Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., Lil Wayne is a native of New Orleans. Born in 1982, he was in a program for gifted kids, even entering the drama club by middle school. At 11, he met Bryan “Baby” Williams, owner of the then-budding Cash Money Records. After leaving raps on Baby’s answering machine, Wayne was brought into CMR’s fold and quit school at 14.

In 1997, Wayne became part of the then-burgeoning Southern rap movement as the youngest member of the group Hot Boys. He soon appeared on a song by Hot Boys member Juvenile, whereupon he uttered the now ubiquitous phrase “Drop it like it’s hot.” (Not long after, Wayne, along with members of his crew, took to calling jewelry as “bling-bling,” a term now fully ingrained in the American lexicon.) Wayne’s 1999 solo album, the platinum Tha Block Is Hot, was highly regarded, and it shot to #3 on the Billboard 200.

His 2000 follow-up album, Lights Out, went gold, followed by another gold album, 500 Degreez, but it was the release of Tha Carter in 2004 when Lil Wayne began to hit the artistic stride. Experimenting with rhythm, cadence, and a general use of his voice as melodic instrument, Wayne also began perfecting a vivid and often humorous, sometimes stream-of-consciousness narrative style. Soon after, he appeared on “Soldier” by Destiny’s Child, which topped charts. Wayne became a hot commodity, with artists including Fat Joe, Jay-Z, Bobby Valentino, and Kanye West featuring him on their songs.

By 2006, Wayne’s career was moving at warp speed. There was Tha Carter II, also gold, and a blitzkrieg of mixtapes. Somewhere in between, Wayne found time to enroll in college, studying political science at University of Houston in 2005. That interest perhaps influenced his scathing of President Bush on his acclaimed song about Hurricane Katrina, “Georgia…Bush.”

He is said to have made over 800 recordings in 2007, and almost as fast as the songs appeared, so came the praise. Rolling Stone called his “Drought” series among the best albums of 2007; GQ named him one of their men of the year; an MTV poll crowned him emcee of the year; and Blender named him Best Rock Star Alive.

All of this has fueled intense anticipation for his next album, Tha Carter III, due in June. That project’s lead single, “Lollipop,” is his biggest hit to date — landing at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and MTV’s TRL — proof that he has fully cracked the mainstream. Moreover, the song’s success suggests that in spite of everything he’s done already, he’s really just getting started.

Celebrity judge DJ Toomp

The evening began with performances from showcase finalists Jarren Benton, Brandon Hines, Holly Weerd, and Trimm, all chosen by a group of top BMI songwriters, producers and industry executives from over 300 submissions. Trimm’s wow factor and lyrical delivery impressed the audience and the judges, who proclaimed him the winner of prizes including $1,500 cash; two tickets to the 2008 BMI Urban Awards; a Friends and Family deal courtesy of MySpace Records; two Gibson/Epiphone guitars; clothing from Konvict Clothing (Akon’s Co.), 8732 (Jeezy’s Co.), and Rowdy (Dallas Austin’s Co.) and much more.

Teyana Taylor

Headliners for the highly-anticipated night of music were Cash Money/Universal Records star Lil’ Wayne; hit-making wordsmith Sean Garrett, aka The Pen; and Star Trak/Interscope recording artist Teyana Taylor.

BMI President & CEO, Del Bryant and Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Catherine Brewton presented mega-producer Dallas Austin with the Legends of ATL Award, which recognizes a community leader for his or her contributions to the Atlanta music scene.

Sean Garrett

BMI Vice President Writer/Publisher Relations Catherine Brewton, Legends of Atlanta honoree Dallas Austin, and BMI President & CEO Del Bryant

Ciara and BMI President & CEO Del Bryant

Lil Jon

ELZ, showcase winner Trimm, BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Catherine Brewton, and HeadROC of Battery 5

Lil Wayne

Unsigned Finalists (In no certain order):

Jarren Benton | myspace

Brandon Hines | myspace

Holly Weerd | myspace

Young Trimm | myspace

BMI Atlanta’s Unsigned Urban Showcase will be held at Luckie Lounge on Thursday, April 24th.

Special guests Teyana Taylor and Lil Wayne will be headlining the show.

Don’t Miss It!

BMI Unsigned Urban Showcase
Thursday, April 24th
Luckie Lounge
375 Luckie Street
Atlanta, GA 30313

luckiefoodlounge.com

Doors Open: 8pm
Show Starts: 9pm