Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., 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 mentioned among the greatest rappers of all time. Carter's career began in 1995, when he was signed by rapper Birdman to his record label Cash Money Records, becoming the youngest member of the label at age eleven. From then on, he was the flagship artist of Cash Money Records before ending his association with the imprint in June 2018.
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Baby" Williams. In its early years, the label signed and released albums for New Orleans-based musical acts Juvenile, B.G., and Hot Boys. It became an imprint of Universal Records, a division of Universal Music Group in March 1998, and remained so during its following iterations as Universal Republic, Universal Motown and ultimately Republic Records.
Tha Carter is the fourth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on June 29, 2004, by Cash Money Records and Universal Records. The production on the album was mostly handled by Cash Money's former in-house producer Mannie Fresh, before Mannie left the label. A chopped and screwed version of the album was also released by Cash Money Records in 2004. The album spawned four sequels: Tha Carter II, Tha Carter III, Tha Carter IV, and Tha Carter V.
Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money, Universal Motown & Young Money Entertainment. It follows a string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop and R&B artists' albums. The album features appearances from Jay-Z, T-Pain, Fabolous, Robin Thicke, Busta Rhymes, Juelz Santana, Babyface, Bobby V, and Kanye West, among others. It also features Static Major, who is credited posthumously following his death in February of that year.
Like Father, Like Son is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Birdman and Lil Wayne. The album was released on October 31, 2006, through Cash Money Records and Universal Records. Guest appearances include Fat Joe, T-Pain, Rick Ross, Tha Dogg Pound and All Star Cashville Prince. Producers included Swizz Beatz and Scott Storch.
"Shooter" is the third single from Lil Wayne's fifth studio album Tha Carter II being also the second single on Robin Thicke's second studio album The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The song was also featured on the Like Father, Like Son bonus disc. The song samples the electric piano from Vic Juris’ "Horizon Drive,". It is a remake of Robin Thicke's "Oh Shooter", from his first album A Beautiful World, which was inspired by Thicke's real-life experience of being caught in a bank robbery when he was 18.
Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne in 2005. It was launched as an imprint of Cash Money Records — a joint venture colloquially branded as Young Money Cash Money Billionaires — and Republic Records until 2018, after which the label operated severally as an imprint of latter. Wayne's longtime affiliate, rapper Mack Maine was appointed the company's president in 2009.
The discography of American rapper Birdman consists of four studio albums, one collaborative album, two mixtapes, 23 music videos, 48 singles, including 23 as a featured artist, and 7 promotional singles. In 2002, Birdman released his debut studio album Birdman under the recording name Baby. It peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard 200, spending 23 weeks on the chart. Three singles were released from the album; the first, "Do That...", reached number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and the second, "What Happened to That Boy", reached number 45 on the same chart. The third single, "Baby You Can Do It", only charted on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart. In 2003, Birdman collaborated with singer Ginuwine on the single "Hell Yeah" and rapper Bow Wow on the single "Let's Get Down", which reached numbers 17 and 14 respectively on the Hot 100.
Jermaine Anthony Preyan, better known by his stage name Mack Maine, is an American record executive, songwriter, and rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was appointed as the president of hometown native Lil Wayne's record label Young Money Entertainment in 2009, having known the rapper since childhood. Preyan is also known as a co-writer on many of Wayne's singles, including "How to Love", "Got Money", "No Worries" and "It's Good", among others. Furthermore, he has co-written severally for other artists or Wayne's collaborators, often in tandem with record producer Ke'noe; his credits include "Dreams and Nightmares" by Meek Mill and "So Sophisticated" by Rick Ross.
Tha Carter IV is the ninth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on August 29, 2011, through Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Universal Republic Records. Recording sessions for the album began in late 2008, shortly after Lil Wayne's sixth studio album, Tha Carter III (2008) was released to strong sales and critical acclaim: however, the sessions were put on hold, as Lil Wayne claimed he did not want to follow an album he held in high regard so quickly with another, potentially inferior release. In the interim, Lil Wayne released his two other albums in 2010: the largely rock-themed Rebirth, and I Am Not a Human Being. The latter was reportedly composed from unreleased material from the original Tha Carter IV sessions, as the album was released whilst Wayne served a prison sentence at Rikers Island prison for illegal possession of a weapon, and was thus unable to record any new material: this also meant Tha Carter IV's recording sessions were once more put on hold.
