Photo: Cash Money Records
Lil Wayne dropped the first of many installments of his most popular album series 20 years ago today.
On June 29, 2004, the Louisiana native delivered his fourth studio album Tha Carter via Cash Money Records/Universal Records. The OG Carter album, which was primarily produced by Mannie Fresh, contains some of Weezy's most memorable hits like "Go DJ," "Bring It Back," "The Heat," "Shine" featuring Jazze Pha and more. The only other features on the 21-track album are Reel and Baby aka Birdman, who appears on "Get Down," "We Don't" and "Only Way."
The album did pretty well on the charts upon its release. It debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and became his third top-ten debut. The second single from the album "Go DJ" became Wayne's most popular song as a solo artist throughout the mid 2000s. The infamous jail-themed music video was actually shot at the Mansfield Correctional Institution in Ohio, which is the same place they shot the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption. Wayne stars in the video along with Mannie Fresh and Birdman.
Tha Carter is the foundation of Wayne's beloved album series. Since its release in 2004, the Young Money founder has released four other Carter albums. The most recent installment Tha Carter V dropped back in 2018. Nearly four years later, Wayne announced his plans to release the latest addition to the series, Tha Carter VI. At the moment, there's no confirmed release date but he asserted that it's "on the way."
Relive Lil Wayne's Tha Carter album below.
WARNING" EXPLICIT LANGUAGE