Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his
stage name Lil Wayne, is an American
rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined
Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo,
The B.G.'z, with
B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group
Hot Boys, which also included rappers
Juvenile,
B.G., and
Young Turk. Hot Boys debuted with
Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album
Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut
album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S.
Although his next two albums
Lights Out (2000) and
500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching
Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with
Tha Carter, which included the single "
Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the
Destiny's Child top ten single "
Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to
Tha Carter,
Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B singles.
His most successful album,
Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 which went on to sell over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "
Lollipop" and won the
Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Lil Wayne released his debut rock album,
Rebirth, in 2010 to primarily negative reception from critics. The album eventually went gold. In March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8-month prison sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. While in jail he released another album entitled
I Am Not a Human Being in September 2010, featuring Young Money artists such as
Drake,
Nicki Minaj and
Lil Twist. His upcoming ninth studio album, and first since being released from prison,
Tha Carter IV, is due to be released on June 21, 2011.
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