Lil Wayne had begun to develop his interest in
hip hop and rap music.The newest addition to the many "Lil's" in the
hip hop music industry by Cash Money
Recording artists like Pimp Daddy and U.N.L.V., he began rapping at block
parties. His performance at one of the parties caught the attention of Lil
Slim, a Cash Money rapper. Through the recording artist, Lil Wayne met the Cash
Money Records moguls, Brian "Baby" Williams and Ronald
"Slim" Williams. Though his free styling talent left strong
impressions on the two tycoons, Lil Wayne did not get a contract with Cash
Money until he repeatedly left freestyles recording on Baby's answering
machine. At the tender age of 11 years
old, Lil Wayne at last got his shot to sign up with Cash Money, being the Records'
youngest rapper. A year after signing the contract, Lil Wayne caught in an
incident that almost took his life. He accidentally shot himself in chest with
his stepfather gun, putting him on life support for two weeks. Recovering from his incident, Lil Wayne
marched on to welcome his first gig, in which he was hooked up with another
newcomer, Lil' Doggie, later more well-known as B.G., to form a rap group The
B.G.'z. With this group, the young rapper only recorded and released one album,
"True Story" (1995), which did not sell.It was during this time that
he was forced to drop out of 10th grade. He has a daughter, Reginae Carter,
with high school sweetheart, Antonia, but was not allowed to meet his child.
However, things quickly changed for the better after his stepfather passed away
in early 1997. Getting permission to work with Baby once more, he left his
unsuccessful stories behind and then embarked to form a new group, called
"The Hot Boys", with Juvenile, Turk, and B.G in 1997. Quickly, he and
his group went on recording their notable debut album "Get It How You
Live" (1997) ,"400 Degreez" (1998). It was supposed to be the
album that beat the sales record of Juvenile's, who left Cash Money earlier.
However, the sales of the album proved to be disappointing, selling only
536,000 copies in U.S. and 900,000 copies worldwide followed by "Guerilla
Warfare" (1999), "Tha Block is Hot" (1999),that he really got
his big break, being known all over the States. His solo album peaked at number
three on Billboard's album chart and at number one on Billboard Top
R'n'B/Hip-Hop Albums, went double platinum upon its release and even his lowest
selling album is still certified as gold upon the album release by Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA). Despite his success in the music
industry, Lil Wayne's childhood experiences, like many other rap and hip hop
singers, were far from perfect.both albums earned them mild fame throughout the
South and Midwest., while at the same time scoring him a nomination for 2000
Source Award for New Artist of the Year, Solo.
In the years to follow, the rapper who was originated from the 17th Ward
of New Orleans released "Lights Out" (2000). The album was certified
gold but did not achieve the same level of success as his debut album. Two
singles were released from the album, 'Get Off The Corner' and 'Shine.' Despite
the fact that the group was considerably successful, Lil Wayne and his friends
officially went on their separate ways in 2001."500 Degreez" (2002),
both failing to match the success of his seminal debut, receiving only gold
certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His
"500 Degreez" album got its name from Juvenile's multi-platinum
album. In June 2004, this young American artist released his most recognized
album yet, "Tha Carter" that peaked at number five on Billboard 200,
and at number two on Billboard Top R'n'B/Hip-Hop Albums. Around this time, he
collaborated with Destiny's Child and T.I. for the noteworthy Destiny's Child's
song "Soldier", earning him prominent nominations, naming some were
2005 BET Award-Best Collaboration and 2006 Grammy Award-Best Rap/Sung
Collaboration.Following the accomplishment of album "Tha Carter" and
collaboration single "Soldier", he released "Tha Carter II"
(2005) was a huge success, selling over 238,000 copies in its first week on
sale. The lead single, 'Fireman' went into the US singles chart at number 32
and was followed with the release of 'Grown Man', 'Hustler Muzik' and
'Shooter'. That same year, Lil Wayne was made president of the Cash Money
enterprise, as well as founding Young Money Entertainment.In the period of 2006
to 2007, he gained more fans. In 2007, however, Lil Wayne stepped down from
these roles.Lil Wayne has appeared on a number of mixtapes and tracks by other
