“The Life, Impact, and Legacy of Lil Wayne”
By: Ciera Burden
Dwayne Michael Carter Birth and Personal Life
Rapper Dwayne Michael Carter notoriously known as Lil, Wayne was born on September 27, 1982. Carter was born in New Orleans, Louisiana Although he grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in New Orleans, Hollygrove, he managed to defeat the odds and become a rapper, singer, songwriter, record executive, and entrepreneur. Wayne married once, before his career began to take off, to Toya Johnson in 2004, in which he had his first child Regina Carter. Wayne then went off to have three more kids ( Dwayne Michael Carter III, to Sarah Vivian, Cameron Carter to Lauren London, and Neal Carter to singer Nivea). Birth and Personal Life Early Career
Lil Wayne began his rap career at the young age of 9 years old. He was fortunate to join Cash Money Records, making him the youngest member of the group. The first record that he recorded with Cash Money Records was “True Stories” in 1993 .Shortly after in 1996, he became a part of the rap group “Hot Boys”, with other members of Cash Money Records, including Juvenile and Lil Dougie. This group was famous for their first album “ Get it How You Live” in 1997, followed by the album “Guerilla Warfare” in 1999. There were the first efforts to Carter’s successful rap career. Cash Money Records Songs
● “We on Fire” ● “50 Shots Set's It off” ● “On the Porch” ● “Block Burner” ● “Neighborhood Superstar” ● “I’m a Hot Boy” ● “Blood Thicker” Wayne’s Solo Career
Lil Wayne started his solo career in 1999. His debut album in his solo career was “The Block is Hot”. This album received a lot of recognition, helping his solo career take off. In fact, this album was listed as number 3, on the Billboard 200 and became platinum shortly after. One of his best albums during his solo career was “Tha Carter”, released in 2004, which sold more than 1 million copies. This album led him to also feature on songs with different popular groups and artists, such as Destiny’s Child ( Soldier). In 2005 Lil Wayne started his own record Label “ Young Money Entertainment” Tha Carter
Tha Carter was debuted on June 29, Songs 2004, under Cash Money Records. On ● “Walk in” the Billboard 200, it was number 5, on ● “Go D.J” the US Top Rap Albums, it was ● “Bring it Back” number 2, and on the US billboard ● “Inside” ● “Tha Heat” Top R&B/ Hip-Hop Album, it was ● “Hoes” number 2. This album went gold, ● “Only Way” selling more than 800,000 copies. The ● “Earthquake” most popular single on this album was “Bring it Back” followed by the single “GO D.J”. Tha Carter- Full Album Lil Wayne & Other genres Lil Wayne explored other genres of music other than rap. His album “Rebirth” “Rebirth” was a debut to his rock career. This album was produced by popular rock artists, such as Cool & Dre, DJ Infamous, DJ Nasty, & LVM, Kevin Rudolf, and Justice League. Rebirth Lil Wayne’s Impact and Legacy on the Music Industry
Lil Wayne has had a big impact on not only “He influenced a lot of styles and a lot of sounds. the Hip Hop industry, but the music I would say I was influenced by a recent sound and industry as a whole. Lil Wayne, along with flow, and cadence that he brought to the game.”- other artist has enhanced the use of Kendrick Lamar autotune, encouraged other artists merge into different genres of music, and also “Wayne is still fun. Are we forgetting that Wayne enhanced the appearance of many Hip Hop made everybody switch their flow up and start artists. using the E’s and R’s, and ‘I’m ir-regul-ar, seg-ular’? Like, c’mon, are we forgetting that Wayne changed hip-hop too? Are we forgetting that he made all these motherf*ckers want to have tattoos? Are we forgetting that?- ASAP Rocky Lollipop Sources LEWIS, HEIDI R. “Let Me Just Taste You: Lil Wayne and Rap’s Politics of Cunnilingus.” Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 49, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 289-305. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jpcu.12400.
GRAHAM, NATALIE. “Cracks in the Concrete: Policing Lil Wayne’s Masculinity and the Feminizing Metaphor.” Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 49, no. 4, Aug. 2016, pp. 799-817. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jpcu.12436.
George, Courtney. “From Bounce to the Mainstream: Hip Hop Representations of Post-Katrina New Orleans in Music, Film and Television.” European Journal of American Culture, vol. 35, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp. 17-32. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/ejac.35.1.17_1.
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Dennis, David. “Tha Carter IV.” Offbeat, vol. 24, no. 10, Oct. 2011, p. 52. EBSCOhost, login.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2050/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=80733270&site=ehost-li ve.
“Lil Wayne.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 5 June 2017, www.biography.com/people/lil-wayne-369134.
“Lil Wayne Biography.” Rolling Stone, www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/lil-wayne/biography.