Line #57 Music/LilWayne


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Wayne__5684.jpg]]
2	[floatboxright:
3	Influences:
4	+Music/JayZ, Music/TheNotoriousBIG, Music/MissyElliott, Music/TupacShakur, Music/{{UGK}}, Music/SnoopDogg, Music/{{Eminem}}, Music/{{Nirvana}}, 8Ball and MJG
5	Influenced:
6	+Music/{{Drake}}, Music/NickiMinaj, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/YoungThug, Music/{{Future}}, Music/TylerTheCreator, Music/WizKhalifa, Music/ChiefKeef, Music/LilUziVert, Music/TrippieRedd, Music/LilDurk, Music/ChanceTheRapper]
7
8	->''"This is all part of Lil Wayne's ambitious project to collaborate with everyone in the music business, anywhere."''
9	-->-- '''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows''' reviewing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AP4Ibnyyko "I Can Transform Ya"]].
10
11	Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his [[StageName stage name]] Lil Wayne, is an American [[HipHop rapper]] from [[TheBigEasy New Orleans, Louisiana]], known for his prolific output, unique vocals and delivery, humorous and wordplay-heavy lyrics, and the huge influence he has on many modern-day rappers and rap culture in general.
12
13	Born and raised in the crime-riddled areas of New Orleans, Carter was a straight-A student but never felt his true intelligence was expressed through any kind of report card. He found music was the best way to express himself, and after taking the name Gangsta D, he began writing rhymes. Combining a strong work ethic with aggressive self-promotion, he convinced Birdman, co-founder and CEO of Cash Money Records, to take him on at just 11 years old, even if it was just for odd jobs around the office.
14
15	A year later, in-house producer Mannie Fresh partnered him with the 14-year-old B.G. and dubbed the duo the B.G.'z. Although only B.G.'s name appeared on the cover, the 1995 album ''True Story'' has since been accepted as the B.G.'z debut album both by fans and the Cash Money label. The 1997 album ''Chopper City'' was supposed to be the follow-up, but when Wayne shot himself in the chest with a 9mm pistol in a failed suicide attempt, it became a solo B.G. release.
16
17	He later officially took the moniker Lil Wayne, dropping the "D" from his first name in order to [[ParentalAbandonment separate himself from an absent father]]. He joined B.G., Juvenile, and Young Turk for another Fresh project, the teen hardcore rap group the Hot Boys, who released their debut album, ''Get It How U Live!'', in 1997. In 1999, Wayne embarked on a successful solo career, and the rest is history.
18
19	He has released twelve studio albums so far, the most famous being his trademark ''Tha Carter'' series, with the UsefulNotes/GrammyAward-winning ''Tha Carter III'', released in 2008, being the most iconic. Prior to ''Tha Carter III'', he released a slew of mixtapes, most notably his ''Dedication'' series, ''Da Drought 3'', and ''No Ceilings'', against the wishes of his record label Cash Money. They ended up boosting his popularity underground, and ''Tha Carter III'' sold more than a million copies in its first week, being among few albums in the 21st century and only four rap albums to be certified platinum first-week[[note]]the other three being Music/{{Eminem}}'s ''Music/TheMarshallMathersLP'' and ''Music/TheEminemShow'' and Music/FiftyCent's ''The Massacre''[[/note]].
20
21	In 2005, as he was growing in popularity, Wayne founded Young Money Entertainment, an imprint of Cash Money where he would release his mixtapes and find new talent. The most famous artists to come from Young Money are Music/NickiMinaj and Music/{{Drake}}, the latter of whom surpassed Wayne in both popularity and sales, becoming one of the most profitable artists of all time.
22
23	After years of being the face of Cash Money and seeing label-head Birdman as a father figure, Wayne's relationship with both the label and Birdman began to fall apart during the development of ''Tha Carter V''. Originally planned to be released in 2014, the album experienced several delays as a result of contractual disputes between Wayne and Cash Money Records, as well as numerous personal disputes with Birdman. Following a lengthy legal battle while releasing mixtapes and a Tidal-exclusive album in order to appease fans and avoid falling into irrelevance, Wayne was confirmed to have been released from his contract with Cash Money in June 2018. He released ''Tha Carter V'' in September of that year.
