Lil’ Wayne at Summer Jam 2008.

Well the day has officially arrived: Lil’ Wayne’s new studio album, Tha Carter III is finally in stores today. This has been a long time coming, and I believe a lot Mr. Carter fans as well as people within the music community will agree that this album will be the highest selling album of the year. I am predicting that Tha Carter III will sell 1.2 million records the first week.

How I got to this projection is based on a number of factors. The first one is that he has not stopped working since the release of Tha Carter II. That record showed a lot of growth of Lil’ Wayne as a solo artist. If you remember Wayne was introduced in 1999 as a member of Cash Money’s Hot Boys group. At the time he was the youngest in the group and probably was overshadowed by his label mates such as B.G. and Juvenile. Fast forward to December 2005 and Tha Carter II came out, sold decently but did not garner the commercial success he envisioned. Critically it was embraced for its lyrical content and went on to sell 1.3 million records.

“Mr. Carter” has the people buzzing.

Wayne was not content with the album’s total sales so instead of taking a break from recording, promoting and touring for Tha Carter II, he continued to record, record and record. It’s been estimated in the past 2 years, he has released over 1,000 songs via mixtapes and guest appearances on other artists’ work. This technique was instrumental in rebuilding his own status as the best rapper alive – the work he submitted may have been white label or uncleared sample records, but they catapulted him from a rapper on the rise to the rapper everybody could not stop talking about.

Secondly the work that was leaked onto the mixtape community was a huge factor in Lil’ Wayne becoming the most in demand rapper in the business today. Recent reports say Lil’ Wayne charges $100,000 for concert appearances. There have been at least 4 double mixtape albums featuring his recordings, with the Drought series being the most famous of them all. Mixtapes are promotional tools that are constructed by DJ’s with the help of an artist’s work usually contributed from their camp. Majority of the time label representatives frown upon mixtapes because they look at it as giving away music for free while the DJ’s pocket the earning of the tapes. But it is these same mixtapes that are pivotal in building the artist’s name – on an underground/street level.

The official second single, produced by Play-N-Skillz.

Thirdly, with Wayne working on a consistent basis, he was able to get the public’s attention in listening not only to his music – but pay closer attention to his flow and delivery. There are thousands of punch lines that Lil’ Wayne has dropped that it’s impossible to count. Lil’ Wayne is one of the best when it comes to making conceptual records. He has demonstrated that he is worthy of claiming himself as one of the industry’s best. In 2007, he was named MTV’s Hottest MC despite not releasing an album at the time. It was his work, his guest appearances and lyricism that got him the top honor. Now a mainstream of masses will be finding out that his new body of work, Tha Carter III will serve as a platform for him to truly claim his top spot in the business where downloading music, selling ringtones and not making creative music is prevalent.

Lil’ Wayne single handedly changed the direction of his career by elevating his work ethic, putting out free quality work that could have sold millions for his record label, making a bevy of countless timeless songs and memorable guest spots. He has evolved from an average artist into one of the most respected and highly popular artists ever. Depending on who you talk to, Tha Carter III may or may not be an instant classic, however majority will say the music is better than the rest of the releases we’ve heard so far in 2008. The new material on this album has garnered the most hype since the 50 Cent/Kanye West showdown of September 2007. The final product speaks for itself, the production, the guest appearances, the concepts of the songs and the hoopla of his long delayed release will help sell this record despite his recent anti-mixtape comments.

This Alchemist record is one of the stand out tracks on Tha Carter III.

If you are a fan of hip-hop and love hip-hop, you’ll need to have Tha Carter III in your music collection, whether you download it illegally, legally, stream it online or buy the retail CD. The music will speak for itself. 1.6 million CD’s have been shipped to retail, and with all the buzz and anticipation, Lil’ Wayne is on course to make history and sell 1.2 opening week.

Lil’ Wayne’s first ever official remix.

Extras

XXL asks the people how much Lil’ Wayne will sell of Tha Carter III opening week

Rolling Stone explains how Lil’ Wayne became a superstar

Diddy crowns Lil’ Wayne ‘Greatest Young Rapper Alive’

Lil’ Wayne won’t sure over mixtape leaks

DJ Kay Slay & Foundation Magazine discuss Lil’ Wayne ‘Fuck Mixtape DJ’s’ Interview

NOW IN STORES