Interviewee: Lil Wayne
Interviewer: Katie Couric
Date: February 06, 2009

Born as Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. on September 27th of 1982, Lil Wayne is a Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist. A former member of the rap group, Hot Boys, he signed in to the Cash Money Records label when he was still a teenager. His first album with Hot Boys, Get It How U Live!, was released in 1997 and his solo album, Tha Block Is Hot, was released in 1999.

Following earning fame with two more records in the early 2000s, Lil Wayne gained even more popularity when he release his album in 2004 called Tha Carter, along with succeeding records Tha Carter II (2005) and Tha Carter III (2008). After the release of his latest volume of Tha Carter, he was nominated eight times at the Grammy Awards. He currently has two number one singles, according to the Billboard Hot 100, namely “Down” featuring Jay Sean, and “Lollipop” featuring Static Major.

The famous rapper is set to release his rock album, Rebirth, late this year.

Before all the fame and fortune, Dwayne Michael Carter grew up in the neighborhood of Hollygrove in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the early age of eight, he already wrote his first rap song. In his youth, he attended in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School as well as in the Eleanor McMain Secondary School drama club.

At the age of 11, Lil Wayne met a fellow rapper and owner of Cash Money Records, Bryan Williams. All the freestyle raps he made were recorded on William’s answering machine. Later on, Williams mentored the young rapper and featured him in various Cash Money-distributed songs.

When he turned 12, he landed a part as the Tin Man in his middle school drama club’s The Wiz. Two years later, he dropped out of school.

Currently, Lil Wayne has three children. His first child, Reginae, was born when he was still 15 to his former high school girlfriend Antonia Johnson. Johnson and Wayne were married in 2004 on Valentine’s Day but divorced in two years later. His second is named Dwayne III and was born on October 22nd of 2008. His third was born to Lauren London, an actress, last September 9th this year. Wayne is as well expecting his fourth child with singer Nivea.