
performance at one of them caught the ear of UNLV members, who
soon after the show gave him their phone numbers. He went on an
autograph signing session with UNLV, where at the first time he
met Cash Money Records owners, Brian "Baby" Williams and Ronald
"Slim" Williams. His freestyling abilities impressed the
Williams brothers, but they didn't sign him at first. 11-year
old Wayne started to record freestyles on Baby's answering
machine and haunted Cash Money offices nearly every day. When
Baby saw so much engagement in the young rapper, he soon signed
him and hooked up with another newcomer Lil' Doogie (who would
later become famous as B.G.) to form group The B.G.'z. Group
released their first and only album, True Story, in 1995. At the
age of 16, Wayne would drop out of school to fully pursue a rap
career.
It should be noted that Wayne didn't rap about adolescent
issues, unlike most child rappers who perform bubblegum rap
until their late teens. He did, however, refrain from swearing
in his rhymes at the behest of his mother.
In 1997, Lil' Wayne formed the Hot Boys along with Juvenile,
Turk, and B.G., and they dropped their seminal debut CD Get It
How You Live. The record's success earned the young teenagers
fans throughout the south and midwest. He further distinguished
himself on the Hot Boys' platinum selling Universal debut
Guerilla Warfare released in 1998, followed by their 2003
release Let Em Burn.
In 1999, at age 20, Lil' Wayne launched his solo career with the
release of Tha Block Is Hot. This was followed by Lights Out in
2000 and 500 Degreez in 2002, an allusion to Juvenile's 400
Degreez.
In 2004, Wayne Carter released Tha Carter. This album is marked
as a personal milestone as he claimed to have finally perfected
his trade. It was also Tha Carter that finally earned Wayne mass
notability outside the south as a lyricist because at that time
(and even still today), southern rappers are stereotyped with
little to no lyrical ability. He however proves the stereotype a
dud as his lyrics are never written, contrary to the way most
lyricists produce their rhymes. He is self-proclaimed to be
second to only Jay-Z as one of the best freestyle artists in the
world.
On December 6, 2005 Wayne released Tha Carter II which further
solidified his spot as a contemporary rapper, noticeably
producing the album without the prominent beats of DJ Manny
Fresh. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies debuting at
no. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart and has been
certified platinum. The lead single off the album, "Fireman",
became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart. The second single, "Grown Man", was solicited to urban
radios in January of 2006 in hopes of spreading to Top 40
Mainstream and then to the Hot 100, but failed to do so and
failed to receive any attention due to lack of promotion and no
video. The third single "Hustler Muzik" received a video and
gained minor attention also. "Hustler Muzik" reached #87 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
Recently Wayne was recruited by the Boyz N Da Hood as their
fourth member after Young Jeezy left the group to engage in his
solo career. Due to scheduling conflicts involving the promotion
of Tha Carter II, he would never be formally named an active
member of Boyz N Da Hood but maintains a very good relationship
with the group recording new tracks with them often. Florida
rapper Rick Ross was rumored to then replace Wayne and in
essence, Young Jeezy but he also has denied that he will be an
official member of the group.Lil Wayne will also be featured on
Roman Verone's up coming mix cd and LP due out soon. Roman
Verone was asked about this and stated "Lil Wayne is a legend, I
came up on that Hot Boys s---. He is the best rapper Alive!""
In 2006 Lil Wayne released his critically acclaimed sequel to
his Dedication mixtape with DJ Drama called Dedication pt. 2. On
it, he included an outro track entitled "Georgia....Bush" on
which he addresses the problems surrounding the government's
response to Hurricane Katrina in his native New Orleans,
Lousiana and also places a large amount of blame on President
George W. Bush. Throughout the track, he claims that theories of
the government sabotoging the levees of New Orleans' Lower Ninth
Ward were indeed true. The track was recorded on the beat to
Ludacris' single "Georgia" which sampled the Ray Charles track
"Georgia On My Mind." At the end of the track, and in silence,
DJ Drama says "oh yea, u thought we was done?.....nah..."
followed by the instrumental to the 2Pac track "Ambitionz Az A
Ridah" plays with Wayne flowing over it for at least the next
three minutes. This was actually a freestyle Lil Wayne had
previously done on Rap City promoting the release of tha Carter
II.
Lil' Wayne is set to release two collaboration LP's this year.
Originally, the mixtape 'I Can't Feel My Face' with Juelz
Santana was supposed to be released over the summer, but now
there are rumors of it becoming a major-label commercial
release. Also, Wayne is working on a collabo with Baby called 'Stuntin'
Like My Daddy' in Miami, where he is also beginning to record
The Carter III.
Lil' Wayne has been linked to female rapper Trina ever since
around the time of the 2005 NBA All-Star Game at the Pepsi
Center in Denver. They later recorded a single, Don't Trip,
which appeared on her album Glamorest Life. After that rumors
started flying around about what was going on between the two.
There were rumors that the two were dating or even engaged. On a
radio interview, Trina said that the relationship was more of a
"brother-sister" relationship. Later, on BET's RapBasement, Lil
Wayne said he knew nothing of the rumors.
Both would later retract that statement. In an issue of Sister 2
Sister magazine, Trina would later say that she made a huge
understatement at that radio interview, and that "He's one of
the sweetest people I've ever met...I have so much love for
him!" However, she just burst out in huge giggles when further
questions were asked, and she said "We're both happy. That's all
the world needs to know." In the March 2006 issue of VIBE
magazine, Lil Wayne said that this relationship was better than
his past ones because "She's (also) a rapper, so we understand
each other." When asked about the ring, he smiled and said, "She
just likes rings. I saw a nice one, so I got it for her."
Lil' Wayne has one daughter, Reginae Carter, by his stylist.
On August 14, 2006, Lil' Wayne was arrested on charges of
possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana and possession of a
controlled substance. Police claim the rapper was in possession
of several unlabeled bottles — one containing 60 pills of
Alprazolama, a generic form of Xanax that is used to treat
anxiety disorders and panic attacks; another containing 59
hydrocodone pills — along with "two small burnt joints of
marijuana," the report read. A second man, Derrick Lawrence, 37,
was also charged with possession of less than 1 ounce of
marijuana. He was released from Georgia's Fulton County Jail on
$11,000 bond following his arrest.
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