Artist Lil Wayne

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Lil Wayne

As in the cases of T-Pain and Akon, it’s hard to remember a time when Lil Wayne’s cartoonishly animated, growly raps weren’t flowing out of radios nationwide, every second of the day. The magnitude of the chart-topping Tha Carter III has been felt since it was issued last summer, rocketing Weezy into the top tier of popular music acts. The onetime mix-tape hustler and pride of New Orleans claimed the best-selling album of 2008 as well as four Grammys, including Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song. Eager fans have since been awaiting this year's Rebirth, which was originally slated for an April release date but has been pushed back repeatedly, and now may not come out before the end of the year.

Updated 09/03/2009