Lil Wayne was born and raised in New Orleans. Lil Wayne’s birth name is Dwayne Carter but he chooses to drop the “D” on Dwayne because that was his father’s name and his father was never there for him in his childhood. Lil Wayne started rapping at the age of 12, but Lil Wayne dropped out of school at age 13 to pursue his rap career dream. Lil Wayne was quickly brought into the life of a gang member as a teenager and still lives the gang banger lifestyle. Lil Wayne has escaped death several times. Lil Wayne shot himself in the chest with a 38 at the age of 13. Lil Wayne is known as the best rapper alive; it’s probably because he has been in the game since he was only 13 years old.