Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money, Universal Motown and Young Money Entertainment. It follows a string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop and R&B artists' albums. The album features appearances from Jay-Z, T-Pain, Fabolous, Robin Thicke, Busta Rhymes, Juelz Santana, Babyface, Bobby V, and Kanye West, among others. It also features Static Major, who is credited posthumously following his death in February of that year.
Amid release delays and leaks, Tha Carter III became one of the most anticipated releases of 2008.Lil Wayne Announces Tha Carter III: The Leak on December 18, with Official LP Coming in February . XXL (October 26, 2007). Retrieved October 26, 2007.Jesús Triviño Alarcón, Matt Barone, Hillary Crosley, Thomas Golianopoulos, Brian Miller (January 30, 2007). Remedy: The Top 10 Most Anticipated Albums of 2007 . XXL magazine. Retrieved January 30, 2007. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling over one million copies in its first week—which made it one of the fastest-selling albums in the US. It reached sales of 2.88 million copies by the end of 2008 and produced four commercially successful singles on the Billboard Hot 100—"Lollipop", which peaked at number one, and the top-ten singles "A Milli" and "Got Money", as well as the top-20 single "Mrs. Officer".
Upon its release, Tha Carter III received widespread acclaim from music critics and has since been regarded as one of Wayne's best albums. It earned the rapper several accolades, including a spot on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards and won for Best Rap Album, while "Lollipop" won Best Rap Song and "A Milli" won Best Rap Solo Performance. It has been certified octuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Background and recording Lil Wayne stated that producers would include The Alchemist, Cool & Dre, Deezle, Jim Jonsin, Just Blaze, Kanye West, Mannie Fresh, The Runners, Timbaland, Danja, and will.i.am.Andres Tardio (January 10, 2008). "Lil Wayne Reveals The Carter III Details" . HipHopDX. Retrieved January 10, 2008.Shaheem Reid and Jayson Rodriguez, with additional reporting by Bridget Bland and Rahman Dukes (April 9, 2007). "Mixtape Monday: Wayne, Mannie Fresh Open to Another Collaboration; Kanye Tapped for Carter, Vol. 3". MTV. Retrieved April 9, 2007. In an interview with HipHopCanada.com, Solitair of the Black Jays stated that he and Cipha Sounds produced a track called "Outstanding", which later eventually leaked.Lola Plaku (April 5, 2007). "Interviews – Featured Artist: Solitair" . HipHopCanada.com. Retrieved April 5, 2007. The Runners have stated that they have produced three tracks for Tha Carter III.. Retrieved August 2, 2007. Lil Wayne revealed that he has a track for Eminem, which he has yet to send to him.Andres Tardio (October 29, 2007). Lil Wayne Speaks on 50 Cent & New Album . HipHopDX. Retrieved October 29, 2007. He described this song as the "craziest". Some believe that his request was turned down, but it most likely turned into "Drop the World" on his 2010 album Rebirth.Andreas Hale (March 19, 2008). "Eminem "Scared" To Record With Lil Wayne?". HipHopDX. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
The album features guest appearances by Fabolous, T-Pain, Brisco, Bobby V, Babyface, Betty Wright, Static Major, Robin Thicke, Jay-Z,ThePremier (February 25, 2008)."It's Official, Jay-Z to Appear on Tha Carter III" . Def Sounds. Retrieved February 25, 2008. Juelz Santana,Fullmetal (June 11, 2007). "Lil Wayne preps Tha Carter III" . Def Sounds. Retrieved June 11, 2007. and Busta Rhymes.Slava Kuperstein (February 22, 2008). "Lil' Wayne Visits His School, Says "Carter III" Due in April" . HipHopDX. Retrieved February 22, 2008. MTV reported that Wyclef Jean worked on a couple of tracks for the album and that a song featuring Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and Timbaland was likely to appear on the album.Shaheem Reid, Jayson Rodriguez and Rahman Dukes (June 11, 2007). "Lil Wayne Plans His Own Leak; Cassidy's Live-From-Jail Rhymes" . MTV. Retrieved August 4, 2007. However, that Timbaland-produced track did not make the final cut. David Banner confirmed that he will be credited for five tracks on the final cut of Tha Carter III, but only one is featured on the album.Allen Starbury (November 19, 2007). "David Banner Explains Constant Album Delays, Diversifies Portfolio". Baller Status. Retrieved November 19, 2007. After the copyright controversy of "Playing with Fire", the track was later removed and replaced with another David Banner-produced track "Pussy Monster". Swizz Beatz stated he was also working on the album.Slava Kuperstein (January 31, 2008). "Swizz Beatz Keeps Busy in the Studio" . HipHopDX. Retrieved January 31, 2008. When asked about how many tracks Kanye West had contributed, he answered:
