Lil Wayne may have been born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. on September 27, 1982. He may have started out in the game as one of the Cash Money Hot Boys – a group featuring B.G., Turk and Juvenile before it disbanded. However, he has gained prominence in the hip hop industry as Tha Carter, Weezy F Baby, and simply, Wayne. No one at this point can question Wayne’s ascendance to the top of the game. At a very young age, Weezy is the most important act in hip hop.It was not easy for Wayne to achieve such commercial success. It was even more difficult for him to gain critical respect as an artist. Having started out as the youngest member of the Hot Boys (their first record dropped in 1997, putting Wayne at 15 years of age at its release) and would be regarded as little more than a novelty act along the lines of Lil Romeo or Lil Bow Wow. However, he would distinguish himself from the pack soon enough. Wayne’s first records were decent and accomplished, but are considered mostly forgettable fare by even the most rabid of Wayne fans at this point. However, his debut, Tha Block is Hot, did go double platinum. His next two releases failed to live up to expectations sales-wise. With defections left and right from Cash Money, Wayne changed up his game. What would follow would be the turning point in Wayne’s career. He would go on to release Da Draught in 2003 as a mixtape, available for free anywhere you can find free records. Tha Carter, his next studio record, followed a year later. This is seen by many to be the point where Wayne began to come into his own as a hip hop artist.Tha Carter Vol. II would precede a string of mixtapes created at an almost superhuman pace. From 2003 to 2008, it seemed as though there was a new Weezy mixtape almost every month. This steady stream of underground work only served to bolster Wayne’s reputation within the game. He would become during this time one of the most respected rappers on the planet. Indeed, it was during this period that Wayne began referring to himself as “The Best Rapper Alive.”With his 2008 official release, Tha Carter III, Wayne truly placed himself at the top of the game. By selling over one million units in one week, Lil Wayne has raised the bar for himself as a recording artist in the future.
