Lil Wayne is Dwayne Carter Jr., the New Orleans rapper signed to Cash Money at age 11, a Hot Boys alum who became one of the most influential voices in Southern hip hop. Tha Carter III (2008) sold over a million copies in its first week — start there or with Tha Carter II (2005). Find Lil Wayne vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., performing as Lil Wayne, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 27, 1982. He was signed to Cash Money Records at age 11 by Bryan Birdman Williams and Ronald Slim Williams, joining the Hot Boys (with Juvenile, B.G., and Turk) from 1997 to 2003. His solo catalog launched in earnest with Tha Block Is Hot (1999) and built across the Tha Carter series. Tha Carter III (2008) sold over one million copies in its first week - one of the few rap albums to achieve that feat. He founded Young Money Entertainment in 2009, which signed Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tyga, and others. He has won five Grammy Awards. His extensive Lil Wayne mixtape series (Da Drought, Dedication, No Ceilings) has been influential on subsequent mixtape culture. He has been open about his epilepsy and addiction struggles.
Lil Wayne's sound combines hip hop, Southern hip hop, dirty South, trap, hardcore hip hop, and pop rap with his distinctive raspy vocal delivery, extensive technically virtuosic punchline-heavy lyrical content, and use of metaphor and wordplay. His foundational influence on Southern hip hop, trap, and broader contemporary hip hop is widely documented.
Cash Money, Universal Motown, and Young Money/Republic pressings of the Lil Wayne catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings.
Listeners new to Lil Wayne typically start with Tha Carter III (2008) or Tha Carter II (2005).
