Tha Carter


Tha Carter is the fourth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on June 29, 2004, by Cash Money Records and Universal Records. The production on the album was mostly handled by Cash Money's former in-house producer Mannie Fresh, before Mannie left the label. The album spawned four sequels: Tha Carter II, Tha Carter III, Tha Carter IV, and Tha Carter V.

Background

The title of the album was based on "The Carter", which is the empire crack house from the 1991 movie New Jack City. It was also based on Wayne's last name, Dwayne Carter Jr.

Singles

The album's lead single, "Bring It Back" was released on April 10, 2004. The song serves its production and as a featured guest vocals from then-Cash Money's frequent record producer Mannie Fresh.
The album's second single, "Go D.J." was released on October 5, 2004. Mannie Fresh's production were also featured on this song, in which latter released as his first single.
The album's third single, "Earthquake" was released on March 27, 2005. The song serves its production and as a featured guest vocals was from a fellow record producer Jazze Pha.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 116,000 copies in the United States. On September 7, 2004, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 1,000,000 copies in the United States. As of November 2005, the album sold 1,876,442 copies in the United States. In 2007, Tha Carter's sales went back up on hype that Tha Carter 3 was coming and re-entered the Billboard charts at #33. In between the years 2007 and 2008, it sold 385,000 copies and as of 2017, Tha Carter has sold 2.3 million copies in the United States.

Track listing

If the album was purchased in Canada, "Walk In", "Inside" and "Walk Out" are recorded on a different instrumental, with slightly different lyrics. Also, "Earthquake" is replaced by the song "Crack Ya Bottle" by Lil Wayne featuring Reel, produced by the Architects. These changes are a result of sample clearance issues.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums71

Certifications