Whether you call him Lil Wayne, Mr. Carter or Weezy F. Baby, the New Orleans born rapper has reached stardom in ways other musician’s only aspire to and has amassed an impressive $75 million net worth. Growing up in the 17th ward of New Orleans, Wayne started his career at only 15-years-old with Cash Money Records rap group Hot Boys and soon debuted his solo album The Block is Hot, which went double platinum and reached #3 on the Billboard charts.

Despite seemingly continuous controversy Wayne’s success hasn’t faltered. His fourth and fifth studio albums Tha Carter and Tha Carter II featured a more thorough sense of self, evident in his lyrical style. In 2005 he became the president of Cash Money Records and founded Young Money Entertainment, an imprint of Cash Money.

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. Wayne dropped his first Rock album titled Rebirth this month and was named #2 on MTV’s list of hottest MC’s in the game behind Brooklyn bred rapper Jay-Z. Wayne’s documentary, Tha Carter, was featured at the Sundance film festival in 2009. Wayne has collaborated dozens of musicians like Birdman, Ludacris, Chris Brown, Akon, T.I. Keri Hilson and T-Pain. Some call him the best rapper to ever live others say he’s self-destructive but whatever you believe Lil Wayne has become a staple in American music and will remain there, indefinitely.