Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American Grammy Award-winning rapper. Formerly a member of the rap group the Hot Boys, he joined the Cash Money Records collective as a teenager. Get It How U Live!, released in 1997, was Lil Wayne's first album with Hot Boys, and Tha Block is Hot, his solo debut, came out in 1999.

After gaining fame with two other albums in the early 2000s, Lil Wayne reached higher popularity with 2004's Tha Carter and its two subsequent albums Tha Carter II (2005) and Tha Carter III (2008). He earned various accolades following Tha Carter III, including eight Grammy Awards nominations. He will release a rock album titled Rebirth in 2009.
Early life

Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School. He wrote his first rap song at age eight. At age eleven, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Lil Wayne recorded freestyle raps on Williams' answering machine; Williams would eventually mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz. He claims that he accidentally shot himself with a .44 caliber gun at that age. He dropped out of school at age 14.
Personal life
Family

Lil Wayne has three children. His first, daughter Reginae, was born when he was 15, to his high school sweetheart Antonia "Toya" Carter (née Johnson). Wayne and Johnson married on Valentine's Day of 2004 and divorced in 2006. His second child, Dwayne III, was born on October 22, 2008 at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. His third child, Lennox Samuel Ari, was born to actress Lauren London on September 9, 2009. He is expecting his fourth child with singer Nivea.
Education

After earning his GED, Wayne enrolled at the University of Houston in January 2005 with plans to major in political science. To earn his degree, he had been taking online courses. An article in Urb magazine in March 2007 asserted that Wayne had been earning high grades at Houston, and by the end of the year Wayne discontinued his education there.

In a CBS interview with Katie Couric, Wayne described why he goes by the name of "Wayne" instead of his given name, Dwayne. Carter explained, "I dropped the D because I'm a junior and my father is living and he's not in my life and he's never been in my life. So I don't want to be Dwayne, I'd rather be Wayne." Couric asked Wayne if his father knew of this and Wayne replied with a smile, "He knows now."
Sports and musical interests

In an interview with Blender magazine, Lil Wayne revealed one of his favorite bands from childhood to be rock group Nirvana, and cites them as a major influence in his music.

On September 24, 2008, Lil Wayne published his first blog for ESPN in their issue, ESPN The Magazine. Wayne revealed he was a fan of tennis, the Green Bay Packers, the Boston Bruins, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Red Sox. Wayne has continued writing for ESPN, notably reporting at the ESPN Super Bowl party.

Lil Wayne made his debut on ESPN's daily sports round table show "Around The Horn" on Feb. 10, 2009.

Along with Mack Maine, Wayne was in attendance of Game 3 of the opening round NBA playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and the home team New Orleans Hornets on April 25, 2009.
Drug use and arrests

Wayne told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric on her All Access Grammy Special in 2009 that he enjoys smoking marijuana recreationally. He also stated that he is "not addicted" to drinking purple drank, which refers to codeine cough syrup, any longer. He has been arrested for use or possession of marijuana and other drugs.

In the latter half of 2007, Lil Wayne was arrested twice. On July 22, 2007, Lil Wayne was arrested in New York City following a performance at the Beacon Theatre; the New York City Police Department discovered Lil Wayne and another man smoking marijuana near a tour bus. After taking Lil Wayne into custody, police discovered a pistol on his person, and he was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and marijuana. Another arrest was on October 5, 2007, following a performance at Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho, on felony fugitive charges after Georgia authorities accused the rapper of possessing a controlled substance. The incident was later described as a "mix-up" and the fugitive charges were dropped.

On January 23, 2008, Lil Wayne was arrested alongside two others. His tour bus was stopped by Border Patrol agents near Yuma, Arizona. A K-9 Unit recovered 105 grams of marijuana (3.7 ounces), almost 29 grams of cocaine (1.02 ounces), 41 grams of MDMA (1.4 ounces) and $22,000 in cash. Lil Wayne was charged with four felonies: possession of narcotic drug for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was granted permission to travel outside of the state and remain out of custody on the $10,185 bond he posted. On May 6, 2008, Wayne returned to court in Arizona to plead not guilty to the charges.

In February 2009, production company RMF Productions filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against Wayne, following a $100,000 advance payment for three shows, all of which were cancelled by the artist.