Lil Wayne

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American hip hop recording artist from New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1991, 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, alongside fellow New Orleans-based rapper Lil' Doogie. In 1996, Lil Wayne formed the southern hip hop group Hot Boys, with his Cash Money label-mates Juvenile, Young Turk and Lil' Doogie (who now goes by B.G.). Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live!, that same year. Most of the group's success came with their platinum-selling album Guerrilla Warfare (1999) and the 1999 single "Bling Bling". Along with being the flagship artist of Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of his own label imprint, Young Money Entertainment, which he founded in 2005.

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. Wayne reached higher popularity with his fourth album Tha Carter (2004), which was led by the single "Go D.J." and his appearance on Destiny's Child's Top 10 single "Soldier", that same year. The album was followed by Tha Carter II (2005), as well as several mixtapes and collaborations throughout 2006 and 2007. 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 hit singles "Lollipop", "A Milli" and "Got Money".

Tha Carter

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 album was mostly produced from Cash Money's former in-house producer Mannie Fresh, who had worked with Lil Wayne before Fresh left the label. The album is based on "The Carter", the empire crack house from the 1991 movie New Jack City, and his last name.

Singles

The album's lead single, "Bring It Back" was released on April 10, 2004. The song serves its production and as a featured guest vocals from then-Cash Money producer Mannie Fresh.

The album's second single, "Go D.J." was released on October 5, 2004. Mannie Fresh's production were featured on the song; the same producer, who recently produced the song "Bring It Back", in which latter released as his first single.

The album's third single "Earthquake" was released on November 16, 2004. The production on the song and as a featured guest vocals was from Jazze Pha.

Commercial performance

Tha Carter III

Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money and Universal Motown. It follows a long string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop and R&B artists records, helping to increase his exposure in the mainstream. The album's cover art features a baby picture of Wayne and is similar to covers of hip hop albums such as Nas's Illmatic (1994) and Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die (1994). Amid release delays and leaks,Tha Carter III became one of the most anticipated releases of 2008.

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 1,005,545 copies in its first week. It reached sales of 2.88 million copies by the end of 2008 and produced four singles that achieved chart success, including the international hit "Lollipop" and Billboard hits "A Milli", "Got Money", and "Mrs. Officer". Upon its release, Tha Carter III received universal acclaim from music critics and earned Lil Wayne several accolades, including a spot on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It has been certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and has sold 3.6 million copies in the United States.

Carter

Carter is a surname which originally meant a person who hauls goods in a cart. It comes from the Gaelic and Celtic word cairt (cart). Being of Gaelic and Celtic origins the name originated in Ireland and Scotland and later migrated to England where it was reduced to its English pronunciation and form. However, this name stems from a few common surnames, the names being McCarthy, McArthur and McCarter.

People with this surname may trace their ancestors back to Ireland, many of these name holders ancestors escaped Ireland during the Irish diaspora heading to Great Britain, the American colonies typically the colonies of New York, Massachusetts, Georgia and Virginia. Other immigrants entered the United States later during the Great Famine of Ireland in the 1840s and later. The Irish counties with the highest amount of families having this surname are Laois, Galway, Meath and Leitrim; Laois seems to be the place where most Carters settled or where the name began in origin. Within the past 150 to 200 years, the Carter surname has been adopted widely by the African American community, either with ethnic black and Irish mixing or taken from slavemasters by former slaves. This name is common among African Americans capable of tracing their roots back to the southern United States from the early 20th century onward.

Tha Carter IV

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.