T.I.
Posted in Rap Icons on Apr 25, 2007 at 12:35 AM
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia), best known by the stage name T.I., is an American Grammy Award-winning rapper, songwriter, actor, record and executive producer as well as the Co-CEO of Grand Hustle Records. T.I. is also the leader of the southern rap group P$C.
In 2005, he launched his own film production company called Grand Hustle Films, signed a multi-artist joint venture deal for his label with Atlantic Records, and established a music publishing deal for Grand Hustle Music with Warner Chappell.
According to his Grand Hustle website, T.I. has a clothing line; AKOO (A King Of Oneself) launching in spring 2007.
Background
T.I. grew up in the Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, born to Violetta and Clifford Harris Sr. His original stage name, T.I.P., stems from his childhood nickname "Tip", which he got from his grandfather. T.I. was first exposed to hip-hop at the age of seven, and by the time he was 11 he had decided to pursue a career in rap seriously, he signed his first record deal at age 19.
Due to his Southern drawl, many fans mistook his name for "Chip", so he began spelling it out "T.I.P". Upon signing with Arista Records subsidiary LaFace Records in 2001, he shortened his name to T.I. out of respect for label mate Q-Tip.
He is also known to go by "Rubberband Man" and the self-proclaimed "King of the South" (which has created several cases of controversy between other southern rappers, such as Lil' Flip and Ludacris). He served as Bow Wow's ghostwriter for a while, he also wrote about 30% percent of his third album Unleashed, he wrote the 3rd verse and chorus to his single "Let's Get Down".[1] He has written lyrics for other artists such as Diddy, Ciara & Lil Kim.
T.I. is known for his rapid-fire delivery of lyrics, there were also some noticeable changes in the way he flowed through out his career. Earlier in his career he flowed in a slow-like, southern fashion which can be heard in songs like "I'm Serious", "24's" and "Never Scared". In the second era of his career, he sound more relaxed and laid back (ex. "Bring Em Out","Soldier",What You Know,"U Don't Know Me" & "ASAP"). Later on in his career his flow went from a slow and drowsy effect (ex. Top Back, and Drive Slow) to a faster flow which can be heard in "We Takin Over", Touch, "My Love", "Make It Rain Remix" & I'm a Flirt Remix. T.I.'s flow continues to change through out every song he appears on, illustrating his control and expertise at being able to adapt to any beat that is presented to him.
Music career
I'm Serious
His debut album I'm Serious was released through Arista Records, which spawned the single of the same title which featured reggae vocalist Beenie Man. His debut album included Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes (who named him the Jay-Z of the south), Jazze Pha and Youngbloodz. Production by Pharrell, DJ Toomp, and The Grand Hustle Team. However, the album did not sell very well, and he was dropped from the label. The album sold 268,000 copies.
T.I. released the first single "I'm Serious" with Beenie Man. The single had little airplay, but failed to meet the charts. The label wouldn't release another single or video for the album, so he went and created a video for "Dope Boyz", the video nor the single been released.
He released several mixtapes with the assistance of DJ Drama, which created an underground buzz. He resurfaced in the summer of 2003 on Bonecrusher's song "Neva Scared". He parlayed this attention towards the release of his second album, Trap Muzik. Undaunted, he formed Grand Hustle Records (distributed by Atlantic Records) in 2003 with his manager Jason Geter. T.I. and Jeter decided to create the label shortly after being dropped by Arista Records.
Trap Muzik
T.I. released Trap Muzik in the summer of 2003 and it debuted #4 and sold 193,000 copies in its first week.[2] It was more of a success than his debut album because of the singles "24's", "Be Easy", "Rubber Band Man", and "Let's Get Away". The album featured guest appearances by Eightball & MJG, Jazze Pha, Bun B, & Macboney and producers include Jazze Pha, Kanye West, David Banner, & DJ Toomp. The success of the album was followed by some controversy: while on tour, T.I. was charged with violating his probation over a 2003 drug charge, and turned himself in. He was sentenced to three years in prison. While there he was granted rights to film the music video for "Let's Get Away". Trap Muzik was released through Grand Hustle Records and sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. and was certified Platinum.
