How old is Lil Wayne? When is Lil Wayne’s birthday? When was Lil Wayne born?
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record executive, entrepreneur, and actor from New Orleans, LA. He got his start back in 1996, at the age of 13, when he joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label. He was discovered by Birdman and joined the southern hip hop group Hot Boys, with Cash Money label-mates Juvenile and Turk, in 1997, which foresaw the release of their debut album, Get It How U Live!, that same year. They became popular following the release of the platinum-selling album Guerrilla Warfare (1999) and the 1999 single “Bling Bling”. For many years, Lil Wayne was the flagship artist of Cash Money Records, before ending his long-tenured deal with the company in June 2018.
Lil Wayne’s solo debut album Tha Block Is Hot (1999) was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His subsequent albums, Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002), went on to be certified gold. Lil Wayne reached higher popularity with his fourth album Tha Carter (2004), as well as with his appearance on the song “Soldier” with Destiny’s Child that same year. The album was followed by Tha Carter II (2005), as well as several mixtapes and collaborations throughout 2006 and 2007. Lil Wayne gained more prominence with his sixth album Tha Carter III (2008), which became his most successful album to date, with first-week sales of over one million copies in the United States. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and includes the singles “Lollipop”, “A Milli” and “Got Money.”
Following the success of Tha Carter III, Wayne decided to record a rock-esque album titled Rebirth. The album, released in 2010, was certified gold by the RIAA, despite a generally negative critical response. In March 2010, Lil Wayne 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 his 2011 album Tha Carter IV was released following his release. Tha Carter IV sold 964,000 copies in its first week in the United States, and includes the singles “6 Foot 7 Foot”, “How to Love” and “She Will”.
On September 27, 2012, he became the first male artist to surpass Elvis Presley with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 109 songs. His twelfth studio album, Tha Carter V, was released in 2018 after multiple delays. It sold 480,000 units in its first week and went on to be certified platinum. Lil Wayne has sold over 120 million records worldwide, including more than 15 million albums and 37 million digital tracks in the United States, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He also currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of his own label, Young Money Entertainment, and has played a major role in signing artists like Tyga, Drake, and Nicki Minaj. He went so far as to label himself the best rapper alive. He is also a skateboarder and plays guitar in addition to being a world-famous rapper. His mixtape run is one of the most memorable in the digital era of rap.
Read: Lil Wayne shot himself in the chest at the age of 12 years old
Read: Lil Wayne’s first rap name was Shrimp Daddy
Read: Lil Wayne said Drake’s music “sucked” when he first heard it and told Jas Prince to stop playing it