I Am Not a Human Being is the eighth studio album by the American rapper Lil Wayne. It had a digital release on September 27, 2010, and on compact disc on October 12, 2010, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Universal Motown. It was recorded before Wayne's eight-month prison term for criminal possession of a weapon. Production for the album was by Wayne and several record producers, including Boi-1da, Cool & Dre, Streetrunner, Noah "40" Shebib and DJ Infamous.
"Right Above It" is a hip hop song by American rapper Lil Wayne, released as the first single off his eighth studio album, I Am Not a Human Being (2010). The song features vocals from Canadian and Young Money rapper Drake, and is produced by American hip-hop producer Kane Beatz. The song is also written by rapper and producer Andrew Canton. The song achieved reasonable chart success, particularly in the United States where it peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart, and also charted modestly internationally.
"6 Foot 7 Foot" is a song by rapper Lil Wayne featuring label mate Cory Gunz. It is taken from Wayne's ninth album, Tha Carter IV (2011). It was officially released on iTunes on December 16, 2010. It was produced by "A Milli" producer Bangladesh. The song samples "Day-O " by Harry Belafonte
"She Will" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne featuring Canadian rapper Drake, released as the fourth single from the former's ninth studio album, Tha Carter IV. It was released as a digital download and was added to rhythmic radio stations on August 16, 2011 in the U.S. It was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales exceeding 4 million units on September 27, 2022.
"Mirror" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne featuring American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars. The second bonus track on the deluxe edition of Tha Carter IV (2011), was released to Urban contemporary radio stations as the sixth and final single on September 13, 2011, through Young Money, Cash Money, and Universal Republic Records. The artists wrote the song alongside Phillip Lawrence and producer Ramon "REO" Owen of the Soundkillers, with co-production from the Smeezingtons. The song was produced three years before its release. Owen, with Mike Caren's help, was able to get the track to several rappers, who rejected it. Lil Wayne liked the song after hearing it, however, and his verses were added to Mars's hook vocals already on the track.
"MegaMan" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne, from his ninth studio album, Tha Carter IV. Although not released as a single, the song peaked at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100. "MegaMan" was the last song recorded for the album and was named after its producer MegaMan.
I Am Not a Human Being II is the tenth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on March 26, 2013, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. Recording sessions took place during 2006 to 2012, with Lil Wayne serving as the records executive producers, alongside Ronald "Slim" Williams and Birdman, who enlisted a wide variety of record producers such as Cool & Dre, Mike Will Made It, David Banner, T-Minus, Diplo, Juicy J and Street Runner, among others. The album serves as the sequel to I Am Not a Human Being (2010), incorporating the elements of these hip hop styles. The album was supported by three singles: "No Worries" featuring Detail, "Love Me" featuring Drake and Future, and "Rich As Fuck" featuring 2 Chainz; the latter of which peaked at numbers 29, 9 and 38 respectively, on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was the last album Lil Wayne released under Cash Money Records.
Tha Carter V is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on September 27, 2018, by Young Money Entertainment and Republic Records. The album's release date commenced the day of Lil Wayne's 36th birthday. The album's features include Swizz Beatz, Kendrick Lamar, Sosamann, Lil Wayne's daughter Reginae Carter, Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, Ashanti, Mack Maine, Travis Scott, Nivea, and the late XXXTentacion, with bonus tracks and the deluxe edition featuring additional appearances from Post Malone, Gucci Mane, Raekwon, and 2 Chainz.
Bigram John Zayas, professionally known as DVLP or Develop, is an American record producer, songwriter and disc jockey (DJ). Hailing from New York City, DVLP initially embarked on his career in music as one-half of the production team Doe Boys, alongside his cousin Matthew "Filthy" Delgiorno. Working primarily in the hip hop, pop, and Latin genres, he has produced over 25 songs for American rapper Lil Wayne, including the songs "Fireman" (2005) and "Blunt Blowin" (2011). In 2013, he gained major recognition when he produced the Eminem single "Rap God", which went on to reach number seven on the US ’’Billboard’’ Hot 100 chart.
Tha Block Is Hot is the debut studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on November 2, 1999, by Universal Records and Bryan "Baby" Williams' Cash Money Records. Recording sessions took place at Cash Money Studios in Metairie, Louisiana with the executive production from Bryan "Baby" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams, all of these tracks were produced by Mannie Fresh himself. Prior to release, the album was supposed to be titled I Ride At Night.