T.I. released 24's as the first single. It had reached #78 in the U.S. #27 on the U.S. R&B chart, and #15 on the Rap charts. 24's can be heard in movies and television.
"Be Easy" was chosen as the second single, the single wasn't successful as the first single, but it reached #55 on the U.S. R&B charts.
Rubberband Man was chosen at Trap Muzik's third single. The single was his second successful single from the album. It reached #30 in the U.S., #15 on the U.S. R&B chart, and #11 on the Rap Charts.
T.I. released his last single from Trap Muzik, "Lets Get Away" with Jazze Pha. It reached #35 in the U.S. #17 on U.S. R&B chart, and #10 in Rap. T.I. won for Best Street Anthem for "Rubberband Man" at the 2004 Vibe Awards.
Urban Legend
T.I. released his third album Urban Legend in late 2004. Urban Legend instantly generated crossover success with the hit single "Bring 'Em Out". He used a sample from Jay-Z's "What More Can I Say" from The Black Album to create the hook. "Bring 'Em Out" is used to introduce the starting lineup for the Miami Heat. The album featured production from Ruff Ryders's producer Swizz Beatz. The album featured Trick Daddy, Nelly, Lil' Jon, B.G., Mannie Fresh of the Big Tymers, Daz Dillinger, Lil' Wayne, Pharrell of The Neptunes, P$C and Lil' Kim. The album was certified platinum by selling 1.3 million copies. The chopped and screwed version of this album exists.
At the beginning of 2005, T.I. enjoyed success alongside Lil' Wayne on the Destiny's Child song "Soldier", which proved to be a worldwide smash hit.
T.I. released his second single "U Don't Know Me". The single appeared on U.S. charts, Rap charts, U.S. R&B charts, and Pop 100 charts. It was rumored that song was directed to former rivalry Ludacris due to the fact that he had a song called "Get Back" where he says; "Get Back..Get Back..you don't know me like that" which was released around the same time the single was released. He won for Best Street Anthem for "U Don't Know Me" at the 2005 Vibe Awards.
His 3rd single "A.S.A.P". It reached #75 on the U.S. charts, #18 on the U.S. R&B charts, #14 on the Rap charts, and #35 on the U.K. singles chart. T.I. created a video for "ASAP"/"Motivation". However, "Motivation" appeared on the U.S. R&B singles chart, but not on the other charts like "A.S.A.P".
"Get Loose" feat. Nelly was released as a song that started to get radio play, it was produced by Jazze Pha. It was rumored to have a video made, but it didn't happened. It reached #70 on Billboard's R&B charts.
In 2006, T.I. received two Grammy Award nominations: Best Song Collaboration ("Soldier" w/ Destiny's Child & Lil Wayne) and Best Solo Performance for "U Don't Know Me" at The 48th Annual Grammy Awards.
King
His fourth album, King debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart on April 4, 2006, selling 522,000 copies in its first week. It became Atlantic Records' best-selling album in 15 years.[3] T.I. released his promo-singles "Front Back" and "Ride With Me" before the album's release date. The singles had small attention, but it helped promote the album and his debut movie ATL. The album also included other singles, What You Know, Why You Wanna, Live In The Sky, and Top Back. KING has earned numerous awards and nominations including a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. Even though Jay-Z surpassed him in his first week album sales, KING is still considered to be the best-selling hip hop/rap album of 2006.
In Spring of 2006, T.I. released "What You Know". The song has also been used in promotion of the film ATL, in which T.I. stars. It has garnered a 5-star rating from Pitchfork Media. The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and it also topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and Rap Charts. It utilizes a sample of Roberta Flack's version of The Impressions's "Gone Away" and Hey Joe. It was rumored that T.I. was taking shots at Lil Flip on the song.
What You Know won for "Best Rap Solo Performance" and was nominated for "Best Rap Song" at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.
Pitchfork Media also ranked What You Know as the 3rd best song of 2006 and his collaboration with Justin Timberlake in the song "My Love" was also ranked at number one on the same list. VIBE recently named T.I.'s "What You Know" as the Top Song of 2006. Rolling Stone ranked the single as number four.
