Lil’ Wayne Biography

SO…. WHO IS LIL WAYNE?

Lil’ Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter J.R. on September 27, 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lil Wayne is also known as Birdman J.R., Raw Tune, Weezy F. Baby, Weezy, or Dwayne Carter (using the last name of his step father). Lil Wayne has stated that his favorite rappers are Tupac, Eminem, Pimp Daddy, U.N.L.V., Big Pun and Jay-Z, and underground rapper JO$H.

Lil’ Wayne was signed to Cash Money Records while attending middle school at Eleanor McMain Magnet Secondary School. After seeing Lil’ Wayne dressed in gang affiliated colors, his mother pulled the plug on Wayne’s career with Cash Money. Wayne then ran away from home with his stepfather’s gun. While playing with the gun, Lil’ Wayne accidentally shot himself in the chest and was taken to the hospital after almost bleeding to death. After waking up in the hospital, he let the authorities know that the gun belonged to his step father. His step father was arrested for having an unregistered handgun, then shortly after being released from jail, was abducted, and killed. Wayne now has a large tattoo of the words “Bang Bang” on his chest to commemorate his shooting and also has “In Memory of Rabbit: It’s Up To Me” tattooed on his arm, in honor of his beloved slain step father.

Lil’ Wayne has one daughter, Reginae and one younger brother named Justin Keller who he has raised that lives in Houston Texas now with his wife Dakotta and they have just recently moved away from the northern part of Shreveport Louisiana.

Dwayne Carter credits Cash Money recording artists such as Pimp Daddy and U.N.L.V. as some of his early rap influences. At the age of 11, Wayne would drop out of school to fully pursue a rap career after meeting the Cash Money owner and CEO Ronald “Slim” Brian, “Baby aka Birdman” Williams who would sign him to their recording label. In 1995 at the age of 12, Wayne made his debut with then fellow label mate B.G. on the album titled True Story.

It should be known that Wayne didn’t rap about adolescent issues, unlike most child rappers who perform bubblegum rap until their late teens, like Lil Bow Wow and such. He did, however, refrain from swearing in his rhymes at the behest of his mother.

In 1997, 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’.

At age 16, Wayne launched his solo career with the release of ‘Lil Wayne: Tha Block Is Hot‘ in 1999. This was followed by ‘Lights Out‘ in 2000 and ‘500 Degreez‘ an allusion to Juvenile’s 400 Degreez in 2002.

In 2004, Lil Wayne 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 Lil 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.

On December 6th, 2005 Lil Wayne’s ‘Tha Carter II‘ was released which further solidified his spot as a contemporary rapper. ‘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, Lil Wayne’s “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” howerver, received a video, and gained minor attention also. Lil Wayne’s “Hustler Muzik” recently debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #88.

Lil Wayne Awards & Nominations

Below, are is a full list of all the awards Lil Wayne has won and also all the awards Lil Wayne has been nominated for throughout his career.

Awards

Nominations

SOURCES:
Wikipedia.org, RapCentral.co.uk, LilWayneHQ.com, MTV.com, lilwayne-online.com, cashmoney-records.com