Lil Wayne officially enters the respected trailblazer era of his career with Tha Carter VI

Each album in Lil Wayne's Tha Carter series captures a different stage in his career.

By Kiana Fitzgerald | June 19, 2025 | 2:00pm

Images (clockwise from top left): Tha Carter (Cash Money Records); Tha Carter VI (Young Money Entertainment); Tha Carter II (Cash Money Records/Young Money Entertainment); Tha Carter III (Cash Money Records/Young Money Entertainment); Tha Carter IV (Cash Money Records/Young Money Entertainment); Tha Carter V (Young Money Entertainment)

Music Features Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne officially enters the respected trailblazer era of his career with Tha Carter VI

You’d be hard-pressed to find an album series as well-known as Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter collection. The core of the New Orleans rapper’s discography, this set of albums began partway through Wayne’s extensive oeuvre. As a youth, the MC was tucked under the wing of Cash Money Records co-founder Bryan “Birdman” Williams, who signed Wayne at age 12. Immediately perceived as a preteen prodigy, Wayne put in work to pull stardom toward him, instead of being swallowed by the black hole-like music industry. He achieved that feat by being relentless with his output, establishing his sound, lyrical content, and delivery across his early albums (1999’s Tha Block Is Hot, 2000’s Lights Out, 2002’s 500 Degreez), and via mixtapes series like Sqad Up, Da Drought, and Dedication, which weaved throughout Lil Wayne’s official studio projects.

In 2002, Wayne released “10,000 Bars,” a 35-minute song featuring his last written lyrics. Everything from that moment forward, including Tha Carter series, was entirely freestyled and crafted from a stream-of-consciousness state. “You could ask my boy,” Lil Wayne said in a July 2023 interview on The Pivot Podcast. “‘I heard that n***a JAY-Z don’t write no more.’ We went in the studio and we did ‘10,000 Bars’ and that was the last time I rapped anything off of a paper.” In addition to being influenced by JAY’s rhyming preference, Tha Carter series is also directly inspired by the Brooklyn MC’s late ’90s album run, Vol. 1-3. Similar to JAY, Weezy aimed to use his batch of albums to etch his name at the top of the list of hip-hop greats.

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With his first installment, released in 2004, Lil Wayne acknowledged the work that he put into his initial solo projects and differentiated between those efforts and the journey he was about to embark on (“This Is The Carter”). Prolific producer Mannie Fresh contributed the vast majority of the beats on Tha Carter, making way for a natural sonic cohesion. The smash single “Go DJ” further established the bond between Fresh and Weezy, while igniting an excitement in rap that extended from the South across the nation.

Lil Wayne’s commitment to championing Southern MCs has been unwavering since he picked up a mic, but Tha Carter series is where he cemented his agenda. On “BM J.R.,” he raps, “You see, we grind from the bottom / Just to make it to the bottom / At the very bottom of the map.” Long aware of the glares shot toward the South by East and West Coast hip-hop purists, Weezy made it a point to represent his hometown specifically, on tracks like the prideful “On My Own.” With the Mannie Fresh-produced “Bring It Back,” Wayne continues shouting out the South, but toward the end of the song, he makes a declaration: “The best rapper alive since the best rapper retired!” Another reference to JAY-Z, Lil Wayne’s main goal was to prove that you could be clever (“Ain’t That A Bitch”), empathetic (“I Miss My Dawgs”), and still spit street shit (“Snitch”).

The masterful balancing act of smarts, wit, heart, and grit became Weezy’s calling card throughout Tha Carter series, but the second edition is the most well-assembled project of the series, despite the embattled state of Cash Money Records. After the unceremonious departure of the Hot Boys, Wayne’s groupmates, and in-house producer Mannie Fresh, Cash Money was in desperate need of a new era. Wayne stepped up to the plate as the savior of the label; what followed was one of the most successful runs in rap history, and it kicked off with 2005’s Tha Carter II.

Over production handled by an assortment of producers, including New York-based duo The Heatmakerz (“Tha Mobb”), Wayne sounded settled, reserved, and assertive. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t filled with creative heat, heard most clearly on the fervent mainstream hit “Fireman.” He already established “Tha Block Is Hot” in 1999, and here, Lil Wayne felt the flames building higher around him. “Money On My Mind” is the quintessential rap song of the 2000s, oozing with confidence and solidifying Wayne’s hyper-focus on stacking bread by any means necessary. The chopped-and-screwed background vocals on the hook, inspired by DJ Screw of Houston, loop back around to Weezy’s mission to put the South on his back. The center of the entire album series is “Hustler Musik,” a soulful rumination that clearly presents Wayne’s vision: He combines the threats, the vulnerability, the charisma, the boasts, and the clarity, never once taking his hard-won status for granted.

Three years passed between Tha Carter II and III (2008), and a lot changed for Lil Wayne during that time. In 2007 alone, he featured on close to 100 songs (that is not an exaggeration) and became not only the face of Cash Money but also the hip-hop industry at large. His run was unprecedented, and it put Weezy in a league of his own. Because of his dominance and subsequent exposure, Tha Carter III sold more than a million copies in the first week alone, an achievement we may never see again in rap. “They can’t stop me—even if they stopped me!” Wayne proclaimed on “3 Peat,” at the very top of the album, inviting listeners to bear witness to his earned greatness. This triumphant energy is palpable throughout the album, most especially on the swaggering “Mr. Carter,” Lil Wayne’s collaboration with his longtime hip-hop hero, JAY-Z: “And next time you mention Pac, Biggie, or JAY-Z / Don’t forget Weezy, baby,” he rapped proudly.

