He's the reigning king of hip hop and has nothing to hide. Growing up on the streets of New Orleans, Lil Wayne tried it all. By age eleven, surrounded by violence, he nearly lost his young life. Wayne found salvation in music, and as a teen sensation, quickly made his mark on pop culture. Then he boldly set out on a solo path to start him But Wayne's meteoric rise was fraught with adversity. When tragedy struck hold, the damage was overwhelming and his reckless behavior threatened to destroy him. Defiant, Wayne persevered and became one of the biggest stars in all of music. Now, hip hop's mad genius turns the mic on himself. This is Lil Wayne, the story behind the music. It is almost midnight in Newark, New Jersey, and a Pact arena anxiously awaits the arrival of one of music's most popular, controversial, and enigmatic figures. At twenty seven years old, Lil Wayne is widely regarded as the best rapper alive and the hardest working man in show business. I always say my city is the reason for my drive, the reason why I'm some older faders to do what I do Because when you're from New Orles. You got to do something. You gotta do something. Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. On September two and raised in Hollygrove and Impoverished in crime ridden neighborhood in New Orleans seventeenth ward. We grew up in New Orleans. Home. It's just like it is what you're seeing. Nice what had always been and been like a third world of me to live in New Orleans like for real, for real, you live in the war zone, in the sketto life, a lot of earls, drugs, ain't tolemn houses in the water, and don't have a gun at all. Leave me home. Violence was a part of Dwayne's life from the very beginning. Though his parents divorced when he was two, his father still remained a looming and abusive presence. He forced me and my mom to live with his mom until I was like five, but he didn't live there. He just would come drop by every other day to beat my mom and then leave and leave live with his wife. Dwayne and his mother's seat has soon moved out on their own, and he enrolled at Lafayette Elementary. There in the school's Gifted program. He showed promise as a star student. I never understand why people think of school as heart. The teacher tells you to find a figure something out that's actually written down. I never kind it. I just did my work. But Dwayne's true passion was mused, and by age nine, he was already well on his way to becoming a rapper. Dropping the d he started calling himself Lil Wayne and the game, battling mcs twice his age at local block parties that doom. He came out knowing what he wanted to do. Another stop, here comes up nine year grabbing him like talking about with this seventeen eighteen ye old boy just finished talking about probably talking about a little better than to see somebody that's small and I ain't young with that much confidence, he used to kill it man. While Wayne's dreams were taking shape in holly Growth across town, Brian Baby Williams and his brother Slim we're building an up and coming rap label, Cash Money Wreck As was the biggest label in the city at the time. They were like Naborhood Superstar. They had all the money they had to cause the music. The women there wasn't that big yet. But to us they were big. After hearing about Wayne from one of the labels rappers, Baby set up a meeting with a nine year old outside of a neighborhood record store. It was a shot that he had a pick in his head and I'm looking at him. He wrote a rap to me called Holly Grove, which way from Man. He was in Hotty Groves. I didn't let him know where he was at it as he rapped to me, I'm saying to myself, look at this good man, look at him. What I'm saying. With some development, he could be some From that part on, when I just come with me everywhere I go in and where I went in the summer of Little Wayne joined Cash Money Records and the Williams Brothers became his surrogate family. When I was able to say I was cash Money. That was some of the best days. That he wanted to be the best always and it was the avenue to try to help him fulfill his dream. Wh Baby and Slim schooled Wayne in the art of hip hop. There were some things the sixth grader learned on his own. I lost my James when I was eleven. Yeah, I was doing that at eleven. At eleven, she was like, thirteen, We're still cool to this day, shout out. Before the year was out, Wayne had also begune experimenting with drugs eleven man eleven. Everything he levin was the age. He smoked marijuana. How you doing world? Hello? Sold marijuana. I end up in Hoyle my own supplied, and after accidentally discovering a dealer stash, even tried cocaine. We didn't know what it was. We were that young. We didn't know if it was dope, coke, crack. We know what it was. He just knew it was white. Hem My mama gonna kill me. At the age of twelve, Lil Wayne was already immersed in the chaotic and combustible world of the New Orleans streets, but on the afternoon of November eleven, his curiosity would have dire consequences. My mom didn't get up till late, and I snip around the room find like damn. I found the pistol Big nine and made a song about it. I was in no my rap got a gun music blasting, thinking I'm safe playing around, and after that Wayne accidentally pulled the trigger and the bullet tore through his chest laid out on the floor. He crawled to the phone and called nine one. Four New Orleans policemen responded to the call, including an off duty officer known as Uncle John. Went over to the address nine Monroe Street started checking the apartments, and when we got to his apartment, while we could hear was loud music, I heard him knocking like somebody in there. And now, of course I couldn't screaming nothing like that and say yeah, somebody's in here. I got a big buy over to my chest. I can't make no noise. We knocked hard and loud ourselves and got no response, just beat like and then they stopped beating. So the first thing in my mind like, oh, dating left like that. They don't even know me here, I'm a die in. So I guess I don't know. I guess something clicks in your head and told me go to the living room. I just slid to the door on my own blood. We heard someone moaning inside saying they needed help. Well, we went ahead and kicked the door in found a little Wayne laying on the ground bleeding from a gunshot wounded a chest. He picked me up and he told whoever was driving he's like behind the wheel. Now. They opened the door for me because I had him in my arms. I was carrying him just like a baby. