Easily considered to be one of the most talented rappers to ever live, Lil Wayne‘s fame has continuously risen over the course of his time as a musician. From Hot Boyz to experiencing radical success as a solo rapper, Lil Wayne’s rise to the top has been a long, wild, and utterly successful ride. But how much exactly is this infamous bad boy rapper actually worth? Let’s just say that Lil Wayne may actually be the definition of a real life hustler.
Lil Wayne Current Net Worth as of 2019: $158 Million
Not bad, eh? Now, let’s look at how Lil Wayne gained that hustler status…
2004
In 2004, Lil Wayne took one of his first major steps towards success by releasing the album Tha Carter which was noted by critics to be a major advancement in his career as a rapper. The album has sold over 878,000 copies since it’s debut, and featured hit singles like “Go D.J.” and “Bring It Back”.
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2005
In 2005, Lil Wayne released the album Tha Carter II, which included popular singles like “Hustler Musik”, “Shooter”, and “Grown Man”, and sold more than 238,000 copies within the first week of it’s release. Within the same year, he also started his infamous record label Young Money Entertainment, which has since assisted him in adding roughly $500,000 a year to his net worth from record production income alone.
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2006
In 2006 Lil Wayne released the album “Like Father, Like Son” alongside rapper Birdman, bringing fourth popular singles like “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy” and “Leather So Soft”.
2007
In 2007 Lil Wayne brought fourth the mix tape Da Drought 3<, along with digitally releasing the 5-track album, The Leak.
2008
2008: Lil Wanye released his 6th studio album Tha Carter III, containing popular singles like “Lollipop”, “Got Money”, “Mrs. Officer”, and “A Milili”, all of which topped billboard charts. The album sold 1,005,545 copies within the first week of it’s release and roughly 2.88 million copies by the end of the year.
Following the drop of his sixth studio album Tha Carter III in 2008 he was nominated for eight Grammy’s, the most for any artist that year taking home four awards.
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2009
2009: Lil Wayne released the mixtape No Ceilings, along with a collaboration album with Young Money entitled We Are Young Money.
2009: Wayne’s documentary, Tha Carter, was featured at the Sundance film festival in 2009.
2010
2010: Released his first “rock-esque” album Rebirth, featuring hit singles like “Prom Queen”, “Knockout”, and “Drop The World” along with the album I Am Not a Human Being, which made it’s debut on his 28th birthday on September 27, 2010.
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2011
In 2011 after much speculation, Lil Wayne finally released the album Tha Carter IV, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, contained hit singles like “6 Foot 7 Foot”, “How to Love”, and “Look at Me Now”, and sold an astonishing 964,000 copies within the first week of it’s release. Tha Carter IV produced three top ten singles in the US and went on to become the highest selling album of the year in the United States.
Later that year, Lil Wayne went on to announce that he would be retiring at the age of 35. In an interview with Hot 97, he went on to say that:
“I have four kids”, and that “I would feel selfish still going to the studio when it’s such a vital point in their lives.”
2012
Lil Wayne took the lead passing up Elvis Presley as the male with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 109 songs. Later that year in November, he went on to announce that Tha Carter V would be his final album.
2013
In 2013 Lil Wayne released the album I Am Not a Human Being II, which featured hit singles “My Homies Still”, “Love Me”, and “No Worries”, and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling 217,000 copies in its first week.
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2014
Lil Wayne announced in 2014 that Tha Carter V was set to be released on May 5, 2014, however in March 2014 the date was pushed once again. Tha Carter V ’s first single “Believe Me” was finally released in promotion of the album, along with hit singles “Krazy”, “Grindin'” (featuring Drake), “Gotti” (featuring The LOX) and “Start a Fire”.
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2015 – 2017
In January 2015 with Tha Carter V‘s release date still up in the air due to dissatisfaction from Cash Money Records label-boss Birdman, Lil Wayne self released Sorry 4 the Wait 2 to serve as an apology for the albums delay. He then went on to release his Free Weezy Album in February 2015, featuring hit singles “Glory”, “I feel Good”, and “Post Bail Ballin'”.
On July 4, 2015, Wayne released the Free Weezy Album.
On November 26, 2015, Wayne released No Ceilings 2.
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With roughly two decades of rapping under his belt and over 10 studio albums to his name, the success that Lil Wayne has experienced over the years is just pain EPIC. By that, we mean $158 Million dollars worth of epic-ness, of course! From Hot Boyz, to rapping solo, to owning his own production company; Lil Wayne’s net worth just keeps on steadily sky rocketing to unbelievable heights!
2018
Lil Wayne is all set to deliver an unpredictable performance at 2018 AVN Awards, scheduled to take place between January 24 and 27.
2019
Lil Wayne will join a special performance by Imagine Dragons on 7th January during ESPN’s halftime presentation of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.