Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., Lil Wayne is one of famous American rapper and record producer with a net worth of $150 million.
Education And Musical Career
Born on September 27, 1982, Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr, grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and lived with his mother after their parents divorced when he was 2. Dwayne replaced ‘D’ in his name and replaced it with a ‘W’ to make it ‘Wayne‘ after his father abandoned him when he still was a child while he considers Birdman to be his real father. Wayne moved from the Elementary School to Marion Abramson Senior High School to get an education.
Considered talent to play with words, Wayne wrote his first piece of rap when he was just eight years old while he started recording freestyle rap after he met Bryan Williams who ran the Cash Money Records. Despite being an honors student in his school, Wayne dropped out to pursue his musical career at the age of 14. Before then, he already had recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G when he was just 11.
A master in his work, Carter began his career in 1996 after joining the Hot Boys alongside Juvenile, B.G and Turk with whom he released the first album Get It How U Live while the group’s major label was Guerrilla Warfare released in 1999 that peaked to the #1 on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and on #5 on Billboard 200. The group was soon disbanded, however, their tracks were released up until 2003 taking them to fame at their young age.
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Discography: Songs And Albums
American rapper Lil Wayne has released eleven studio albums, one collaborative album, three compilation albums, two extended plays, and twenty mixtapes. Wayne made his album debut in 1999, with Tha Block Is Hot, which was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
His later albums, Lights Out released in 2000, and 500 Degreez, released in 2002, attracted minor attention. In 2004, he released the first of his infamous Carter series, with Tha Carter. In 2005, Tha Carter II was released. In 2006, Wayne released a collaborative album with rapper Birdman, titled Like Father, Like Son.
In 2008, Wayne released his best-selling album so far, titled Tha Carter III. Certified triple platinum by the RIAA, Tha Carter III won the Best Rap Album award at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Lil Wayne founded record label Young Money Entertainment and released a collaborative album featuring rappers signed to the label, We Are Young Money, in 2009, followed by his debut rock music album Rebirth in 2010.
While serving an 8-month prison sentence in New York he released another album entitled I Am Not a Human Being, in September 2010. The latest addition to Tha Carter series, Tha Carter IV, was released on August 29, 2011. In 2013, Wayne released a sequel to his 2010 album I Am Not a Human Being, titled I Am Not a Human Being II, followed by two compilation albums with his labels, Rich Gang (2013), and Young Money: Rise of an Empire (2014).
As of 2015, all of Wayne’s albums have been certified at least gold by the RIAA. His album sales in the United States stand at over 15 million copies as of July 2013, and his digital track sales stand at over 37 million digital copies
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Lil Wayne Net Worth
Lil Wayne has an estimated net worth of $150 million as of 2017. The CEO of his own imprint today, Young Money Entertainment was started from Lil Wayne’s net worth in 2005 with the sales of Hot Boys second album in 1999 after which Wayne recorded his solo debut album Tha Block Is Hot in 1999, Lights Out in 2000 and 500 Degreez in 2002, that grabbed platinum and gold certifications to increase his earnings.
An impervious celebrity, Lil Wayne’s prominence saw its acme through his fourth album Tha Carter in 2004 with its hit single Go D.J. With several mixtapes and collaborations, Lil Wayne’s work started getting momentum with Tha Carter II in 2005, and Tha Carter III in 2008 which is also his best selling album till date making over a million copies sales in the first week with singles like ‘Lollipop‘, ‘A Milli‘ and ‘Got Money‘ that even won him a Grammy Award for the Best Rap Album.
Carter also became a part of the ‘I am Music Tour‘ and ‘America’s Most Wanted Tour‘ which saw Lil Wayne’s net worth rise by another $42 million just with the ticket sales only. Lil Wayne’s collaboration with several musicians like Akon, Ludacris, Chris Brown, T- Pain, Eminem and more makes him one of the best rappers today while several critics name him a self-destructive artist. Lil Wayne’s net worth in 2013 was estimated to be around $110 million.
Lil Wayne’s net worth furnished more with his albums I Am Not a Human Being and Tha Carter IV, I Am Not A Human Being II and The Carter V. He is also the first ever artist to see his release peak to the #1 while incarcerated since Tupac Shakur last held the record.
A rapper by profession, Lil Wayne considers Nirvana as one of his favorite bands and admits rock music to be his influence. Apart from that Lil Wayne also loves carving his body with tattoos which started since he was 14 after he carved his dad’s name across the stomach which later saw ‘Cash Money’ being added alongside. Apart from music, Wayne also follows tennis and is a big fan of LA Lakers and Boston Red Sox. He also writes blogs for ESPN and makes appearances on ESPN’s daily sports roundtable shows.
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Personal Life: Wife, Daughter, And Sons
Lil Wayne’s relationship has also seemed a lot of turnarounds while he was 15. After getting married to Antonia ‘Toya’ Carter in 2004 and having a child when he was just 15, they split in 2006. He also had relationships with Sarah Vivan in 2008, a radio broadcaster with whom he had his second child Dwayne III. His third relationship started with actress Lauren London and they also had a child Cameron Carter while his fourth child Neal is born to singer Nivea. There have also been several rumors of his relationship with female rapper Trina whom he got pregnant despite the female rapper suffering a miscarriage.
Lil Wayne is also a philanthropist who runs Lil Wayne’s nonprofit One Family Foundation that helps urban youths in cultivating talents and skills to make them economically self-sufficient. Often cited to be one of the best rappers in the country by Barack Obama, Lil Wayne’s net worth is $150 million as of today.
Skin Cancer And Celebrity Death Hoax
The report that said Lil’ Wayne announced that he was diagnosed with skin cancer and has only one month left to live was a celebrity death hoax. There is no truth to the story that the rapper is dying. Rather, Wayne has been a frequent subject of hoax stories about a supposed fatal cancer diagnosis.
The truth of the matter is that Wayne did not issue any statement concerning any problems with his health, much less his impending demise.
Lil Wayne does have a song entitled “I Feel Like Dying” so some could easily confuse that song’s message with any potential story that the rapper is afflicted with some type of illness. However, that was not the case.
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Quick Facts about Lil Wayne
Full Name: Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.
Profession: Rapper, Record Producer, Actor
Height: 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
Weight: 138 lbs (63 kg)
Ethnicity: African American
Nationality: American
Date of Birth: September 27, 1982
Place of Birth: New Orleans
Education: the University of Houston, University of Phoenix
Marital status: Divorced (Antonia Carter)
Children: 4 (Reginae, Dwayne III, Lauren, Neal)
Lil Wayne’s Zodiac/Astrological sign – Aries