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. His eyes were drifting backwards into his head, like looking up at him, like who are you? He Sam? Uncle John? Tell me his name was Uncle John. I kept talking to him the whole time, trying to keep him awake, you know, saying it's going to be all right, you know, tell me what happened. Trying to just keep him, you know, alive. On the afternoon of November eleven, twelve year Old d Wayne Michael Carter Jr. Was rushed to a New Orleans hospital with a gunshot wound to his chest that was so small and blood by. I remember that, but then after that I was out. Doctors operated on Wayne in the difference between life and death came down to less than an inch. The bullet was this far away from his heart, like a centimeter, so away from his heart, went straight in, the straight out like angel was watching over him. He still got bullet fragments in his chest. It's so close to my heart that they can't go there. So yeah, I got some pieces of two like to two fragments over my heart. But the good thing on moving there like that unless I get in the magnetic field. After several days on life support, Wayne eventually recovered, and when he returned to his seventh grade class, his brushed with death became a badge of honor and walking around it with no shirt or I was tupack, you know all, let me see you, Let me patch you up because I'm gonna go to school for nurse and so let me do this. They got sympathy and he got the bad boy image at the same time. With more can you ask for? Full? He healed. Wayne settled back into life as a star student and aspiring mc He also found stability at home. His mother had married a local hustler named Reginald Rabbit McDonald, and Rabbit quickly became a pivotal figure in Wayne's young life. Rabbit with the first due to really take him on days and way and teach him things, you know what I'm saying, and treat him like like a son. Is my father. He was my father, that eight my father. He didn't look at me as a kid, and he looked at me as a young man. Sadly, Wayne and Rabbit would have only four short years together. In the early morning of July, Wayne's stepfather was shot to death outside of New Orleans gas station. Honestly, I was so young to it. It wasn't even cool to cry, you know. I was that young. It didn't really hit me till the funeral. Seeing him. That's when I was like, wow, like he's gone. But after that, you gotta be your my own husband, you know what I mean. You gotta be strong man. Just fourteen years old, Wayne dropped out of school to put everything he had into his music career, and what was once a dream was now a necessity. I know, I had to get off my ass and do something. That's how I looked at it, straight up. I just looked at it like a soldier and going into walk. Wayne joined forces with three of the best young rappers in New Orleans, Juvenile, b G, and Turk, to form Cash Money's new group, the Hot Boys. The Hot Boys developed a friendly rivalry, pushing each other and especially Wayne to new creative heights. I used to go in the studio with them and tell him, hey man, you better have your best line or your best rap together, because I'm gonna kill you on the phone, and that pretty much created a competition between them. We use the challenge each other in a good way, you know, in a positive way, you know what I'm saying. Like we were all in any together. The Hot Boys quickly found local success and began touring the South. But while Wayne was on the road, his mother Cita was back home and longing for company Rabbit. She had nobody there. She just made a broad statement one day, like when you gonna bring me the child, a granddaughter, grandson up here? I'm boyd but I'm lonely. And then one day I was like, you know, like I really, um, somebody's pregnant. Shoot, And instead of her being like one, she was like yes. Wayne's high school girlfriend, Toya Johnson, gave birth in the early hours of November twenty nine, and at sixteen, Lil Wayne became a father. The couple named their daughter Regina in honor of Wayne's stepfather, Rabbit. One of the most beautiful days in the world in my life. Um, I was there, I saw the nast dead. It's nasty, man, I saw it, but I was dead. It was beautiful. It was also inspiration. With another mouth to feed, Wayne helped push the Hot Boys forward and in they became a national sensation. The thing I loved about the Hot Boys was the Hot Boys come together when the boy band thing is at its peak, and so the Hot Boys is at once this like gangster rap version of a boy band, and it's also this brilliant parody of a boy band because it's so raw. While juvenile was the Hot Boys undisputed star, Wayne found a way to make his mark. One night in the studio, he made up a word that would change pop culture forever. Baby said, Wayne, aren't you cash the end of this song? I used to do a little sounds in my verses. I said, Man, what's sound I could do? I was like, tell me what kind? I say? Blaine Wayane started Blain, that's his creation. At that time, if we had a knew better out of copyrighted that now established as a voice to be reckoned with, Wayne would get a shot at his own solo album. The Block Is Hot was wrote before you know we even could say like dude, we're working on your ELM. He already had his little wraps or whatever together going just give me a shot, make the beats and get out the week. The Block Is Hot went platinum in a matter of weeks, and at seventeen, the once impoverished m C from Holly Grove was already a millionaire. My first big check, that gave it to my mom. He gave it straight to her first name. She went dead, bought a new house. Just now I was able to take care of things, and she still can live the way she liked to live. And I don't get enough for me. By the turn of the millennium, Wayne and the Hot Boys had become one of hip hop's biggest acts, but their reigned at the top wouldn't last long. Disputes over money would break up the Grip, leaving Wayne on his own. Things only got worse when his next solo album failed to meet expectations. Just twenty years old, Wayne found himself at a crossroads where I was really thinking about every day, thinking about the same thing every day. I want to be with a new company. I want to keep rabman. I ain't know what I coming up. Wayne faces his moment of truth and then looks into the eye of the store. When behind the music continues. It's three am, and while most of America is fast asleep, Lil Wayne is just getting to work. After a three hour concert, a quick meal, and a few airings of Sports Center, he is ready to start up on a new song. After shuffling through some potential acts, Wayne makes his choice. Wayne's daily songwriting process is both symbol and eccentric. No pens, no paper, just the beat of the music and the thoughts it inspires. Wayne has been improvising music like this since he faced the moment of truth in two thousand two. After The Hot Boys broke up, Wayne's solo career was faltering. Convinced that the physical process of writing was constraining his creativity, the twenty one year old MC decided to purge himself of all of his written material. In one pivotal recording session, I said, you know what, and ar newly, I won't be able to wrap anything I've written again is to record everything I've written all that month. So there's whore I have no more written material. Armed with a notebook filled with all of his unrecorded lyrics, Wayne entered the booth and let