Lil Wayne’s long-promised album Tha Cater VI may be on the way at last. The rapper took the stage this weekend at the OVO Fest 2022 where he told the crowd: “I’m working on Carter VI, coming soon!” The cover of the album then showed on the jumbotron behind him.
Lil Wayne has released 13 studio albums since 1999, including Tha Carter, Tha Carter II and The Carter III in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively. After a few other releases, he followed up with Tha Carter IV in 2011, then a few albums later Tha Carter V in 2018. Since then, he released Funeral in 2020 and has been promising another installment of Tha Carter next. However, Lil Wayne does not always work as fast as other artists, and some fans have been impatient for the new record.
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Lil Wayne first started teasing Tha Carter VI in August of 2020 during an interview with ESPN’s Michael Eaves. He said: “Carter VI coming soon, but I got No Ceilings [3] coming first.” It doesn’t sound like that is still the plan, as No Ceilings has not yet come out.
The OVO Fest was a huge success in many other ways, in spite of some serious hiccups. Drake tested positive for COVID-19 at one point, but rather than canceling or skipping his performances, the organizers simply extended the festival until he could be cleared. He then joined Wayne and Nicki Minaj on stage for what was called an unofficial Young Money reunion. The trio performed some of their all-time biggest hits including “The Motto,” “Up All Night,” “HYFR,” “Moment 4 Life” and “Every Girl.”
During banter between songs, Drake called Wayne “the most selfless man on earth” to thunderous applause. He then said: “Nobody can f- with Nicki. It gets on my nerves. It’s like, the originator. It starts here, ends here, all that s-.”
Some fans were surprised to hear Wayne talk about future projects since the rapper has talked about retirement so many times. As early as 2011 he said that he wanted to retire soon, mostly to spend more time with his family. He in a radio interview on Hot 97, he said: “I have four kids. I would feel selfish still going to the studio when it’s such a vital point in their lives.”
In 2014 Wayne claimed that Tha Carter V would be his last album during an interview at SXSW. In the years that followed, he went into a few serious contract disputes with his record label. At one point in that process in 2016, he tweeted: “I AM NOW DEFENSELESS and mentally DEFEATED,” and then: “I leave gracefully and thankful I luh my fanz but I’m done.”
Many fans are glad that that doesn’t seem to be the case. So far, Lil Wayne has not released any more information about Tha Carter VI.
