Maps of Music

Tha Carter VI (2025)

Where the lyrics of Tha Carter VI take you, and where it was really made.

Tha Carter VI took its name from a rival rapper's plan: Young Thug first titled his debut Tha Carter VI in honor of Wayne, then renamed it Barter 6 after threats of legal action.

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Album story

Overview

• Tha Carter VI is the fourteenth solo studio album by the American rapper Lil Wayne
• Released June 6, 2025 by Young Money and Republic Records
• Sixth installment of the Tha Carter album series
• Follows the collaborative album Welcome 2 Collegrove (2023) with 2 Chainz
• Marks seven years since its predecessor Tha Carter V (2018)
• First solo album in five years since Funeral (2020)
• Guests include BigXthaPlug, Jay Jones, Jelly Roll, Big Sean, Bono, 2 Chainz, Andrea Bocelli, Wyclef Jean, Mannie Fresh, MGK, Kodak Black, and Wayne's sons Kameron Carter and Lil Novi
• Producers include Ben Billions, Bobby Raps, Boi-1da, Charlie Handsome, DJ Clue, DVLP, Infamous, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Einer Bankz, Synco, Mannie Fresh, and Wheezy, among others

Background

• Wayne had declared Tha Carter V would be his final album
• Young Thug then announced his debut would be titled Tha Carter VI in honor of Wayne
• The title dispute displeased Wayne and was partly tied to his troubles with former Cash Money Records boss Birdman, whom he later sued over financial disputes
• Wayne announced Tha Carter VI in August, saying his mixtape No Ceilings 3 would come first
• Wayne was the featured cover story of Rolling Stone's May 2025 issue before release
• After a Cetaphil commercial during Super Bowl LIX on February 9, 2025, Republic Records confirmed the June 6, 2025 release date

Recording

• Wyclef Jean played a major role in the production and recording of the album
• Wayne said he and Wyclef Jean recorded over 30 tracks for the album
• Kanye West and Wheezy had production on the album, but West's assisted track could be removed due to the controversy surrounding him
• Miley Cyrus, Andrea Bocelli, and Wayne's son Kameron were named as possible features
• A Billie Eilish sample was not yet cleared at the time of reporting

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. on September 27, 1982, in New Orleans; signed to Cash Money Records at age 11 after being discovered by Birdman in 1993.
• Early career as B.G.'z and then Hot Boys (formed 1997) with Juvenile, B.G. and Turk; the group reached mainstream success with Guerrilla Warfare (1999).
• Solo breakthrough with Tha Block Is Hot (1999), certified platinum within a month of release.
• Tha Carter III (2008) sold over 1 million copies in its first week and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album; its single "Lollipop" topped the Billboard Hot 100.
• Founded Young Money Entertainment in 2005; the label signed Drake, Tyga and Nicki Minaj.
• Has sold over 120 million records worldwide and won five Grammy Awards.
• Released Tha Carter VI in 2025 and was named the first male artist to surpass Elvis Presley in Hot 100 entries.

Legacy

• Often described as one of the most influential artists of the 21st century.
• His style and use of Auto-Tune influenced modern hip-hop, especially the development of trap.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: mixed or average reviews, weighted average 50 out of 100 from 6 critic scores
• Clash (Robin Murray): the album doesn't reach the heights of III but probably crests V; picked Hip-Hop, Bein Myself, and Cotton Candy as the best cuts
• Slant Magazine (Paul Attard): called it one of Wayne's most meandering, insular, and uninspired albums to date, while naming Banned from NO and Hip-Hop as high points
• Rolling Stone (Mosi Reeves): said Wayne's once groundbreaking sound had evolved into a more mainstream pop persona, with less urgency
• AllMusic (Fred Thomas): felt Bein' Myself carried the sentiment of the rapper's earlier work, but most tracks miss
• Pitchfork (Paul Thompson): less favorable, judging the album not well-thought-out
• RapReviews (Michael G. Barilleaux): described it as an album closer to an oddly shaped misfire of a satirical take than the latest installment of a successful series
• Spectrum Culture (Kabelo Chirwa): said Wayne could still deliver poignant bars, but many punchlines landed differently coming from a 42-year-old father

Records

• US Billboard 200 debut at number two
• 108,000 album-equivalent units in the first week
• Stream equivalent album units 73,000 (equal to 97.06 million on-demand streams)
• Album sales 34,000 and track equivalent album units 1,000
• Debut figures put pure album sales at 35,000 in one part of the source, 34,000 in the commercial section

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Young Thug first named his album Tha Carter VI in honor of Wayne; with the threat of legal action, he renamed it Barter 6
• The Cetaphil commercial during Super Bowl LIX showed Wayne in a recording studio with signs reading CARTER VI and a do-not-disturb date of June 6, 2025
• A Billie Eilish sample used on the album was not yet cleared, and she was mistakenly credited as a feature until Rolling Stone corrected it
• A promotional ad on ESPN for the 2025 NBA Finals aired on June 5, 2025, featuring the album single The Days with Bono
• The album's tour began on June 6, 2025 in New York City and ended on October 2, 2025 in West Palm Beach

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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