loose. You can hear the thnes ripping because it paid his ripping, and he was going through all his last raps and of the last time you ever wrote anything down, Wayne emerged from the booth with ten thousand Bars, an uninterrupted, thirty five minute song that would mark the end of an era. When I stopped writing, I've noticed that everything was real. Now I can't speak about nothing but what's real because I can't write nothing down. That changed Wayne as an artist. He started pouring all his speelers out. Everything was on his heart, everything was in his head. He just started putting out. Re Energized by his new freestyle approach, Wayne released The Carter in two thousand four. It would go on to become a top five hit and put to rest any doubt about the twenty two year old MC and the label he had helped build. It was just like, wow, okay, you know all the haters, hello cash Money. Still he is standing and now they have a new star. His name is Wayne and he can hold this label. Intent on continuing his musical evolution, Wayne moved to Miami and began had to work with a new range of artists and producers. But while he found stability in his career, he began to long for it in his personal life. I stopped feeling like I need to be with my mama, you know what I mean? Like, I need to be in my daughter's life at this vital time. The choice I made was move Toya, can't imagine name and with me in marriage arty. On Valentine's Day two thousand four, Rain and his high school sweetheart Toya Johnson were married. I was in love again all that because I felt, Wow, this is you know, all the feelings that I guess that I should have felt. The day I was watching not give birth, I was like, wow, this is the month of my child, Like you know what I mean? I thought about that then, you know what I mean? I was like, will you marry me? So she said yeah. That's how we did that. Wayne and Toya settled into life together, but a year later, the city where they first all in love would be changed forever. On August twenty ninth, two thousand five, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, destroying almost everything in its path, but eight hundred miles away in Miami. The initial devastation had little impact on Wayne. At that time, nothing affected me. I lost some cars in the house, three that I got three chains on him. You gotta understand I wasn't even there, and my parents wasn't there, and my kid wasn't there, so you know what I mean, So like I didn't had to muster up nothing. But in the days that followed, the tragedy began to hit home in ways that Wayne could have never imagined. Somebody's close to us. He was swimming with his little cousin and he died like right in front of him. It was moments of disbelief, like I really believe that this is happening, like called to be like you know, a spances dad. Anyway, I can't portray that killed somebody that I note for real. Wayne's astonishment spurred him into action, but rather than joint celebrity fundraising efforts, he returned home and quietly went to work rebuilding a local park and with cash money, helping to feed and clothe those in needs. You know, I'm from the Wadans, I am related to the people that live in both. But I hadn't help him. I'm not helping the world. Y'all helping the world get over something that didn't even happen to them, because y'all ain't help nobody in the Orleans if you think you did. In the aftermath of Katrina and the federal government's controversial response, Wayne channeled his emotions into a saw released on his critically acclaimed mixtape, The Dedication Too. He called it Georgia Bush One sentimental. I never said that I'm and I'm hurt by it. I was like, color, I don't have a challenge and I don't have I can't go back to my neighborhood because not a neighborhood. I can't go back to my city and say I remember being five years old having a party head because not that anymore. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the entire cash Money family relocated with Lil Wayne to Miami, but the disaster stayed close to their hearts and inspired, they went back to work. We strong survivors known as people period. We can maintain whatever our tradition is during tragic you know, even doing a hurricane, you still saw people rejoicing this dead in the street because it's what we do. That's when he was taught, coming up on the baby and Slim like, you know, to keep on moving and that's the mentality. Yeah. Wayne released The Carter two in December two thousand five, and, following in the footsteps of his hero Jay Z, boldly pronounced himself the best rapper alive. Jay Z was kind of in his semi retirement phase, and Little Wayne said he saw like an empty niche and he was saying, I'm going to be the best rapper alive. That's me. I'm the best rapper alive. Everybody know my confidence for music and what I do is through the roof. And I believe you're supposed to have this kind of confidence. It's like a sport. Nobody is better than me. While The Carter Too went platinum, Wayne still felt he wasn't getting the respect he deserved, so he took matters into his own hands. Over the next twelve months, he appeared on over one hundred songs, both through his own underground mixtapes and as a guest rapper for artists as diverse as Fallout Boy and at Joe. But true validation came when the phone rang one night and jay Z was on the line. Everybody at quiet, everybody just looking at me on the phone. He just outed at me though. It just says I'm real slick, like I see you though, I see you though, once you know I see you, I know that man that It was like my hero telling me you're coming from me. In Wayne's eyes, he had finally arrived, but it came at a cost. His two year marriage to Toya Johnson had fallen apart. I tell you it wasn't ready for what my life was. Life is working every night and working all night. I don't plan on stopping this no time zone like and that's why I had to make the ultimate to sit. Wayne's divorce from Toyo was finalized in January of two thousand six, and on the heels of the painful bled, Wayne drew deeper into the world of drugs. While he had always been known as a prolific pot smoker, rumors began to spread about a possible addiction to prescription coughs. Europe syrup is something that any hip hop fan, especially fan of Southern hip hop, has to have real mixed feelings about. It's inspired a lot of music, but it's also killed a lot of great musicians. Drugs were obviously a big part of wings life. Publicly would see him with a white style from Cup. We didn't know for sure, but it seemed like, you know, this guy is just constantly you know, taking through maybe on a friend. I had my opinion about best situation, and we just butted on it. You know what I'm saying, I wouldn't do what I want because I do what I want every day. Regardless of the urging of friends and family, litt Wayne continued down a path of potential self destruction. Why I said I stopped drinking whatever it is in my cup. I think people need to