Tha Carter III
Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money, Universal Motown & Young Money Entertainment.[3] It follows a string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop and R&B artists' albums.[4] 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.
Tha Carter III
June 10, 2008.
2006–08
77:04
- Birdman
- Ronald "Slim" Williams
- Lil Wayne
- Alchemist
- Bangladesh •Cha-Lo• Cool & Dre
- D. Smith
- David Banner
- Deezle
- DJ Nasty & LVM
- Drew Correa
- Infamous
- GX
- Jim Jonsin
- Kanye West
- Maestro
- Mousa
- Play-N-Skillz
- Pro Jay
- Robin Thicke
- Rodnae
- Swizz Beatz
- Streetrunner
- T-Pain
Amid release delays and leaks, Tha Carter III became one of the most anticipated releases of 2008.[5][6][7] 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.[8] 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 Stone's 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).
Music[edit]
Tha Carter III's 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",[24] perceived as more of a "bubblegum" pop track than rap.[25] 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.[26][27] The second single, "A Milli", was a top ten hit and was praised as one of the best songs of 2008.[28] The song garnered countless freestyles and remixes, while Wayne's original version was praised with "spectacular rhyme".[27] "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[26]).[25] "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.[24] "Phone Home" also features various alien metaphors reminiscent of the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).[24][25]
Release and promotion[edit]
Leaks[edit]
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.[5] The Leak was to be officially released on December 18, 2007, with the actual album being delayed until June 10, 2008.[29] When questioned about the unplanned leak, Lil Wayne said:
Commercial performance[edit]
With opening day sales figures of approximately 423,000 copies,[75] Tha Carter III debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 1,005,545 copies in its first week.[76][77] This became Wayne's first US number one debut and his sixth top-ten album.[76] With its first week sales, it is the largest first week sales for any album in 2008 in the United States and the first album to reach the million mark in one week since 50 Cent's The Massacre (2005).[78] In its second week, the album dropped to number two on the chart, behind Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends, selling an additional 309,000 copies.[79] By the end of 2008, Tha Carter III had sold approximately 2.88 million copies and it was named the best-selling album of the year in the United States by Billboard.[80] On September 25, 2020, the album was certified six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over six million units in the United States.[81]
Tha Carter III has also reached the top spot in the Canadian Albums Chart, selling nearly 21,000 units. Elsewhere, the album achieved moderate success, entering at only number 23 in the UK and number 34 on the Irish Album Chart.
Notes[82]