From an aerial perspective, it’s clear to see that Tha Carter III represents Wayne’s transition from ambitious and hungry to self-assured and exploratory. The lead single, “Lollipop” (featuring the late Static Major), painted an early picture of Weezy’s renewed focus. Specifically, he brought his experimental, Auto-Tuned singing to the masses, to great success. “Lollipop” became his first No. 1 hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks. The following single, “A Milli,” was more true to form and connected with the streets and the underground, thanks to exemplary production from Bangladesh and unceasing, hard bars from Wayne. Elsewhere, the MC equally fleshes out his horny side (“Mrs. Officer”) and affectionate side (the Kanye West-produced “Comfortable” featuring R&B legend Babyface), and showcases his conceptual humor (“Dr. Carter”).

To this day, Tha Carter III is Lil Wayne’s commercial opus. Thematically and sonically expansive, the album broke open Lil Wayne’s world and directly defied the standards of modern rap, transforming the game in the process. While this album was the anthemic arrival of a star, from 2011’s Tha Carter IV on, Wayne aspired to loosen the rigid boundaries of hip-hop even further. The delicate, inexplicit, guitar-driven “How To Love” is one of the most enduring songs of Tha Carter series; featuring tender lyrics from a thoughtful Lil Wayne, the deeply affecting and enormously successful single symbolized Lil Wayne’s transition from hip-hop giant to multifaceted artist.

Weezy was and still is committed to innovating outside of expectations, but on Tha Carter IV, and those that followed, his experiments far outweighed the potency of his rhymes. Even pure rap songs like “6 Foot 7 Foot” with Cory Gunz (an unabashed “A Milli” remake), and the Rick Ross collaboration “John” (cobbled together by multiple producers, despite sounding like Lex Luger’s work) leave much to be desired. “She Will,” a dark and dusky collaboration with Lil Wayne’s Young Money signee Drake, is a fan favorite, but in the context of the earlier installments of the series, the song feels out of place. The treacly “Mirror” featuring Bruno Mars sees Wayne assessing himself and his path, and committing to a mirror motif that he revisited in later Carter albums.

In December 2014, between Tha Carter IV and V, Lil Wayne declared, “I am a prisoner and so is my creativity,” sharing his disappointment in Birdman’s handling of V, and expressing his desire to be released from Cash Money Records after contractual disputes. Originally scheduled to be released in 2014, Tha Carter V was delayed until September 2018, when it finally dropped on Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment record label after his departure from Cash Money. From that moment forward, freedom was the main motivating factor for Wayne. On songs like “Dedicate,” he acknowledged and basked in his impact. “Uproar,” produced by Swizz Beatz, is an outright party starter that’s still blasted at countless sporting events around the world. The fifth edition of the series also presented itself as a family tribute: Wayne starts the album with an emotional message from his mother (“I Love You Dwayne”), and includes his daughter Reginae Carter on the dated “Famous.”

While Lil Wayne previously set the standard in hip-hop, upping the lyrical ante for all competitors, he slipped into unfamiliar territory on Tha Carter V. Here, he chased the vibes set by his successors—sometimes on songs with those very artists (“Don’t Cry” with XXXTENTACION, “Let It Fly” with Travis Scott). On “Open Letter,” he circles back to the mirror theme set on IV, but he phones in bars like, “The object in the mirror is more near than it appears, oh shit / And sometimes, I fear who in the mirror, that n***a weird.” Wayne is still Wayne, so there are highlights peppered throughout, like the prime storytelling of “Mona Lisa” with Kendrick Lamar. However, when he says, “Thank God Weezy back / Order is restored, all is right with the world,” on the Nivea-assisted “Dope New Gospel,” the declaration doesn’t ring out like before.

Some of those identity crises carried over to 2025’s Tha Carter VI, Lil Wayne’s latest and most recent addition to the series. “Hip-Hop,” one of the more palatable songs on the album, completely lifts from featured artist and Dallas rapper BigXThaPlug’s song formula of spitting over funk-fueled, sample-heavy production. Overall, Weezy uses VI to continue reveling in his freedom—that includes a questionable collaboration with Bono (“The Days”), and an indulgent reworking of Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” (“Island Holiday”).

He also raps over and interpolates some of the hardest hip-hop tracks ever. “Bells” samples LL Cool J’s seminal 1985 record “Rock The Bells,” and “Banned From NO” flips N.O.R.E.’s high-octane 1998 posse cut “Banned From TV.” While the foundation is solid, Wayne doesn’t meet the moment and the standard set by those originals. Missteps abound in other areas, including the cacophonic, head-scratching “Peanuts 2 N Elephant” produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

With Tha Carter VI, Lil Wayne has officially entered the respected trailblazer era of his career: He’s slugged it out this far, and though his songs no longer crackle with the fiery intensity of his early career, he’s earned the right to be uninhibited and unrestricted. But after 21 years of self-discovery, Wayne has skidded to a point of complacency. He’s not as consumed with defending his claim as the Best Rapper Alive, and that has led to aimless concepts, uninspired bars, and bloated projects.

Uneven as it may be, Tha Carter series is still a testament to the importance of building respect, setting boundaries (for peers, fans, labels, and family alike), and admiring one’s own journey. Lil Wayne is finally fulfilling his dreams and doing exactly what he wants—for better and worse. He’s not quite out to pasture, but he’s no longer the prize-winning thoroughbred in the hip-hop stable.