Music Tha Carter IIIs lead single, "Lollipop", peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, staying at the top for three weeks. It was Wayne's most successful solo single in his career, winning one Grammy Award, a BET Award, and an MTV VMA. The song was praised as an "electro-bumpin'…infectious track", perceived as more of a "bubblegum" pop track than rap. The second track on the album, "Mr. Carter", was nominated for a Grammy while also peaking within the Hot 100. Jay-Z's guest verse on the song was praised, which was seen as him passing the throne to Wayne. The second single, "A Milli", was a top ten hit and was praised as one of the best songs of 2008. The song garnered countless freestyles and remixes, while Wayne's original version was praised with "spectacular rhyme". "Dr. Carter", the sixth track, was also praised for lyrical content and humor as Wayne took on the persona of a doctor performing surgery on various patients (a metaphor for Wayne resurrecting hip-hop). "Tie My Hands", featuring Robin Thicke, was praised as a deep track featuring "political commentary" and "despair" with Thicke's performance being the most complementary to Wayne. "Phone Home" also features various alien metaphors reminiscent of the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Release and promotion Leaks After most of the album leaked on the Internet in mid-2007, Lil Wayne used the leaked tracks, plus four new songs to make an album titled The Leak. The Leak was to be officially released on December 18, 2007, with the actual album being delayed until June 10, 2008.Janelle Griffith (April 9, 2008). "Lil' Wayne's Carter III Pushed Back" . SOHH.com. Retrieved April 9, 2008. When questioned about the unplanned leak, Lil Wayne said:
Lil Wayne later called DJ Drama's radio show Shade 45 Sirius Satellite Radio to explain that his comments were meant specifically for DJ Empire who leaked his materials periodically without his permission, consent, or knowledge; he also apologized for any misunderstandings between him and the numerous DJs that have aided him in the mixtape industry. He made it clear, however, that he wished for any feelings of dislike or resentment to remain.
In a June 2008 interview with Billboard, Lil Wayne explained that the unauthorized release of tracks compelled him to release mixtapes rather than albums between Tha Carter II and Tha Carter III.
Singles The album's lead single, "Lollipop", topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for 5 non-consecutive weeks, making it Wayne's most successful single in his career. It features rapper Static Major. The album's second single, "A Milli", was another top ten. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also won a Grammy for Best Rap Song. The video for the second single, "A Milli", was set to be released in May, and has since been mainstreamed. Multiple versions of the track were to be included on the album as "skit-like" tracks, featuring artists such as Tyga, Cory Gunz, Hurricane Chris and Lil Mama.Shaheem Reid (April 29, 2008).. MTV. Retrieved April 30, 2008. Another artist, 13-year-old Lil Chuckee, was also set to appear on one of the "A Milli" skits. None of the skits made the final cut of the album. The third single is "Got Money", featuring T-Pain. It reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The fourth single is "Mrs. Officer", featuring Bobby Valentino. It made the Top 20 in just four weeks. "Lollipop", "A Milli", "Got Money", and another track, "Mr. Carter", were nominated for a Grammy. Lil Wayne also performed "Tie My Hands" with Robin Thicke at the 51st Grammy Awards.
The album also featured the releases of promo singles. "3 Peat" peaked at number 66 on the Billboard 100. "You Ain't Got Nuthin" featuring Fabolous and Juelz Santana was released as a promo single, peaking at number 81 on the Billboard 100. "Mr. Carter", featuring Jay-Z, peaked at number 62 on the Billboard 100, number 27 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, and number 13 on the Top Rap Songs. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or a Group in 2009.
Lawsuits On July 24, 2008, Abkco Music Inc. filed a lawsuit against Lil Wayne for copyright infringement and unfair competition, specifically referring to the track "Playing with Fire". In the lawsuit, Abkco claims that the song was obviously derived from The Rolling Stones' "Play with Fire", to which Abkco owns the rights. Subsequently, "Playing with Fire" was removed from the track list of Tha Carter III on all online music stores and replaced with the David Banner produced track, "Pussy Monster".
In March 2011, producer Deezle (Darius Harrison) sued Wayne and his parent labels Cash Money Records over unpaid royalties from Tha Carter III album. In May 2011, producer Bangladesh also filed a lawsuit against Weezy & Co. over unpaid royalties. In early June 2011, another producer named David Kirkwood filed a lawsuit against Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records on claims that the labels have failed to pay him over $1.5 million in royalties and production services for his work on the album, also including his songwriting on "Love Me or Hate Me", a bonus song featured only on the deluxe edition of the album. Also in June 2011, Dallas producers Play-N-Skillz filed a lawsuit against him claiming Wayne owed them at least $1 million in unpaid royalties for "Got Money" from Tha Carter III.
Critical reception
Tha Carter III received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". AllMusic editor David Jeffries praised Wayne's "entertaining wordplay and plenty of well-executed, left-field ideas". The Guardians Alex Macpherson lauded Wayne's rapping, stating "Just trying to keep up with Wayne's mind as he proves the case is a thrill. He breaks language down into building blocks for new metaphors, exploiting every possible semantic and phonetic loophole for humour and yanking pop culture references into startling new contexts".