"Why You Wanna" was released as the next single. The chorus samples Q-Tip's vocals from Got 'Til It's Gone with Janet Jackson and also contained samples a slowed-down keyboard chord from Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)". The song reached #29 in the U.S., #43 on the SWI charts, #49 on the AUS charts, #17 on the Ireland charts, #22 on the U.K. singles charts, and #30 on Tokio's Hot 100 making the single successful worldwide. The video paid a tribute to T.I.'s deceased friend Phil, who was killed in Cincinnati. He appeared in the video as well.
"Live In The Sky" featuring Jamie Foxx had enough airplay but it didn't reach the U.S. charts, but it has reached on U.S. R&B charts. T.I. released the song to pay tribute to deceased friends, he revealed that he shedded tears while writing this song.
T.I. collaborated with Justin Timberlake for My Love which proved to be a worldwide hit. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Collaboration for "My Love" with Justin Timberlake at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.
T.I. released his last single off KING, Top Back. T.I. decided to add Young Dro, Young Jeezy, B.G., and Big Kuntry to create a remix. This version was released from Grand Hustle Presents: In Da Streetz Volume 4. Billboard doesn't have Top Back Remix listed, but Top Back instead. The remixed version and the portion of the video can be also heard and seen on Chevrolet's Impala commercial. He appeared in Chevrolet's Super Bowl XLI commercial performing his single Top Back remix with the same scene from the video.
He appeared in a Chevrolet commercial, where he and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. traded cars (T.I. was driving the #8 race car on the track very slowly, while Earnhardt was driving the black Chevy on the highway very fast).
T.I. vs. T.I.P.
T.I. is currently in the studio working on his 5th album T.I. vs. T.I.P. which is set to be released on July 3rd (U.S.). T.I. explained the album’s title, saying, "It’s basically a battle within myself. There’s not nobody out there doing what I do as well as I do it, so I see myself as worthy competition for myself." The first (street) single off the album will be "Big Shit Poppin'" which is produced by Mannie Fresh and co-produced by T.I.. The single was released to radio stations on April 17.
Acting career
In the Spring of 2006, T.I. starred in his first film, ATL. The other cast members included Lauren London, Andre Patton, Evan Ross, Mykelti Williamson, Jason Weaver, and Keith David. The movie was written by Tina Gordon Chism and Antwone Fisher, produced by Timothy M. Bourne, Tionne Watkins, and Will Smith, and directed by Christopher Robinson. T.I. played the character Rashad Swann, an orphaned 17-year-old senior in high school. He grew up on the southside of Atlanta. He lives with his uncle and has a younger brother named Ant. In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $11.5 million, ranking third in the United States box office, and went on to gross $21.2 million nationwide.[4]
T.I. will be starring in an upcoming Ridley Scott film called American Gangster, a gangster flim with Oscar-winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, and fellow rappers Common & RZA about a police detective (Crowe) pursuing a Harlem drug lord (Washington) during the 1970s. This movie is based on the life of Frank Lucas, which T.I. will be starring as his nephew. T.I. stated working with the Oscar-winners is an honor and he feels like he's going to school and learning the best from them.[5] The film has been completed.
T.I. and his partner Jason Geter have sold a script entitled "For Sale" to New Line Cinema. Launching the film division of Tip and Geter's Grand Hustle Entertainment, the script takes place in an Atlanta used-car lot. Reports say T.I. may play one of the salesmen. Toby Emmerich of New Line apparently secured the deal. Emmerich, Sam Brown and Jeff Katz will supervise the film on behalf of New Line.
He's working on an as-yet-untitled comedy about "two guys who work at the airport, like TSA. They stumble upon a terrorist attack in progress, nobody believes them, so they gotta save the day." Finally, he's in talks regarding what he calls a "new White Men Can't Jump. We have our eye on Justin [for the part]. Regarding the onslaught of comedies, he explained, "It's just so predictable for me to do a little shoot-em-up-bang-bang movie. I can do it, and I'll be good at it, but it's predictable.
