Lil Wayne

Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, and is often cited as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wayne's career began in 1995, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label. From then on, he was the flagship artist of Cash Money Records before ending his association with the imprint in June 2018. In 1997, Wayne was placed in a duo with label-mate B.G. and they recorded an album, True Story, released that year, although Wayne (at the time known as Baby D) only appeared on three tracks. Wayne and B.G. soon formed the Southern hip hop group Hot Boys with Cash Money label-mates Juvenile and Turk in 1997; they released their debut album Get It How U Live! in October that year. The Hot Boys became popular following the release of the album Guerrilla Warfare (1999) and the song "Bling Bling". Wayne's solo debut album, Tha Block Is Hot (1999), was his solo breakthrough. He reached wider popularity and critical acclaim with his fourth and fifth 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 copies in the US. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and included the consecutive hit singles "A Milli", "Mrs. Officer" (featuring Bobby V and Kidd Kidd), "Got Money" (featuring T-Pain), and "Lollipop" (featuring Static Major)—the latter became his first single to top the Billboard Hot 100. In February 2010, Wayne released his seventh studio album, Rebirth, which experimented with rap rock and was met with generally negative reviews. A month later in March 2010 he began serving an 8-month jail sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. His eighth studio album I Am Not a Human Being (2010) was released during his incarceration, while the release of his ninth album Tha Carter IV (2011), coincided with his release from prison. Tha Carter IV sold 964,000 copies in its first-week in the United States.