mind their own business. I don't care if it was heroin in my cup, it's in my cup. Coming off, Wayne's outlaw ways catch up with him when Behind the Music continues. On July two thousand seven, Lil Wayne was set to play his first headlining show in New York City, having recently been arrested for drug possession in Atlanta. Wayne's outlaw reputation was on the rise, and as he prepared to take the stage, Wayne was frisked by police and forced to go through a metal detector. Wayne channeled his anger into a memorable performance, and when he left the theater several hours later, spirits were high. We have on to bless me, jumping up, he sweat and we got a few chicks that flew in. We just amp. We wrote a block and we getting pulled. Though I knew it wasn't about to be quick, somebody's going to jail. New York police boarded Wayne's tour bus and discovered eight ounces of marijuana and a loaded forty caliber pistol. The chief he didn't even know who Wayne was. That's crazy, that's crazy. He he had to ask the young ones which one is Little Wayne put the cuffs on him. Although the marijuana was attributed to a member of his entourage, Queen was arrested and charged with two counts of weapons possession. However, his camp still contends that the gun was not his. Put away and show me your faith, baby, Come on, man, I don't want to comment too much about it because the case is still open. I'm saying it's public record that this is that was mine. Why I don't tell any guns on at all? The facts of the case are still being argued in court. If convicted, Wayne could be facing up to three and a half years in prison. I am pressed on it. I ain't looking forward, said, I ain't thinking on it. And the dio and dio and whatever happens from it will happen from it. In the wake of his arrest, Lil Wayne was eager to put the distractions of two thousand seven behind him, and he poured his energy back into his music, continuing to flood the streets with mixtapes. Wayne was hotter than ever. Wayne was in every nook and cranny and everybody's iPod, everybody's seed. He changed like everywhere you turn, Wayne was proven that he was the greatest. The only thing people were waiting to see was can that transferred to a hit album, to him really selling a lot of records and selling records the way pop starts do. Wayne's answer was the Carter three. Fueled by the raw sexuality of Lollipop, both the single and the album shot to number one. More astonishing, in its first week alone, the Carter three sold over one million copies out and it was over one point five million records in the first week. Who's doing that? Eminem's not doing it, Kanye is not doing it, Justin's not doing it, Brittany is not doing it. Nobody is doing it. The one point by in the first week that was that was on a scale on ten ten thousand. That was just unexplaining. As the Carter three continued to soar, Wayne won the hearts of fans the world over, and the mainstream media came calling from Daytime Sports Talk to a primetime Grammy special with Katie Kuric. Wayne was everywhere all the time, gaining even the acknowledgement of the biggest star of the year. When Obama said that we just looked at each other like, damn, we're gonna get in that White House. Definitely We're gonna get in the White House. It made him feel like I was that great because he didn't use me in a sensible person using in a sense of amit something that is impossable. In just twelve short months, Wayne had transformed himself from an eccentric outlaw to a cultural phenomenon. Two eight was low Wayne. He was the central not just the central dude in hip hop. He seemed like the central pop star of that year. In two thousand eight, Little Wayne became hip hop's undisputed king, and on Grammy Night two thousand nine, America witnessed his Caro Nation. Nominated for eight Awards, Wayne's career would come full circle. In a stirring performance of his Katrina inspired anthem tie My Hands, Wayne paid tribute to his beloved hometown. Then, after performing with his idol jay Z, Wayne went head to head against him for rap album of the Year. I don't think I felt like that again in my life yet that was unexplainable. Favor I believable. Wayne would take home for a Grammy's on the evening, sharing his triumph with his mother, Sita and the father figures who had helped lead him on a remarkable journey that began at the age of nine. That's the best night of my life. Man. That was John. That you can't explain. Just Watson showed me how forward can go. It ain't about how far we didn't went. That's how foward can go. And you went to a Grammy. That's like going to the Hall of Fame. I don't care. We'll show I'm more. I don't care talking about the news, me going to jail. It's the Grammy Award winning. We don't worry, you know what I mean? And that right that after like Wow, you can't get no moment more. Betta. It is long past midnight in Newark, New Jersey, and a pact arena has witnessed a superstar in his pride. In twenty seven short years, little Wayne has already lived a lifetime of tragedy and triumph, and while his future remains uncertain. One thing is clear, he has no intentions of slowing down. Well, we come from his very hard, from a star ally akinsion. So he's just got on his horse and did what he had to do to be somebody. This is a guy that's pushed down the loope, went beyond the boundaries, beyond the stereotypes. He's still growing, you know what I'm saying. He's not even at his peak yet. You know I'm saying, he's still rising. Everything about is about music. I'm a real artist, so real artists. Man, you give me a canvas, I'll give you art. Following the success of the Carter three, Lil Wayne continued his prolific run of album and mix tape releases, with multiple mix tapes under the Dedication and No Ceiling series, as well as the Carter four and the Carter five. Even an eight month jail sentence in couldn't stop Lil Wayne from releasing music, with the I Am Not a Human Being mixtape released while he was imprisoned, and the Carter four shortly after his release. Despite controversy with his label, Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne has sold over a hundred and twenty million records worldwide, cementing his status as one of the world's best selling artists. In addition to his own impressive string of albums, mix tapes, and features, Lil Wayne helped introduce a new generation of rap artists with his record label Young Money, including Drake, Nicki, Minaje, and Tiger. With five Grammy Awards, eleven b E T Awards for Billboard Music Awards, to MTV Video Music Awards, and eight and double A CP Image Awards, Lil Wait has cemented his legacy as one of hip hop's greatest. Listen and subscribe to Behind the Music on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Be sure to rate and review Behind the Music on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. What more episodes You can watch remastered best of the Vault and new episodes of Behind the Music only on Paramount Plus.