T.I. plans to illustrate the dark psychodrama with a direct-to-DVD companion film. (Chris Robinson, who directed him in ATL last year, is in talks to helm the movie.)
Producing
T.I. has been working on other peoples' records. On the music front, he has been co-executive producing B.G.'s upcoming album. He's been juicing up his producer game, making beats for artists like Mariah Carey, Cassidy, Rick Ross, Yung Joc, Young Dro, and himself.[6] Wyclef Jean asked T.I. to co-executive produce his upcoming album. He also executive produced the soundtrack to the film Hustle & Flow and released the collection through his record label. [7] He also did the same for the debut album of his group P$C, T.I. Presents The P$C: 25 To Life, the Grand Hustle compilation Grand Hustle Presents: In Da Streetz Volume 4, and his own albums.
Disputes
In 2004, T.I. received an early release from incarceration, and returned to music with some disparaging words for rival rappers Lil' Flip and Ludacris.
Ludacris
T.I. called out Ludacris over an old disagreement their crews had with one another. Ludacris made a music video in which a person in a shirt that resembled a Trap Muzik shirt was seen being beaten, and, although Ludacris stated in an interview on MTV.com that the person in the video was wearing a Trap Records shirt, a label owned by DTP member Titti Boi, the feud progressed. T.I. later recorded a song, 'Stomp', with G-Unit rapper Young Buck originally featuring Lil Jon. T.I.'s verse seemed like an insult to Ludacris and Young Buck did not want to be a part of it. Young Buck told Ludacris about this and Ludacris decided to get on the same song and insult T.I.
T.I.'s verse was omitted from the original track listing and replaced with The Game, though the version of the song with T.I.'s verse is still available on many file-sharing networks.
T.I. referenced this in his song "I'm Talkin' to You" on King:
"Had it out with 'Cris but he still my nigga / Sat down, civilized, talked about it like niggas."
This served to eliminate Ludacris as a target of the song, which many believe to be directed toward Rick Ross. T.I. revealed that he wasn't talking about anyone, he just made the record to see whoever has a problem with him so they can speak out. Ludacris and T.I. squashed their beef. They been seen greeting each other on "MTV My Block: Atlanta" and both won two Grammys each.
Lil Flip
He was also engaged in a high-profile battle with Houston rapper Lil Flip, who he heard insulted him on stage at a concert in Atlanta while he was incarcerated. T.I. believed that Flip mocked his claim as the "King of the South". Apparently, T.I. only learned of the alleged insult through a friend of T.I.'s girlfriend. T.I. says he heard from several sources, and even has a tape, of Flip insulting him at a few Atlanta concerts. Flip's alleged treason supposedly happened when T.I. was locked away in jail in spring. Lil Flip is said to have asked different audiences who the king of the South was before telling the crowd to inform hometown hero T.I. that "the game was over." T.I. says he heard this was followed by the Houston rapper performing "Game Over."
The members of his clique were holding up old publicity shots of Lil' Flip dressed in a leprechaun outfit. One picture has Flip holding a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal, the other one has Flipper in a fighting stance. Both flicks have been blown up to poster-size and copied several times.
The two released numerous insults on mixtapes and on the radio. UGK's own Pimp C mentioned in his song "Knocking Doors Down" that Lil Flip and T.I. are acting like "little boys" and they needed to squash their beef.
According to website,[8] T.I. and Lil Flip had an altercation at Lil Flip's hometown Cloverland. It has been said that T.I. went there to create a DVD exposing Lil Flip to be a fraud. The same day T.I. went on a Houston radio station talking about the altercation. He revealed that he had the tape and he was going to release it with an upcoming mixtape, but that didn't happened due to the fact that J. Prince stopped him for distributing the tape. It is unknown that T.I. still has the tape or not. The feud was squashed by Rap-A-Lot's J. Prince after having them to sit down and squash their beef behind closed doors. The feud was documented by the Houston Press.[9]
T.I. released a mixtape titled "Down With the King" featuring several tracks insulting Flip directly. Including a track titled 99 Problems Freestyle. The entire song is devoted to making fun of Flip and dissing him. The chorus of the track is even "I got 99 problems, Lil' Flip ain't one." There was a phone-call skit with legendary Houston rapper Scarface claiming he doesn't know Lil Flip and hasn't seen him around in Cloverland, he revealed that he didn't want to be "The King of the South" and T.I. can have the title.
