Lil Wayne born Dwayne Carter September 27, 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana) (also known as, Weezy F Baby, Birdman Junior, and more recently Raw Tunes), was one of the Hot Boys, an American rap group associated with Cash Money Records. His debut solo album was, Tha Block Is Hot was released in 1999. The title track was a huge hit. His second album was 2000's Lights Out, followed by 500 Degreez in 2002. 2004 saw the release of Tha Carter. In 2005 he released his latest solo album, titled Tha Carter II.
While handling a loaded gun, Wayne shot himself in the chest and almost bled to death. When the police arrived, he claimed the unregistered gun had belonged to his father, Reginald "Rabbit" Carter. This landed Rabbit a six month prison bid. Then shortly after Rabbit came home, he was abducted and murdered. As Brian came to pick up Wayne for studio sessions one afternoon, he was informed of the tragic news and decided to raise Wayne as a surrogate father. Wayne now has a large tattoo of the words "Bang Bang" on his chest to commemorate his shooting and also has "In Memory of Rabbit: It's up to me" tattooed on his arm, in honor of his beloved slain father.
As the youngest of the Hot Boys, Wayne was 16 at the time of their debut, " Get It How You Live". Most young rappers perform bubble gum rap until at least their 20's. Lil Wayne, however, performed gangsta rap in the strictest sense since an early age.
On his 2004 release, Tha Carter, Lil' Wayne returned with a much improved flow and produced the hit single " Go DJ", a cover of the U.N.L.V. underground classic. He was also featured on 3LW's "Neva Get Enuf" and Destiny's Child's " Soldier" and Paul Wall's "March" among other hit songs.