He's the reigning king of hip hop and has nothing to hide. Growing up on the streets of New Orleans, Lil Wayne tried it all. By age eleven, surrounded by violence, he nearly lost his young life. Wayne found salvation in music, and as a teen sensation, quickly made his mark on pop culture. Then he boldly set out on a solo path to start him But Wayne's meteoric rise was fraught with adversity. When tragedy struck hold, the damage was overwhelming and his reckless behavior threatened to destroy him. Defiant, Wayne persevered and became one of the biggest stars in all of music. Now, hip hop's mad genius turns the mic on himself. This is Lil Wayne, the story behind the music. It is almost midnight in Newark, New Jersey, and a Pact arena anxiously awaits the arrival of one of music's most popular, controversial, and enigmatic figures. At twenty seven years old, Lil Wayne is widely regarded as the best rapper alive and the hardest working man in show business. I always say my city is the reason for my drive, the reason why I'm some older faders to do what I do Because when you're from New Orles. You got to do something. You gotta do something. Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. On September two and raised in Hollygrove and Impoverished in crime ridden neighborhood in New Orleans seventeenth ward. We grew up in New Orleans. Home. It's just like it is what you're seeing. Nice what had always been and been like a third world of me to live in New Orleans like for real, for real, you live in the war zone, in the sketto life, a lot of earls, drugs, ain't tolemn houses in the water, and don't have a gun at all. Leave me home. Violence was a part of Dwayne's life from the very beginning. Though his parents divorced when he was two, his father still remained a looming and abusive presence. He forced me and my mom to live with his mom until I was like five, but he didn't live there. He just would come drop by every other day to beat my mom and then leave and leave live with his wife. Dwayne and his mother's seat has soon moved out on their own, and he enrolled at Lafayette Elementary. There in the school's Gifted program. He showed promise as a star student. I never understand why people think of school as heart. The teacher tells you to find a figure something out that's actually written down. I never kind it. I just did my work. But Dwayne's true passion was mused, and by age nine, he was already well on his way to becoming a rapper. Dropping the d he started calling himself Lil Wayne and the game, battling mcs twice his age at local block parties that doom. He came out knowing what he wanted to do. Another stop, here comes up nine year grabbing him like talking about with this seventeen eighteen ye old boy just finished talking about probably talking about a little better than to see somebody that's small and I ain't young with that much confidence, he used to kill it man. While Wayne's dreams were taking shape in holly Growth across town, Brian Baby Williams and his brother Slim we're building an up and coming rap label, Cash Money Wreck As was the biggest label in the city at the time. They were like Naborhood Superstar. They had all the money they had to cause the music. The women there wasn't that big yet. But to us they were big. After hearing about Wayne from one of the labels rappers, Baby set up a meeting with a nine year old outside of a neighborhood record store. It was a shot that he had a pick in his head and I'm looking at him. He wrote a rap to me called Holly Grove, which way from Man. He was in Hotty Groves. I didn't let him know where he was at it as he rapped to me, I'm saying to myself, look at this good man, look at him. What I'm saying. With some development, he could be some From that part on, when I just come with me everywhere I go in and where I went in the summer of Little Wayne joined Cash Money Records and the Williams Brothers became his surrogate family. When I was able to say I was cash Money. That was some of the best days. That he wanted to be the best always and it was the avenue to try to help him fulfill his dream. Wh Baby and Slim schooled Wayne in the art of hip hop. There were some things the sixth grader learned on his own. I lost my James when I was eleven. Yeah, I was doing that at eleven. At eleven, she was like, thirteen, We're still cool to this day, shout out. Before the year was out, Wayne had also begune experimenting with drugs eleven man eleven. Everything he levin was the age. He smoked marijuana. How you doing world? Hello? Sold marijuana. I end up in Hoyle my own supplied, and after accidentally discovering a dealer stash, even tried cocaine. We didn't know what it was. We were that young. We didn't know if it was dope, coke, crack. We know what it was. He just knew it was white. Hem My mama gonna kill me. At the age of twelve, Lil Wayne was already immersed in the chaotic and combustible world of the New Orleans streets, but on the afternoon of November eleven, his curiosity would have dire consequences. My mom didn't get up till late, and I snip around the room find like damn. I found the pistol Big nine and made a song about it. I was in no my rap got a gun music blasting, thinking I'm safe playing around, and after that Wayne accidentally pulled the trigger and the bullet tore through his chest laid out on the floor. He crawled to the phone and called nine one. Four New Orleans policemen responded to the call, including an off duty officer known as Uncle John. Went over to the address nine Monroe Street started checking the apartments, and when we got to his apartment, while we could hear was loud music, I heard him knocking like somebody in there. And now, of course I couldn't screaming nothing like that and say yeah, somebody's in here. I got a big buy over to my chest. I can't make no noise. We knocked hard and loud ourselves and got no response, just beat like and then they stopped beating. So the first thing in my mind like, oh, dating left like that. They don't even know me here, I'm a die in. So I guess I don't know. I guess something clicks in your head and told me go to the living room. I just slid to the door on my own blood. We heard someone moaning inside saying they needed help. Well, we went ahead and kicked the door in found a little Wayne laying on the ground bleeding from a gunshot wounded a chest. He picked me up and he told whoever was driving he's like behind the wheel. Now. They opened the door for me because I had him in my arms. I was carrying him just like a baby. