Genre: Hip Hop/Rap
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. Currently part of the newly reunited rap group Hot Boys, he joined the Cash Money Records collective as a teenager. He worked with B.G. on the album True Story and eventually recorded for the label. Get It How U Live, released in 1997, was Lil Wayne's first album with Hot Boys, and Tha Block is Hot, his solo debut, came out 1999. Block debuted in the top ten on the American Billboard 200 chart and Lil Wayne was nominated for "Best New Artist" from The Source magazine the same year. Following this success, Wayne soon featured on other rappers' singles, including "Bling Bling" by B.G. and "#1 Stunna" by the Big Tymers in 2000.
After his hit debut album Tha Block Is Hot and two more albums released with little promotion, Lil Wayne reached higher popularity with 2004's Tha Carter and its two subsequent albums Tha Carter II (2005) and Tha Carter III (2008), and he dubbed himself the "best rapper alive." During that period, he appeared on several mixtapes and singles of other artists.
In 1997, Lil Wayne formed the group Hot Boys along with rappers Juvenile, Turk, and B.G.; at age 15, Wayne was the youngest member at that time. Hot Boys' debut album Get It How U Live! was released the same year, followed in 1999 by the group's major-label debut Guerrilla Warfare, which reached #1 on the Billboard magazine Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #5 on the Billboard 200. During their career, the Hot Boys had two charting singles, "We On Fire" from Get It How U Live! and "I Need a Hot Girl" from Guerrilla Warfare. Lil Wayne was also featured on Juvenile's single "Back That Azz Up", which reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. Let 'Em Burn, a compilation album of unreleased tracks recorded during 1999 and 2000, came out in 2003, several years after the group disbanded. It reached #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #14 on the Billboard 200
Tha Carter III was released on June 10, 2008, selling more than a million copies in its first week of release, the first to do so since 50 Cent's The Massacre in 2005. The first single "Lollipop", featuring Static became the rapper's most commercially successful song at that point, topping the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first Top 10 single for Lil Wayne as a solo artist, as well as his first #1 on the chart. His third single from Tha Carter III, "Got Money" featuring T-Pain, peaked at #13 on the Billboard 100. Along with his album singles, Lil Wayne appeared on R&B singles "Girls Around the World" by Lloyd and "Love In This Club, Part II" by Usher as well as rap singles "My Life" by The Game, "100 Million" and "I Run This" by Birdman, "Haterz" by Glasses Malone, and pop single, "Let It Rock" by new Cash Money artist Kevin Rudolf. On July 14, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America certified Tha Carter III two times platinum
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_wayne