On T.I.'s album King, there are several tracks which have been disputed by the hip hop community to be shots at Lil Flip ("What You Know", "You Know Who" and "I'm Talkin to You"). In an interview with a popular online hip hop website on March 24, 2006, T.I. was quoted as saying he and Lil Flip have no beef. This is somewhat contradictory to the events that occurred during Young Dro's video "Shoulder Lean". As Young Dro delivers the line "Lucky Charm Diamonds, but nah, I ain't Flip". T.I. is seen making a laughing gesture towards the video camera. The beef seems to be squashed as Flip said in a recent freestyle:
"How much money you got, nigga, what's in your vault/talk the talk, walk the walk, Rest in Peace to Big Hawk/ and Fat Pat/got a blue car and a black 'lac/used to wear throwbacks, but now that's played out/put my name in a verse, you get yo ass laid out/so don't talk about Flip no mo/and no I ain't got beef with Tip no mo".
It's been said by fans and album reviewers, that T.I. had "demolished" Lil Flip's musicial career due to the fact that he had left the industry for a long period of time and "fell off" during the beef, which might not be the case. Lil Flip came back to the industry with a new album which had sold poorly compared to his other albums.
Community work
T.I. has stepped up his community involvement as well, taking the lead on several initiatives to help the victims devastated by Hurricane Katrina, including personally donating $50,000 to the relief effort while leading an on-air Labor Day pledge drive on Atlanta's V-103 FM that raised over $263,000 for Mississippi rapper David Banner's "Heal the Hood" Foundation. He also partnered with David Banner and Atlanta newcomer Young Jeezy for a two-day food and clothing drive at Atlanta's Club Vision and co-headlined a massive benefit concert on September 17, sharing the bill with heavyweights such as Nelly, OutKast's Big Boi, and David Banner - with 100 percent of the proceeds going to "Heal the Hood".
In addition to his Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, T.I. worked with troubled youths at Paulding Detention Center in Atlanta, provided scholarships for single parent families at Boys and Girls Clubs, and headlined Boost Mobile's RockCorps concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which featured such performers as Fat Joe, Slim Thug, and Kanye West, and was held exclusively for community service volunteers. In June 2005, The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Foundation, named for the deceased member of multi-platinum female group TLC, and Atlanta's V-103 honored T.I. with the 2005 Lisa Lopes Award for groundbreaking achievements in music and community service which was court ordered. With this steady list of growing accomplishments T.I. is being recognized as the "Jay-Z of the South." according to Pharrell Williams of multi-platinum production team The Neptunes.[10].
T.I. has joined forces again with the Make-A-Wish foundation to grant an Orlando teen's wish. He joined labelmate/protege' Young Dro on stage for a taping at The Showtime At The Apollo to meet 15 year old Sara Labare on October 15 at the Apollo Theatre. Labare, who suffers from an autoimmune disorder, received a digital camera,an autographed poster, CDs, and sat in the front row during T.I.'s performance. T.I. has granted a total of 3 wishes.
T.I. kept a fan smiling when he showed up at 11-year-old Ajmal Acklin's, who suffers from acute lymblastic leukemia with Christmas gifts. Hot-107.9 announcer Griff asked the 11 year old does he like T.I. and Acklin responded "Yes" and his favorite song was "What You Know". Griff told him that T.I. was here and the 11-year-old's eyes lit up. T.I. walked in and said: "How you doing, I just wanted to come see how you're doing ... I heard the church bought you a PlayStation 3, so I got you some games". One by one, each visitor offered their prayers and well wishes, ending with A-Team intern Ree Williams doing a stirring a capella version of the gospel tune "Even Me". Before she hit the last note Ajmal's mom ducked into the kitchen, tears in her eyes.
T.I.'s King Foundation is also scheduled to donate 10,000 bikes to the Boys & Girls Club in New Orleans.
