''Tha Carter'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

. It was released on June 29, 2004, by

Cash Money Records Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Distributed by Republic, formerly known as Universal Republic, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip ...

and

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. The

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

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 II'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on December 6, 2005, by Cash Money Records, Young Money Entertainment and Universal Records. Recording sessions took place from 2004 to 2005, with Birdman ...

'', ''

Tha Carter III ''Tha Carter III'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money, Universal Motown & Young Money Entertainment. It follows a long string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip ...

'', ''

Tha Carter IV ''Tha Carter IV'' is the ninth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on August 29, 2011, through Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Universal Republic Records. Recording sessions for the album began in late 2008, sh ...

'', and ''

Tha Carter V ''Tha Carter V'' is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on September 28, 2018, by Young Money Entertainment and Republic Records. The album's features include Swizz Beatz, Kendrick Lamar, Sosamann, Lil Wayne' ...

''. The album debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies in its first week. The album was later certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in September 2020.

Singles

The album's lead single, "Bring It Back" was released on April 10, 2004, while its second single, " Go D.J." was released on October 5, 2004. Both songs were produced by and featured

guest vocal In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s from then- Cash Money's frequent

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Mannie Fresh. The album's third single, "Earthquake" was released on March 27, 2005. The song was produced by and featured guest vocals from fellow record producer

Jazze Pha Phalon Anton Alexander, (born April 15, 1974), professionally known as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, singer, songwriter and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Sho'nuff Records, to wh ...

Commercial performance

''Tha Carter'' debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies in its first week. This became Wayne's third US top-ten debut. As of November 2005, the album has sold 878,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On September 25, 2020, the album was certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...

s of two million units 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. * "Earthquake" interpolates and samples " Let's Stay Together" by Al Green.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter 1, Tha 2004 albums Lil Wayne albums Universal Records albums Cash Money Records albums Albums produced by Jazze Pha Albums produced by Mannie Fresh