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. His eyes were drifting backwards into his head, like looking up at him, like who are you? He Sam? Uncle John? Tell me his name was Uncle John. I kept talking to him the whole time, trying to keep him awake, you know, saying it's going to be all right, you know, tell me what happened. Trying to just keep him, you know, alive. On the afternoon of November eleven, twelve year Old d Wayne Michael Carter Jr. Was rushed to a New Orleans hospital with a gunshot wound to his chest that was so small and blood by. I remember that, but then after that I was out. Doctors operated on Wayne in the difference between life and death came down to less than an inch. The bullet was this far away from his heart, like a centimeter, so away from his heart, went straight in, the straight out like angel was watching over him. He still got bullet fragments in his chest. It's so close to my heart that they can't go there. So yeah, I got some pieces of two like to two fragments over my heart. But the good thing on moving there like that unless I get in the magnetic field. After several days on life support, Wayne eventually recovered, and when he returned to his seventh grade class, his brushed with death became a badge of honor and walking around it with no shirt or I was tupack, you know all, let me see you, Let me patch you up because I'm gonna go to school for nurse and so let me do this. They got sympathy and he got the bad boy image at the same time. With more can you ask for? Full? He healed. Wayne settled back into life as a star student and aspiring mc He also found stability at home. His mother had married a local hustler named Reginald Rabbit McDonald, and Rabbit quickly became a pivotal figure in Wayne's young life. Rabbit with the first due to really take him on days and way and teach him things, you know what I'm saying, and treat him like like a son. Is my father. He was my father, that eight my father. He didn't look at me as a kid, and he looked at me as a young man. Sadly, Wayne and Rabbit would have only four short years together. In the early morning of July, Wayne's stepfather was shot to death outside of New Orleans gas station. Honestly, I was so young to it. It wasn't even cool to cry, you know. I was that young. It didn't really hit me till the funeral. Seeing him. That's when I was like, wow, like he's gone. But after that, you gotta be your my own husband, you know what I mean. You gotta be strong man. Just fourteen years old, Wayne dropped out of school to put everything he had into his music career, and what was once a dream was now a necessity. I know, I had to get off my ass and do something. That's how I looked at it, straight up. I just looked at it like a soldier and going into walk. Wayne joined forces with three of the best young rappers in New Orleans, Juvenile, b G, and Turk, to form Cash Money's new group, the Hot Boys. The Hot Boys developed a friendly rivalry, pushing each other and especially Wayne to new creative heights. I used to go in the studio with them and tell him, hey man, you better have your best line or your best rap together, because I'm gonna kill you on the phone, and that pretty much created a competition between them. We use the challenge each other in a good way, you know, in a positive way, you know what I'm saying. Like we were all in any together. The Hot Boys quickly found local success and began touring the South. But while Wayne was on the road, his mother Cita was back home and longing for company Rabbit. She had nobody there. She just made a broad statement one day, like when you gonna bring me the child, a granddaughter, grandson up here? I'm boyd but I'm lonely. And then one day I was like, you know, like I really, um, somebody's pregnant. Shoot, And instead of her being like one, she was like yes. Wayne's high school girlfriend, Toya Johnson, gave birth in the early hours of November twenty nine, and at sixteen, Lil Wayne became a father. The couple named their daughter Regina in honor of Wayne's stepfather, Rabbit. One of the most beautiful days in the world in my life. Um, I was there, I saw the nast dead. It's nasty, man, I saw it, but I was dead. It was beautiful. It was also inspiration. With another mouth to feed, Wayne helped push the Hot Boys forward and in they became a national sensation. The thing I loved about the Hot Boys was the Hot Boys come together when the boy band thing is at its peak, and so the Hot Boys is at once this like gangster rap version of a boy band, and it's also this brilliant parody of a boy band because it's so raw. While juvenile was the Hot Boys undisputed star, Wayne found a way to make his mark. One night in the studio, he made up a word that would change pop culture forever. Baby said, Wayne, aren't you cash the end of this song? I used to do a little sounds in my verses. I said, Man, what's sound I could do? I was like, tell me what kind? I say? Blaine Wayane started Blain, that's his creation. At that time, if we had a knew better out of copyrighted that now established as a voice to be reckoned with, Wayne would get a shot at his own solo album. The Block Is Hot was wrote before you know we even could say like dude, we're working on your ELM. He already had his little wraps or whatever together going just give me a shot, make the beats and get out the week. The Block Is Hot went platinum in a matter of weeks, and at seventeen, the once impoverished m C from Holly Grove was already a millionaire. My first big check, that gave it to my mom. He gave it straight to her first name. She went dead, bought a new house. Just now I was able to take care of things, and she still can live the way she liked to live. And I don't get enough for me. By the turn of the millennium, Wayne and the Hot Boys had become one of hip hop's biggest acts, but their reigned at the top wouldn't last long. Disputes over money would break up the Grip, leaving Wayne on his own. Things only got worse when his next solo album failed to meet expectations. Just twenty years old, Wayne found himself at a crossroads where I was really thinking about every day, thinking about the same thing every day. I want to be with a new company. I want to keep rabman. I ain't know what I coming up. Wayne faces his moment of truth and then looks into the eye of the store. When behind the music continues. It's three am, and while most of America is fast asleep, Lil Wayne is just getting to work. After a three hour concert, a quick meal, and a few airings of Sports Center, he is ready to start up on a new song. After shuffling through some potential acts, Wayne makes his choice. Wayne's daily songwriting process is both symbol and eccentric. No pens, no paper, just the beat of the music and the thoughts it inspires. Wayne has been improvising music like this since he faced the moment of truth in two thousand two. After The Hot Boys broke up, Wayne's solo career was faltering. Convinced that the physical process of writing was constraining his creativity, the twenty one year old MC decided to purge himself of all of his written material. In one pivotal recording session, I said, you know what, and ar newly, I won't be able to wrap anything I've written again is to record everything I've written all that month. So there's whore I have no more written material. Armed with a notebook filled with all of his unrecorded lyrics, Wayne entered the booth and let