T.I.'s night club, Club Crucial, where he and V-103 announcer Greg Street will give away 200 bicycles to neighborhood children in the Boys & Girls Club.[11]
Personal life
Family
T.I. was dating Tameka "Tiny" Cottle from the 90's group Xscape. They have a son together named Clifford aka 'King' and were expecting a daughter (Llayah Amour) to be born in June who died at stillbirth late night on March 21, 2007. Tiny also has another daughter Zonnique that T.I. claims. He has 3 other children, their names are Messiah Harris (son), Domani Harris (son), and Deyjah Harris (daughter). T.I. and Tiny ended their longterm relationship on March 18, 2007.[12]
Criminal
In early 2004, T.I. was behind bars in Cobb County, Georgia, for violating probation. The probation stems from a November 1997 arrest and subsequent conviction for distribution of cocaine, manufacturing and distributing a controlled substance, and giving authorities a false name, according to a sheriff's department spokesperson.
He served a sentence of unknown length and was released early on probation. It is not clear what he did to violate the terms of his release, but it is the second time he's been accused of doing so. A county judge could revoke the terms of his probation and reinstate his original sentence.
More trouble awaits T.I. in neighboring Fulton County. Two arrest warrants were issued there in March — one for possession of a firearm and one for possession of ecstasy. Now that he's in custody, T.I. will likely be extradited to face those charges after his case is handled in Cobb County, according to a Fulton County sheriff's department spokesperson.[13]
T.I. was sentenced to three years in prison for violating the terms of his probation. After serving a minimum of one year, T.I. can apply for a work-release program, according to the county clerk's office in Cobb County, Georgia. An arrest warrant for T.I. was issued on December 29, ordering a revocation of his probation. He turned himself in to county officials on March 30 and had been in custody ever since. His lawyers appeared in Cobb County Superior Court Wednesday and signed a consent order with prosecutors that essentially stipulated T.I. should be sentenced immediately, thus avoiding the need for a formal hearing.
T.I. was on probation stemming from a 1998 conviction for violating a state controlled substances act and for giving false information. After being released on probation, he earned a litany of probation violations in several counties around Georgia for offenses ranging from possession of a firearm to possession of marijuana.[14].
In 2006, after appearing in an Atlanta court on (May 10) and having charges that he threatened a man outside a strip club last year dropped for lack of evidence, T.I. was arrested on an outstanding probation violation warrant from Florida. The warrant claims that T.I. did not complete the required number of community service hours he was sentenced for a 2003 assault of a female sheriff deputy at University Mall in Tampa. T.I. was detained by several mall Security Guards at the time of the incident, among them, Jason Phillips(founder of Certified Protective Services), Larry Warner (founder of Tactical Response Services), and Arturo Ortiz, now a security manager in Florida. According to WBS-TV Atlanta, the rapper’s attorney has said that the problem was nothing more than a “technical matter” between Georgia and Florida. The confusion arose because T.I. was also sentenced to community service in Georgia for driving with a suspended license, for which he did complete 75 hours of community service in his home state. The rapper was released on bail shortly after being arrested, and was expected to surrender to Florida state authorities next week to resolve the matter.[15]
Death of T.I.'s friend and assistant
In the early hours of May 4, 2006, T.I. and his entourage were involved in a gunfight after leaving a concert after-party at the Club Ritz, a nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio[16] that has a history of problems with the law. Four members of T.I.'s entourage were shot in the altercation. T.I.'s personal assistant Philant Johnson was killed and Janice Gillespie was seriously wounded by the gunfire.[17] It is believed that the altercation began at the Ritz when members of T.I.'s entourage threw money into the crowd, angering male audience members.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the feud began at the city's Club Ritz during an after-party for the Atlanta rapper and Yung Joc -- who performed earlier that evening at the club Bogart's -- and moved outside, where shots were fired into two vans transporting T.I.'s crew just after three o'clock.
"[The money] was supposed to be for the ladies", one witness said. "But it was hitting guys in the face, and they were like, 'We had money before, so why are you throwing money at us?'"
