After releasing a series of albums in collaboration with other artists, in 2004, Lil’ Wayne released ‘Tha Carter’ and established him as a rapper. The release of ‘Tha Carter II’ in December 2005, made him further recognizable as a contemporary rapper. ‘Tha Carter II’ debuted at No.2 on the Billboard Top 200 and sold more than 200,000 copies. It has now been certified platinum.
“Fireman”, the first single off ‘Tha Carter II’ became immensely popular all over the US after it peaked at No.32 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. However, Lil’ Wayne took his popularity for granted and did not release a video for his second single “Grown Man”. Instead he released it on urban radios in January of 2006, hoping it would reach the Top 40 Mainstream and then to the Hot 100, and this did not really happen due to the lack of a video and adequate promotion. But, with the third single Lil’ Wayne took no risks and released a music video for “Hustler Muzik”. Yet, this too did not receive the attention “Fireman” had, and reached No.87 on Hot 100. As of now his latest single “Shooter” is receiving decent television play. Lil Wayne's most successful video to date is a colaboration with Birdman titled "Stuntin Like My Daddy".
Lil’ Wayne also released a sequel to ‘Dedication’, called ‘Dedication pt.2’ in 2006, which includes a track called “Georgia….Bush”, where he blames President Bush for not handling Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged his native New Orleans, well enough. Ludacris’s single “Georgia” was the beat it was recorded to, which itself was sampled from Ray Charles’s “Georgia on my Mind”.
With his popularity on a constant rise, Lil’ Wayne is due to release two collaboration albums; one being a mix tape, meant to serve as a prequel to ‘I Can’t Feel my Face’ with Juelz Santana and ‘Like Father, Like Son’ with Baby. He’s also working tirelessly on ‘Tha Carter III’ and wants to release it by the end of the year.