Thread by @lilbrickmedia, A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIL WAYNE!Tough to summarize such a long & [...]

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIL WAYNE!

Tough to summarize such a long & complicated career - 27 years, thousands of songs, 60+ albums/mixtapes/EPs, and hundreds of events - but I've attempted to do my best in 25 tweets

Spent good time on this thread, so RTs appreciated!

Here we go!

September 27, 1982: Dwayne Michael Carter Jr is born in Hollygrove, New Orleans. His mom was just 19, and a chef. His dad left the family when Wayne turned 2. His mom remarried to a man known as Rabbit, who was involved in the street life

Growing up in Hollygrove, Carter was exposed to violence & crime since a young age. Rabbit was a key mentor for him & helped him navigate through the harsh environment. Despite the hostile setting, Carter was a gifted student, acted in theater, and wrote his first rap at age 8

1991-1993: Around the age of 10, Carter would leave voicemail raps at the office of Cash Money Records, a buzzing local label spearheaded by Birdman and his brother Slim. The young kid caught the eyes of Birdman (aka Baby), who took Carter under his wing and mentored him

The street life caught up. At 11, he was r*p*d by an older girl. At 12, he shot himself. For years he brushed over questions about this incident, but later confessed it was a suicide attempt. Then, his beloved stepfather Rabbit was murdered. A traumatized boy quickly became a man

Despite being an honors student, Carter had to balance his passion for rap with providing for his mom. At 12, he’d already made an album with label-mate BG, but now he kicked things into a new gear as a member of the Hot Boyz, a group made of Juvenile, BG, Turk, and Wayne

The Hot Boyz released two albums, the latter of which debuted at #5 on the US Billboard charts. Barely into his teens, Wayne was a national star, though his solo career had yet to begin. In 1998, when he was 16, his girlfriend Toya gave birth to their daughter Reginae

Wayne had become too famous to be at school without a gun, & he had a mother & daughter to care for. He dropped out after his debut solo album, Tha Block Is Hot, at the age of 17. It charted #3 on Billboard & went platinum. Not even an adult, Wayne now had millions of eyes on him

Wayne released his 2nd and 3rd solo albums, “Lights Out” and “500 Degreez”. Both went gold, but failed expectations. The Hot Boyz had broke up. Wayne, the youngest, was left alone. At a crossroads, he chose to stay with Cash Money out of loyalty to his new father-figure, Birdman

Wayne married his GF Toya. Months later, “Tha Carter,” the first of the legendary series, released. It charted #5 & featured the iconic “Go DJ.” Rocking dreadlocks & making smash hit feature appearances with Destiny’s Child, life was starting to get good for the 21-year-old

2005: Wayne dropped “Tha Carter II”, which sold double the first week sales of C1, included the hits “Fireman”, “Hustler Musik”, & “Shooter,” & cemented him as a behemoth in the rap game. On the album, Wayne called himself the Best Rapper Alive & many former critics didn’t argue

Now a superstar, Wayne went on an unprecedented barrage, dropping tape after tape, remixing everyone’s hits, & featuring on countless songs. The legendary “Da Drought” and “Dedication” mixtape series peaked at this time. Despite divorce from Toya, he couldn’t be stopped

His unorthodox flows, alien persona, & cocky demeanor earned him haters. 50 Cent called him a “whore” for his constant collabs. Nas said Hip Hop was dead. But the world was in love. In 2008, “Tha Carter III”, sold 1M+ copies in its first week. Wayne now ran the music industry

Despite having the Midas touch -everything he did made headlines- Wayne’s work ethic was unparalleled. From 04-09, he made over a thousand songs and 40+ total projects. He recorded 16+ hours a day, multiple times a week. He earned 8 Grammy noms in 09, the most of any artist

He also built up his own label, Young Money. Taking a young Nicki Minaj and Drake under his wing, Wayne brought them out to every show and introduced them to his crowds. His music - rap, rock, and R&B - as well as his aesthetic - tats, dreads, fashion - had become trendsetting

At the peak of his fame, with the world in his hands, Wayne was arrested for gun/weed possession. His infamous, yet influential Rock album “Rebirth” dropped, as well as the classic mixtape “No Ceilings." Wayne had become a rockstar-rapper-singer

Wayne went to Riker’s Island prison for 8 months. Thousands of fans wrote him letters, and he wrote a diary while in jail. During his prison time, his album “I Am Not A Human Being” released and went #1. People were clearly dying for Wayne to come back

Although his prison sentence opened up the gates for other rappers to rise up in the game - namely Drake and Nicki Minaj - soon after his jail release, he went on a barrage of features until he dropped Tha Carter IV, which sold 964K copies in its first week. He was as big as ever

Still the hottest rapper in the game commercially, Wayne took a step back to focus on his label. This is when Drake became DRAKE and Nicki became NICKI. Young Money was everywhere. Before modern social media and streaming, Wayne was the heartthrob of teens & college kids all over

After two of the most successful tours in hip hop history, and with Drake/Nicki/Tyga cemented as superstars, Wayne picked up skateboarding and his clothing line TRUKFIT as new passions. He released the album “IANAHB2” - although commercially successful, it was poorly received

2014: This is when the “Wayne fell off” narrative peaked. People had begun to move on to newer artists. Wayne announced Tha Carter V would be his final album - and his hardest effort - and then he would retire. C5 season began, but sadly came to a stop....

In late 2014, just weeks before C5’s release, Wayne tweeted that Cash Money/Birdman were holding the album hostage. He vented his frustrations with his career & apologized to his fans. He dropped the mixtape Sorry 4 The Wait 2, which included disses to his lifelong label/mentor

Unable to release Carter V, Wayne turned to other outlets to feed his fans. He released the gem “Free Weezy Album,” but it was taken down by Birdman. The two became embroiled in a $51M lawsuit. His health, financial/artistic freedom, & momentum took heavy hits. Very dark times

After multiple frustrations, claiming he’d quit + seizures, increased drug use, limited career flexibility, & many other battles, Wayne finally won the lawsuit and freed himself from Cash Money. After 4 years, C5 finally came, selling 480K in its first week. A beautiful comeback

Wayne now runs his own ship, and has released the double-platinum Carter V, and the gold Funeral (the sequel to his rock album Rebirth) under his own Young Money label. He also has his own sports agency, with over 150 NFL/NBA players signed

Even after 27 years in the industry, Wayne/Weezy/Tunechi is still only 38, and has more financial/artistic freedom than ever. Here’s to many more years of the legendary artist, who has influenced hundreds more artists. Let’s give him his roses while he’s here!

If you want more, I highly recommend these:

Tha Carter Documentary (A raw, uncut film showing Wayne during the month of Tha Carter III's release):
https://watchdocumentaries.com/the-carter/

His prison diary:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Gone_til_November/TAYIDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&kptab=getbook

Decent chronological playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RV7rW2DvzrBRArJj5rxm4?si=IT10P3aVTxuck_V2TTrlNQ

Closing thoughts:

People always ask what I see in Wayne that's made me a fan since I was 9. Lots of reasons, but the biggest lesson I've learned from him is to never judge. Behind the tats/drugs/vulgarity lies a man who's endured, prevailed, and unapologetically been himself

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