When the situation grew tense, T.I. reportedly told his group to head out. A witness outside told the Enquirer that one shot -- believed to be unrelated to the ensuing gun battle -- was fired in the parking lot and at least four people followed the vans in a large vehicle. The person that died was T.I.'s personal assistant and best friend Philant Johnson.
Lil Wayne
Posted in Rap Icons on Apr 25, 2007 at 12:33 AM
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. was born an only child (now has a younger brother) in the poverty-stricken and crime-ridden Hollygrove section of New Orleans, Louisiana, which is part of the 17th Ward. His biological father left him when he was an infant, and until the age of sixteen, Reginald "Rabbit" Carter was his stepfather. Despite his unpleasant surroundings, he struggled to keep off the streets and to stay in school[citation needed]. Wayne's first contact with hip-hop was listening to local Cash Money artists such as Pimp Daddy and U.N.L.V., whom he also credited as his earliest influences. At first he started rapping at the block parties; his performance at one of them caught the ear of Lil Slim (an earlier Cash Money Records artist who was from the same neighborhood as Lil Wayne), who soon after the show gave him their phone numbers. He went on an autograph signing session with Lil Slim, where at the first time he met Cash Money Records owners, Brian "Baby" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams. His freestyling abilities impressed the Williams brothers, but they didn't sign him at first. 11-year old Wayne started to record freestyles on Baby's answering machine and haunted Cash Money offices nearly every day. When Baby saw so much engagement in the young rapper, he soon signed him and hooked up with another newcomer Lil' Doogie (who would later become famous as B.G.) to form group The B.G.'z. Group released their first and only album, True Story, in 1995. At the young age of 13, Wayne would drop out of school to fully pursue a rap career.
Wayne did not rap about adolescent issues, unlike many child rappers, such as Lil' Romeo and Bow Wow, who performed rap that was for younger audiences until their late teens. He did, however, refrain from swearing in his rhymes at the behest of his mother.
In 1997, Wayne formed the Hot Boys along with Juvenile, Turk, and B.G., and they released their seminal debut CD Get It How You Live. The record's success earned the young teenagers fans throughout the south and midwest. He further distinguished himself on the Hot Boys' platinum selling Universal debut Guerilla Warfare released in 1998, followed by their 2003 release Let Em Burn.
In 1999, at age 17, Wayne launched his solo career with the release of Tha Block Is Hot. This was followed by Lights Out in 2000 and 500 Degreez in 2002, an allusion to Juvenile's 400 Degreez.
In 2004, Wayne Carter released Tha Carter. This album is marked as a personal milestone as he claimed to have finally perfected his trade. It was also Tha Carter that finally earned him mass notability outside the south as a lyricist because at that time southern rappers were stereotyped as having little to no lyrical ability, yet his nimble flow proves that in this case the stereotype does not fit.
On December 11, 2005 Wayne released Tha Carter II which further solidified his spot as a contemporary rapper, noticeably producing the album without the prominent beats of Mannie Fresh. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies debuting at no. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart and has been certified platinum. The lead single off the album, "Fireman", became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second single, "Grown Man", was solicited to urban radios in January of 2006 in hopes of spreading to Top 40 Mainstream and then to the Hot 100, but failed to do so and failed to receive any attention due to lack of promotion and no video.[citation needed] The third single "Hustler Musik" received a video and gained minor attention also. "Hustler Musik" reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Recently Wayne was recruited by the Boyz N Da Hood as their fourth member after Young Jeezy left the group to engage in his solo career. Due to scheduling conflicts involving the promotion of Tha Carter II, he would never be formally named an active member of Boyz N Da Hood but maintains a very good relationship with the group recording new tracks with them often. Florida rapper Rick Ross was rumored to then replace Wayne and in essence, Young Jeezy but he also has denied that he will be an official member of the group. Lil Wayne will also be featured on Roman Verone's up coming mix CD and LP due out soon.