loose. You can hear the thnes ripping because it paid his ripping, and he was going through all his last raps and of the last time you ever wrote anything down, Wayne emerged from the booth with ten thousand Bars, an uninterrupted, thirty five minute song that would mark the end of an era. When I stopped writing, I've noticed that everything was real. Now I can't speak about nothing but what's real because I can't write nothing down. That changed Wayne as an artist. He started pouring all his speelers out. Everything was on his heart, everything was in his head. He just started putting out. Re Energized by his new freestyle approach, Wayne released The Carter in two thousand four. It would go on to become a top five hit and put to rest any doubt about the twenty two year old MC and the label he had helped build. It was just like, wow, okay, you know all the haters, hello cash Money. Still he is standing and now they have a new star. His name is Wayne and he can hold this label. Intent on continuing his musical evolution, Wayne moved to Miami and began had to work with a new range of artists and producers. But while he found stability in his career, he began to long for it in his personal life. I stopped feeling like I need to be with my mama, you know what I mean? Like, I need to be in my daughter's life at this vital time. The choice I made was move Toya, can't imagine name and with me in marriage arty. On Valentine's Day two thousand four, Rain and his high school sweetheart Toya Johnson were married. I was in love again all that because I felt, Wow, this is you know, all the feelings that I guess that I should have felt. The day I was watching not give birth, I was like, wow, this is the month of my child, Like you know what I mean? I thought about that then, you know what I mean? I was like, will you marry me? So she said yeah. That's how we did that. Wayne and Toya settled into life together, but a year later, the city where they first all in love would be changed forever. On August twenty ninth, two thousand five, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, destroying almost everything in its path, but eight hundred miles away in Miami. The initial devastation had little impact on Wayne. At that time, nothing affected me. I lost some cars in the house, three that I got three chains on him. You gotta understand I wasn't even there, and my parents wasn't there, and my kid wasn't there, so you know what I mean, So like I didn't had to muster up nothing. But in the days that followed, the tragedy began to hit home in ways that Wayne could have never imagined. Somebody's close to us. He was swimming with his little cousin and he died like right in front of him. It was moments of disbelief, like I really believe that this is happening, like called to be like you know, a spances dad. Anyway, I can't portray that killed somebody that I note for real. Wayne's astonishment spurred him into action, but rather than joint celebrity fundraising efforts, he returned home and quietly went to work rebuilding a local park and with cash money, helping to feed and clothe those in needs. You know, I'm from the Wadans, I am related to the people that live in both. But I hadn't help him. I'm not helping the world. Y'all helping the world get over something that didn't even happen to them, because y'all ain't help nobody in the Orleans if you think you did. In the aftermath of Katrina and the federal government's controversial response, Wayne channeled his emotions into a saw released on his critically acclaimed mixtape, The Dedication Too. He called it Georgia Bush One sentimental. I never said that I'm and I'm hurt by it. I was like, color, I don't have a challenge and I don't have I can't go back to my neighborhood because not a neighborhood. I can't go back to my city and say I remember being five years old having a party head because not that anymore. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the entire cash Money family relocated with Lil Wayne to Miami, but the disaster stayed close to their hearts and inspired, they went back to work. We strong survivors known as people period. We can maintain whatever our tradition is during tragic you know, even doing a hurricane, you still saw people rejoicing this dead in the street because it's what we do. That's when he was taught, coming up on the baby and Slim like, you know, to keep on moving and that's the mentality. Yeah. Wayne released The Carter two in December two thousand five, and, following in the footsteps of his hero Jay Z, boldly pronounced himself the best rapper alive. Jay Z was kind of in his semi retirement phase, and Little Wayne said he saw like an empty niche and he was saying, I'm going to be the best rapper alive. That's me. I'm the best rapper alive. Everybody know my confidence for music and what I do is through the roof. And I believe you're supposed to have this kind of confidence. It's like a sport. Nobody is better than me. While The Carter Too went platinum, Wayne still felt he wasn't getting the respect he deserved, so he took matters into his own hands. Over the next twelve months, he appeared on over one hundred songs, both through his own underground mixtapes and as a guest rapper for artists as diverse as Fallout Boy and at Joe. But true validation came when the phone rang one night and jay Z was on the line. Everybody at quiet, everybody just looking at me on the phone. He just outed at me though. It just says I'm real slick, like I see you though, I see you though, once you know I see you, I know that man that It was like my hero telling me you're coming from me. In Wayne's eyes, he had finally arrived, but it came at a cost. His two year marriage to Toya Johnson had fallen apart. I tell you it wasn't ready for what my life was. Life is working every night and working all night. I don't plan on stopping this no time zone like and that's why I had to make the ultimate to sit. Wayne's divorce from Toyo was finalized in January of two thousand six, and on the heels of the painful bled, Wayne drew deeper into the world of drugs. While he had always been known as a prolific pot smoker, rumors began to spread about a possible addiction to prescription coughs. Europe syrup is something that any hip hop fan, especially fan of Southern hip hop, has to have real mixed feelings about. It's inspired a lot of music, but it's also killed a lot of great musicians. Drugs were obviously a big part of wings life. Publicly would see him with a white style from Cup. We didn't know for sure, but it seemed like, you know, this guy is just constantly you know, taking through maybe on a friend. I had my opinion about best situation, and we just butted on it. You know what I'm saying, I wouldn't do what I want because I do what I want every day. Regardless of the urging of friends and family, litt Wayne continued down a path of potential self destruction. Why I said I stopped drinking whatever it is in my cup. I think people need to