24
25	Wayne remains well-liked by critics, and was especially so during 2005-2008, with ''Magazine/RollingStone'' in particular even hailing him as the "greatest rapper alive", although that statement proved to be rather controversial in the rap community. (He has hailed himself as the greatest rapper alive, too.) During his peak in the late 2000s and early 2010s, he appeared on around [[WolverinePublicity half the rap singles on the radio]] (even appearing on non-rap singles). He has sold over 120 million records worldwide, and boasts 186 entries on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He is also definitely JustForFun/OneOfUs, as he loves skateboarding and is a gamer, at one point owning a modded Platform/{{Xbox}}.
26
27	Wayne has additionally worked with Creator/{{ESPN}} as a writer and a guest on various shows, published a 2016 memoir titled ''Gone 'Til November'' which details his 2010 incarceration on Rikers Island, and launched a cannabis brand named GKUA Ultra Premium in 2019. He is also known for his attacks on UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and his administration for his response to Hurricane Katrina (Wayne is a native from Louisiana).
28	----
29
30	!!Discography:
31
32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Studio Albums]]
35	* ''The Block is Hot'' (1999)
36	* ''Lights Out'' (2000)
37	* ''500 Degreez'' (2002)
38	* ''Tha Carter'' (2004)
39	* ''Tha Carter II'' (2005)
40	* ''Like Father, Like Son'' (with [[TheMentor Birdman]]) (2006)
41	* ''Tha Carter III'' (2008)
42	* ''We Are Young Money'' (with Young Money) (2009)
43	* ''Rebirth'' (2010)
44	* ''I Am Not A Human Being'' (2010)
45	* ''Tha Carter IV'' (2011)
46	* ''I Am Not A Human Being II'' (2013)
47	* ''Rich Gang'' (with Rich Gang) [[note]] not to be confused with the mixtape ''Rich Gang Tha Tour Pt. 1'' by Birdman with Music/YoungThug and Rich Homie Quan [[/note]] (2013)
48	* ''Rise of an Empire'' (with Young Money) (2014)
49	* ''Free Weezy Album'' (2015) (a Tidal-exclusive release)
50	* ''Tha Carter V'' (2018)
51	* ''Funeral'' (2020)
52	[[/folder]]
53	[[folder:Extended Plays]]
54	* ''The Leak'' (2007)
55	* ''In Tune We Trust'' (2017)
56	[[/folder]]
57	[[folder:Mixtapes]]
58	* ''The Dedication'' (2005)
59	* ''Dedication 2'' (2006)
60	* ''Da Drought 3'' (2007)
61	* ''Dedication 3'' (2008)
62	* ''No Ceilings'' (2009)
63	* ''Sorry 4 The Wait'' (2011)
64	* ''Dedication 4'' (2012)
65	* ''Dedication 5'' (2013)
66	* ''Sorry 4 The Wait 2'' (2015)
67	* ''No Ceilings 2'' (2015)
68	* ''T-Wayne'' (with Music/TPain) (2017)
69	* ''Dedication 6'' (2017)
70	* '' No Ceilings 3'' (2020)
71	[[/folder]]
72	[[folder:Compilations]]
73	* ''We Are Young Money'' (with Young Money) (2009)
74	* ''Rich Gang'' (with YMCMB) (2006)
75	* ''Young Money: Rise of an Empire'' (with Young Money) (2014)
76	[[/folder]]
77	----
78	!! "Pick the trope up and I'ma drop it on yo fuckin' head":
79	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: "Lollipop" features the hook "Shorty wants a thug."
80	* ArtifactTitle: He was [[ChildPopstar not even a teenager when he started rapping]]. It only fits if it's "lil" as in "short" (he's only 5ft 5in/166 cm).
81	* AutoTune: Primarily during 2008-2014, on songs and projects like "Lollipop", "I Ain't Nervous", "Staring at the World", the entirety of 'Rebirth', Music/{{Drake}}'s "Uptown", Music/{{The Game\|Rapper}}'s "My Life" and "Red Nation", the remix of Future's "Turn on the Lights", "How to Love".