In 2006 Lil Wayne released his critically acclaimed sequel to his Dedication mixtape with DJ Drama called Dedication 2. On it, he included an outro track entitled "Georgia....Bush" on which he addresses the problems surrounding the government's response to Hurricane Katrina in his native New Orleans, Lousiana and also places a large amount of blame on President George W. Bush. Throughout the track, he claims that theories of the government sabotaging the levees of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward were indeed true. The track was recorded on the beat to Ludacris' single "Georgia" which sampled the Ray Charles track "Georgia On My Mind". This song is followed by a freestyle called "Weezy's Ambitions" over 2Pac's Ambitionz Az a Ridah. The freestyle was originally done on BET'sRap City following the release of Tha Carter II.
Lil Wayne is set to release two collaboration LPs. Originally, the mixtape I Can't Feel My Face with Juelz Santana was released over the summer, but with its extreme demand and popularity, there are now rumors of it becoming a major-label commercially released LP. On October 31 2006, Wayne released an album with his mentor Baby: Like Father, Like Son. Many confuse Baby as Wayne's birth father, but this is not true, as evidenced by Wayne's singles "Everything" (from Lights Out), and a song on Like Father, Like Son, where Wayne says "My dad died when I was 16." Later in the month of April of 2007 Lil Wayne released a new mixtape album called Da Drought 3.
Personal life
Lil Wayne had been linked to female rapper Trina since around the time of the 2005 NBA All-Star Game at the Pepsi Center in Denver. They later recorded a single, Don't Trip, which appeared on her album Glamorest Life, and appeared on the remix for Remy Ma's "Conceited (along with Papoose and Jae Millz). After that rumors started flying around about what was going on between the two. There were rumors that the two were dating or even engaged. On a radio interview, Trina said that the relationship was more of a "brother-sister" relationship. Later, on Victoria's RapBasement, Lil Wayne said he knew nothing of the rumors.
Both would later retract that statement. In an issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine, Trina would later say that she made a huge understatement at that radio interview, and that "He's one of the sweetest people I've ever met...I have so much love for him!" However, she just burst out in huge giggles when further questions were asked, and she said "We're both happy. That's all the world needs to know." In the March 2006 issue of VIBE magazine, Lil Wayne said that this relationship was better than his past ones because "She's (also) a rapper, so we understand each other." When asked about the ring, he smiled and said, "She just likes rings. I saw a nice one, so I got it for her." Lil Wayne and Trina have recently ended their relationship, which was stated by Lil Wayne, himself, on BET's 106 and Park.
He would draw some media and fan attention with the leak of a picture of himself and Bryan "Baby" Williams (a.k.a. Birdman) kissing. It was explained as a father-son kiss, and the photo [1] is not overly suggestive. Williams later claimed the kiss was a "black variation" of Mafia affection.
Lil Wayne has insinuated on numerous occasions, mostly in his music, that he is the "best rapper alive". He has even stated that he is the "best to date", placing himself above rap legends such as Notorious B.I.G., Big L, Tupac, and others. These claims have largely been received lightly by audiences, as most hip-hop fans would agree that both are completely false.
A degree of controversy has arisen surrounding Lil Wayne's lyrics, mostly due to another rapper, Gillie Da Kid, claiming that he has written some of Lil Wayne's material. This has neither been confirmed nor disproven, although both Wayne and Gillie remain firm in their views. Lil Wayne wore one of Gillie's diamond-studded pendants in one of his music videos, although this does not necessarily have any correlation with the ghostwriting issue. It could be argued that Gillie's lyrical skills are superior, mostly due to the fact that he has frequently proven himself to be a good freestyle rapper, whereas Lil Wayne usually struggles to form coherent flows when they are not premeditated.
Lil Wayne has recently purchased a sky box at the Louisiana Superdome with Birdman.
Lil Wayne has a daughter named Reginae Carter, he named her after his step father Reginae "Rabbit" Carter.
Arrest
On August 14, 2006, Lil Wayne was arrested on charges of possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance. Police claim the rapper was in possession of several unlabeled bottles — one containing 60 pills of Alprazolam, a generic form of Xanax that is used to treat anxiety disorders and panic attacks; another containing 59 hydrocodone pills — along with "two small burnt joints of marijuana," the report read. A second man, Derrick Lawrence, 37, was also charged with possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana. He was released from Georgia's Fulton County Jail on $11,000 bond following his arrest.