mind their own business. I don't care if it was heroin in my cup, it's in my cup. Coming off, Wayne's outlaw ways catch up with him when Behind the Music continues. On July two thousand seven, Lil Wayne was set to play his first headlining show in New York City, having recently been arrested for drug possession in Atlanta. Wayne's outlaw reputation was on the rise, and as he prepared to take the stage, Wayne was frisked by police and forced to go through a metal detector. Wayne channeled his anger into a memorable performance, and when he left the theater several hours later, spirits were high. We have on to bless me, jumping up, he sweat and we got a few chicks that flew in. We just amp. We wrote a block and we getting pulled. Though I knew it wasn't about to be quick, somebody's going to jail. New York police boarded Wayne's tour bus and discovered eight ounces of marijuana and a loaded forty caliber pistol. The chief he didn't even know who Wayne was. That's crazy, that's crazy. He he had to ask the young ones which one is Little Wayne put the cuffs on him. Although the marijuana was attributed to a member of his entourage, Queen was arrested and charged with two counts of weapons possession. However, his camp still contends that the gun was not his. Put away and show me your faith, baby, Come on, man, I don't want to comment too much about it because the case is still open. I'm saying it's public record that this is that was mine. Why I don't tell any guns on at all? The facts of the case are still being argued in court. If convicted, Wayne could be facing up to three and a half years in prison. I am pressed on it. I ain't looking forward, said, I ain't thinking on it. And the dio and dio and whatever happens from it will happen from it. In the wake of his arrest, Lil Wayne was eager to put the distractions of two thousand seven behind him, and he poured his energy back into his music, continuing to flood the streets with mixtapes. Wayne was hotter than ever. Wayne was in every nook and cranny and everybody's iPod, everybody's seed. He changed like everywhere you turn, Wayne was proven that he was the greatest. The only thing people were waiting to see was can that transferred to a hit album, to him really selling a lot of records and selling records the way pop starts do. Wayne's answer was the Carter three. Fueled by the raw sexuality of Lollipop, both the single and the album shot to number one. More astonishing, in its first week alone, the Carter three sold over one million copies out and it was over one point five million records in the first week. Who's doing that? Eminem's not doing it, Kanye is not doing it, Justin's not doing it, Brittany is not doing it. Nobody is doing it. The one point by in the first week that was that was on a scale on ten ten thousand. That was just unexplaining. As the Carter three continued to soar, Wayne won the hearts of fans the world over, and the mainstream media came calling from Daytime Sports Talk to a primetime Grammy special with Katie Kuric. Wayne was everywhere all the time, gaining even the acknowledgement of the biggest star of the year. When Obama said that we just looked at each other like, damn, we're gonna get in that White House. Definitely We're gonna get in the White House. It made him feel like I was that great because he didn't use me in a sensible person using in a sense of amit something that is impossable. In just twelve short months, Wayne had transformed himself from an eccentric outlaw to a cultural phenomenon. Two eight was low Wayne. He was the central not just the central dude in hip hop. He seemed like the central pop star of that year. In two thousand eight, Little Wayne became hip hop's undisputed king, and on Grammy Night two thousand nine, America witnessed his Caro Nation. Nominated for eight Awards, Wayne's career would come full circle. In a stirring performance of his Katrina inspired anthem tie My Hands, Wayne paid tribute to his beloved hometown. Then, after performing with his idol jay Z, Wayne went head to head against him for rap album of the Year. I don't think I felt like that again in my life yet that was unexplainable. Favor I believable. Wayne would take home for a Grammy's on the evening, sharing his triumph with his mother, Sita and the father figures who had helped lead him on a remarkable journey that began at the age of nine. That's the best night of my life. Man. That was John. That you can't explain. Just Watson showed me how forward can go. It ain't about how far we didn't went. That's how foward can go. And you went to a Grammy. That's like going to the Hall of Fame. I don't care. We'll show I'm more. I don't care talking about the news, me going to jail. It's the Grammy Award winning. We don't worry, you know what I mean? And that right that after like Wow, you can't get no moment more. Betta. It is long past midnight in Newark, New Jersey, and a pact arena has witnessed a superstar in his pride. In twenty seven short years, little Wayne has already lived a lifetime of tragedy and triumph, and while his future remains uncertain. One thing is clear, he has no intentions of slowing down. Well, we come from his very hard, from a star ally akinsion. So he's just got on his horse and did what he had to do to be somebody. This is a guy that's pushed down the loope, went beyond the boundaries, beyond the stereotypes. He's still growing, you know what I'm saying. He's not even at his peak yet. You know I'm saying, he's still rising. Everything about is about music. I'm a real artist, so real artists. Man, you give me a canvas, I'll give you art. Following the success of the Carter three, Lil Wayne continued his prolific run of album and mix tape releases, with multiple mix tapes under the Dedication and No Ceiling series, as well as the Carter four and the Carter five. Even an eight month jail sentence in couldn't stop Lil Wayne from releasing music, with the I Am Not a Human Being mixtape released while he was imprisoned, and the Carter four shortly after his release. Despite controversy with his label, Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne has sold over a hundred and twenty million records worldwide, cementing his status as one of the world's best selling artists. In addition to his own impressive string of albums, mix tapes, and features, Lil Wayne helped introduce a new generation of rap artists with his record label Young Money, including Drake, Nicki, Minaje, and Tiger. With five Grammy Awards, eleven b E T Awards for Billboard Music Awards, to MTV Video Music Awards, and eight and double A CP Image Awards, Lil Wait has cemented his legacy as one of hip hop's greatest. Listen and subscribe to Behind the Music on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Be sure to rate and review Behind the Music on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. What more episodes You can watch remastered best of the Vault and new episodes of Behind the Music only on Paramount Plus.