82	* BadassBoast: Even by rap's standards, Wayne frequently says over-the-top and hyperbolic statements of his fame, with the chorus to "Drop the World" being about as over-the-top as it gets:
83	-->"Pick the world up and I'ma DROP it on yo' fuckin head, yeah\
84	Bitch I'ma pick the world up and I'ma DROP it on yo' fuckin head, yeah\
85	And I could die now, [[AlbumTitleDrop rebirth]] motherfucker\
86	Hop up in my spaceship and leave Earth motherfucker\
87	I'm gone.. motherfucker I'm gone"
88	* TheBigEasy: Wayne's upbringing in New Orleans has had a strong influence on his lyrics, as he makes several references that are specific to that city. Wayne's devotion to his home city only increased in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, during which time he was an outspoken proponent of the relief effort and strongly criticized UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush for not doing enough to help. As he put it in "I Told Y'all":
89	--> ''Why would a nigga go to New Orleans?\
90	This is Katrina-land\
91	The President flew over and he ain't even land!''
92	* BoastfulRap: A lot of his songs.
93	* BrokenRecord: Done for emphasis in his verse on "Deep" by Big Sean, though downplayed since he only repeats himself once:
94	-->I don't give two fucks about what your mouth say\
95	'Cause [[SeriousBusiness this shit is deeper than rap]], I cannot say that shit enough times\
96	[[LampshadeHanging Like somebody rewind me]]\
97	'Cause this shit is deeper than rap, I cannot say that shit enough times
98	* BungledSuicide: In "Let It All Work Out", Wayne reveals that he attempted suicide when he was 12 years old. He originally dismissed these claims as an accident.
99	-->"I found my momma’s pistol where she always hide it\
100	I cried, put it to my head, and thought about it\
101	Nobody was home to stop me, so I called my auntie\
102	Hung up, then put the gun up to my heart and pondered\
103	Too much was on my conscience to be smart about it\
104	Too torn apart about it, I aimed where my heart was pounding\
105	I shot it, and I woke up with blood all around me\
106	It’s mine, I didn’t die, but as I was dying\
107	God came to my side and we talked about it\
108	He sold me another life and he made a profit"
109	* CardboardPrison: In the music video for "Go DJ", he and the other prisoners have no problem eliminating the security, seducing the female guards, and simply walking out at the end.
110	* CatchPhrase: "Young Moolah, baby!"
111	** Also, for a relatively short span of time, "Weezy F. Baby, and the F is for [insert random word, usually starting with F]"...to the point that he [[{{Lampshade}} lampshades]] it in his featured verse on Nicki Minaj's "Go Hard":
112	--> ''Weezy F. Baby, and the F is for a bunch of shit\
113	Red drank, blue pill, white dust...yes, I love my country, [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch biiiiiiitch!]]''
114	* ChildPopstar: He has released works dating back to when he was twelve--he started writing even earlier than then.
115	* ClusterFBomb: Almost all of his songs, as expected from a rapper. "How To Love" appears to be the only song from him were the F-word or any other explicit profanity isn't used.
116	* DoubleEntendre: A huge chunk of his lyrics are this.
117	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Wayne's unique lyrical style wouldn't be present until the release of ''Tha Carter'', and ''especially'' during 2005-2007.
118	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Despite his gangsta appearance (he's was part of the bloods gang) and being raised in a terrible neighborhood, Wayne adores and respects his mother endearingly, something he repeatedly states in interviews and on songs, primarily from ''Tha Carter'' series of albums.
119	** From "3 Peat":
120	-->And mama don't cry, ya son can handle his\
121	I got her out the hood and put her in the hills\
122	Yeah when I was fourteen I told my mom we will see better days\
123	And sure enough I got Miss Cita in a better place
124	* FairCop: "Mrs. Officer" is about an affair with a policewoman, and redefines Music/{{NWA}}'s "Fuck The Police."
125	* FreestyleVersion: His ''Dedication'' series of mixtapes uses this trope almost exclusively, freestyling over the most popular songs and hardest beats whenever the mixtape is released, as does his ''Da Drought'' series, and almost every other mixtape he's ever released.
126	* GangstaRap: A solid Type 2; he delves into drugs and violence quite a bit in his lyrics, but they’re commercialized enough to be palatable to mainstream audiences.
127	* HashtagRap: One of the major users of this style, as mentioned above. Arguably perfected the form on "6 Foot 7 Foot," as almost every line is an example of the flow, and many of them are double entendres.
128	* HurricaneOfPuns: Turning this into the signature of his style led to him GrowingTheBeard, as well as popularising heavy pun-based wordplay in the rest of hip-hop at the time.
129	* IntercourseWithYou: '''Very commonly'''.
130	** "She said he so sweet she wanna lick the wrapper, [[DoubleEntendre so I let her lick the rapper]]"
131	** "I transform smaller and she puts me in her pants!"
