VH1’s Behind The Music: Lil Wayne Preview
By the time he was 11 years old, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., aka Lil Wayne, had lost his virginity, dealt drugs, snorted cocaine and nearly shot himself to death after accidentally pulling the trigger on a gun he found in his mother’s bedroom. That was life in the dangerous, poverty stricken neighborhood on New Orleans 17th ward, where Lil Wayne grew up. A musical prodigy, hip hop was Wayne’s ticket to a better life. As a nine year old, he began recording rhymes with his surrogate family and mentors, Baby and Slim Williams, who owned the fledging label, Cash Money Records. Together, they shared in Wayne’s success, first as a teenage sensation with the Hot Boys, then as a solo artist. But Wayne’s path to stardom was littered with personal challenges. The violence of New Orleans struck again as his stepfather was gunned down when Wayne was just 14. To support his mother he dropped out of high school and put everything he had into jumpstarting his music career. A year later, at 15, Wayne became a father and now had a family to support. Then, just as his solo career was taking flight, his hometown was decimated by Hurricane Katrina, a tragedy that profoundly affected Wayne. Rumors of an addiction to prescription cough syrup and an arrest in New York City for gun possession only fueled the controversy surrounding the outlaw rapper. Regarded as a renegade, Wayne then released a prolific and game changing record, Tha Carter III. Almost instantly, Lil Wayne rocketed to superstardom and became the pop icon of 2008. The self proclaimed “greatest rapper alive” received the ultimate validation when Wayne walked away with four Grammy Awards, completing a remarkable journey for the 27 year old.
The show premieres September 10th, 10 pm est. on VH1.
Tags: Lil Wayne
Suggestion Box
September 1st, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Have they even done one of these for Nas yet?
September 1st, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I dont think so. They need to do one for Jay too.
September 1st, 2009 at 3:27 pm
^^^agreed
I think they did one for Lil Kinm for god sakes!
September 1st, 2009 at 3:34 pm
sounds a little inetersting, but i cant wait for 50’s. His come after waynes
September 1st, 2009 at 3:36 pm
shit gona be hot
September 1st, 2009 at 3:38 pm
yeah aint nobody got one but wayne bitchessss!!!! cuz he the BEST RAPPER EVA!! FLOW WISE I MEAN… HE GOT THE BEST FLOW EVA… OF COURSE PAC THE BEST EVA
September 1st, 2009 at 3:40 pm
carter ii is wayne’s best work! if he cant follow that body of work he may never again be argued as the best alive!
September 1st, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Damn now i see why this nigga is short as fuck he was fuckin with all those drugs at 11 smh stunned his growth lol
September 1st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
they did one for jay years ago
September 1st, 2009 at 5:12 pm
@6 Nigga you not from chi-town saying wayne got the best flow. Ye shit on that nigga every time they on a track
September 1st, 2009 at 9:01 pm
fuk watchin waynes shit,
hes fake, he claims he is affliated with gang called ‘bloods’
which means they are all about the red color and what not,
so tell me how in hot boyz days he was in videos with blue bandanas,
which im quite sure stands for ‘crips’
so then now what are your thoughts?
if all this can be evident,
lil wayne, “best rapper alive” is fabricated
On top of that, any street person would not condoun kissing another man on the lips
and actually saying it on tele vision shows
he definatly is the homosexual artist in hip hop at the moment.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:06 pm
the person i would actually watch
is curtis “50 cent” Jackson
who from my opinion is real,
although there might not be everything about him the public might not know
because there has to be a reason alot of artist hating on you,
but thats all forgottin due to time,
me personnally, i beleave that he is already a legend in the rap game,
with mentors like Eminem, and Dr.dre, he went from artist to business man.
No one i think can hate on him,
because he’s just to smart,
and plus people he has problems with,
even stated 50 was never soft, like he done had a block workin for him.
so you tell me.
so no one should ever compare lil wayne to 50 cent,
because wayne isnt in his league.
September 1st, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Behing the Music????? Really????? I’m done. As a weezy stan it still puzzles me to this very day how this nigga managed to be in control of the rap game right now.
C1/C2 Weezy maybe but THIS nigga…..Wayne post C2 is garbage. I’m trying but I think I’m going to throw in the towel. He broke the straw on the camel’s back when he did “GO HAM” on that “forever” track
September 1st, 2009 at 10:18 pm
applaud a successful black man. i swear people believe everything they see and are quick to post judgement. yall dnt know this nigga personally so i dnt understand how haters can just talk out tha ass all day and state shit they see on the internet. grow a sack 4real and realize u cant slow his money up. if anything, seein this nigga on top of the game should motivate those who sit on the web talkin shit. cuz regardless if hes fake or not, the money is real. oh and c1 c2 and the droughts are his best shits. c3 only had “shoot me down” the rest was commercial shit. lil nigga knows what hes doin
September 1st, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Scrap the rebirth, put out another Carter album or something you and everyone else honestyly believe is hot. No matter if you like the nigga or not this is his time to run with the torch until someone take it away.
September 1st, 2009 at 11:27 pm
man, ya’ll just don’t think smart like wayne…he did da carter three for all crowds…he had white dude on 1st and 10 on espn co-sign his album was hot…what does dat tell u??? he did it 4 everybody, in my opinion it is the most complete album sounds wise….but c2 and c1 was 4 da streetz and c3 was smart as hell for u dumbfound clowns…..NO HOMO..
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 am
@ 12…. you are one stupid mothafucka. 50 cent, real, lol.
September 2nd, 2009 at 10:42 am
Lil wayne aint the only person 2 have a Behind the music show based on him. Get ya facts straight. Nigga is far from cein a damu. Nigga when this shit happen? When Mack 10 got on board? Nigga may know some damus, kicc it & fucced up wit them niggas, and spend HIS money on some damus. But he aint no b-dog….But since he commin out the poccet, them niggaz is like “Fucc it let him rep this blood shit, he kiccin’ in.” Far from 1.
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
they did one for jay back in like 02/03
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Once a G, always a G..only he changed from gangsta to gay
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Jay never had a behind the music the rappers to have one was Snoop, Biggie, Dre, Diddy, Run DMC, LL Cool J, Public Enemy. Hammer, Ice-T Now they going to do Wayne, 50 and T.I. this season
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Another thing ya’ll niggas be hating on Wayne like a motherufcker saying he lame and shit if he was so lame why bother to make a comment about the nigga fack of the matter is how many rappers record sales are going up right now he’s the only one say what you wanna say He the best cause when he said it niggas start hating if he wasn’t qualified for the top spot niggas wouldn’t even pay him no attention
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 am
i hate wen niggaz be talkin bout sellin albums and such i mean–elton john sold albums and that guy is gay–it doesnt matter if u sell albums, u are what u are
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:35 am
i agree wit 14 and 18, dudes try 2 say wayne fake and gay like u kno him personally/ dudes hate on jay the same way they hate on weezy cuz they gettin money/u should kno when lollipop came out he was tryna make money and attract a diff crowd/ and on the bangin part when wayne was a hot boy he neva sad he banged til they signed mac 10 and mac 10 put him dwn man yall get ur facts str8 i aint no rider i jus recognize a good hustler when i see em