artists, including Birdman, DJ Drama, Chris Brown and DJ Khaled.The release of
Lil Wayne's next album, Tha Carter III was delayed when some of the tracks were
leaked. As a response, he released the four leaked tracks as well as a few new
tracks, as an interim album named The Leak. Tha Carter III was eventually
released in June 2008 and sold over 1 million copies in its first week. The
album's lead single, 'Lollipop', featuring Static, became Lil Wayne's most
successful single to date. In 2007, however, Lil Wayne stepped down from these
roles.Lil Wayne has appeared on a number of mixtapes and tracks by other
artists, including Birdman, DJ Drama, Chris Brown and DJ Khaled.The release of
Lil Wayne's next album, Tha Carter III was delayed when some of the tracks were
leaked. As a response, he released the four leaked tracks as well as a few new
tracks, as an interim album named The Leak. Tha Carter III was eventually
released in June 2008 and sold over 1 million copies in its first week. The
album's lead single, 'Lollipop', featuring Static, became Lil Wayne's most
successful single to date. His star continued to shine as every albums he made
in the following years sold quite well and climbed to notable spots on the
charts. "Rebirth" in 2010 was certified gold despite getting panned
by critics. "I Am Not a human Being" in the same year fared better as
not only did it make it into the top 10 of Hot 200 like many of his other
creations but he also gained back respect from the music reviewers. He came back to his fullest in 2011 when releasing
the fourth installment of "Tha Carter", selling 964,000 copies in its
first week. Through "Tha Charter IV", he posted the biggest sales
week for a male solo artist of all time after Usher's "Confessions"
(1.10 million) and Garth Brooks' "Double Live" (1.09 million). He
occupied the third and fourth places at the same time with his first best sales
week contributed by "Tha Charter III", before Justin Timberlake
barged in with "The 20/20 Experience" which pulled "Tha Carter
IV" to the fifth slot on the list.After taking a rest from releasing an
album, Weezy returned in 2013 with the second installment of "I Am Not a
Human Being". With "I Am Not a Human Being II", he could easily
bow at No. 1 on Hot 200 by selling between 190,000 to 210,000 copies in its
first week based on one-day estimates.
Ahead of the album release, he caused a buzz on the web when he was
hospitalized for seizures. Rumors suggested he was on drugs but he explained
later that he was epileptic who had suffered multiple seizures before without
public knowing about it.
Enoch
Mankayi Sontonga 1873 - 18 April 1905 was the composer of Nkosi Sikelel'
iAfrika (God Bless Africa), which has been part of the South African national
anthem since 1994. It was also the official African National Congress (ANC)
anthem since 1925 and is still the national anthem of Tanzania and Zambia. It
was also sung in Zimbabwe and Namibia for many years. Sontonga, a Xhosa, was
born in the city of Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape. He trained as a teacher at
the Lovedale Institution and subsequently worked as a teacher and choirmaster
at the Methodist Mission school in Nancefield, near Johannesburg for eight years.
Sontonga married and had a son. His wife, Diana Mgqibisa, died in 1929. The
first verse and chorus of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was composed in 1897 and it
was originally intended to be a school anthem . He wrote the tune the same
year. It was first sung in public in 1899 at the ordination of Reverend Mboweni
who was the first Tsonga Methodist minister.Later the Xhosa poet Samuel Mqhayi
wrote a further seven verses. Sontonga died in 1905.The song started to be more
well known after John Langalibalele Dube's Ohlange Institute's choir used it.
They played it at the South African Native National Congress meeting in 1912.
It was sung after the closing prayer and the ANC adopted it as its official
closing anthem in 1925. It was recorded in London as "Nkosi sikelel’
iAfrika" in 1923 and it was published by the Lovedale Press in 1927.For
many years the site of the grave of Sontonga was unknown, but it was finally
located in the "Native Christian" section of the Braamfontein
cemetery in the early 1990s; one of the reasons why his grave could not be
found is that it was listed under "Enoch" and not
"Sontonga".On 24 September 1996, the grave of Sontonga was declared a
national monument and a memorial on the site was unveiled by President Nelson
Mandela. At the same ceremony the South African Order of Meritorious Service
(Gold) was bestowed on Enoch Sontonga posthumously.