132	* JustLikeRobinHood: The music video for "Got Money" has Wayne and his buddies staging a bank robbery to fund the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina. [[BittersweetEnding In the end, Wayne gets arrested, but his friends get away with the loot]].
133	* MisogynySong: He's been criticized numerous times for sexist lyrics in the past, but "Love Me" stands out for how cartoonishly callous it is to women - especially as the song is about how his "bitches" ''love'' him. Choice lyrics include:
134	-->She said "I never want to make you mad, I just want to make you proud"\
135	I said "Baby, just make me cum, then don't make a sound"\
136	[...]\
137	These hoes got pussies like craters\
138	Can't treat these hoes like ladies, man\
139	[...]\
140	All my bitches love me and I love all my bitches\
141	But it's like soon as I cum, I come to my senses
142	* MysteriousMiddleInitial: Weezy F. Baby and the F is for....[[http://rapgenius.com/posts/The-many-nicknames-of-lil-wayne all these things.]]
143	* NewSoundAlbum: He decided to venture away from rap for a RapRock album - ''Rebirth''.
144	* RapRock: ''Rebirth''. Let's just say that he should stick to rapping.
145	* RhymingWithItself: Frequently, especially the N-word with itself.
146	** "And what I make up, will fuck up your skin/ I pick buck up and buck-buck then buck-buck again/ I will butt-fuck your friend/ Then suck up her twin/ I put the buck-up to him/ Then buck-buck and buck-buck and buck-buck again/ Suck nut you duck, fuck your unloving kin/ Now don't rub it in ... Might fly to L.A and just fuck Corinne/ Nahh fuck Corinne/ Let's get bucks again, and fuckin' spend/ Them bucks and then, just fuck Corinne."
147	** "I Ain't Nervous" rhymes "nervous" 3 times with itself, and does the same with "Jewish" twice.
148	** From his remix of "We Takin' Over":
149	--->Me, me, it's all about me\
150	If the girl got a voice, then she talk about me, me\
151	He say, she say, I say me
152	* RunningGag: "Weezy F. Baby, and the F is for..."
153	* StealthPun: A clever one in "6 Foot 7 Foot":
154	-->''Bitch, real G's move in silence like lasagna.''[[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke The "g" in lasagna is silent.]][[/note]]
155	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "How to Love".
156	* ThirdEye: Crossed with a ShoutOut, from "My Homies Still":
157	-->"I gotta put a patch over my third eye, Music/SlickRick."
158	* ToiletHumor: He loves to refer himself as "I'm the shit" and add a line on this kind of comedy.
159	** In "A Milli": ''I be the shit, now you got loose bowels''.
160	** In "Steady Mobbin'": "Big house; long hallways [=/=] Got ten bathrooms -- I could shit all day!"
161	* VisualPun: The video for "6 Foot 7 Foot" has this in spades. For instance, when he says "Young Money running shit, and you niggas just runner ups," we see Wayne winning a footrace.
162	* VulgarHumor:
163	** From "A Milli":
164	--> "Call me what you want bitch call me on my Sidekick\
165	Never answer when it's private, damn I hate a shy bitch\
166	Don't, you hate a shy bitch\
167	Yeah, I ate a shy bitch\
168	She ain't shy no more she changed her name to "my bitch"\
169	Yeah, nigga that's my bitch\
170	So when she ask for the Money when you through don't be surprised, [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch BITCH]]!"
171	** From Music/{{Drake}} ft. Lil Wayne's "Ransom":
172	-->"And what I make up, will fuck up your skin\
173	I pick buck up and buck-buck then buck-buck again\
174	I will butt-fuck your friend\
175	Then suck up her twin\
176	I put the buck-up to him\
177	Then buck-buck and buck-buck and buck-buck again\
178	Suck nut you duck, fuck your unloving kin\
179	Now don't rub it in ... Might fly to L.A and just fuck Corinne\
180	Nahh fuck Corinne\
181	Let's get bucks again, and fuckin' spend\
182	Them bucks and then, just fuck Corinne."
183	* XtremeKoolLetterz: His first solo album, ''Tha Block is Hot'' and his third, "500 Degreez", as well as his ''Tha Carter'' series of albums and the ''Da Drought'' series of mixtapes, and ''Sorry 4 The Wait'' and its sequel.
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Context Music / LilWayne