Weezyaveli - Early Life

Early Life

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. was born on September 27, 1982, and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born when his mother, a cook, was 19 years old. His parents divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Although Lil Wayne and Birdman have a father-son relationship and Birdman calls Carter his son, Lil Wayne’s biological father and namesake (Dwayne Carter) is still alive. Lil Wayne has also spoken about his deceased stepfather, Rabbit, who he has said he considers his real father. Carter has a tattoo dedicated to Rabbit who was murdered before Carter became a star. Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School. Lil Wayne attended McMain in the early 1990s for two years. He moved to the Marion Abramson Senior High School.

In a CBS interview with Katie Couric, Wayne described why he goes by the name of "Wayne" instead of his given name, Dwayne. Carter explained, "I dropped the D because I'm a junior and my father is living and he's not in my life and he's never been in my life. So I don't want to be Dwayne, I'd rather be Wayne". Couric asked Wayne if his father knew of this and Wayne replied with a smile, "He knows now".

He wrote his first rap song at age eight. In the summer of 1991, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Carter recorded freestyle raps on Williams's answering machine, leading him to mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He also recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G.. At the time, Carter was 11, and B.G. was 14, and was billed as "The B.G.'z". When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz. At age 12, he accidentally shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, and off-duty police officer Robert Hoobler drove him to the hospital. At McMain Magnet School, Carter was an honor student, but he dropped out at the age of 14 to focus on a musical career.

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