Every Album in Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter Series Ranked

Lil Wayne was 14 years old when he started rapping, 17 when he released his 1999 platinum-selling debut album, Tha Block Is Hot, and 21 at the time he was a bona fide rap superstar.

Over his more than 20-year career, Wayne, born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., has become what he prophesied on Tha Carter II that he's the "Best Rapper Alive." Not only that, but Weezy has also solidified his reputation as a rapper with longevity, personality and a larger-than-life attitude.

Wayne has spent half of his career as an artist on the venerable rap label Cash Money Records. But after releasing 10 albums with the label, he parted ways after a long, drawn out legal battle with the CEO and mentor Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Out of his past projects, Weezy's most revered music series is Tha Carter albums.

In varying album releases from 2004 to 2018, Tha Carter series helped establish Wayne as a major pop star with street credibility. The first Carter album gave a lyrical look at Wayne's maturity from a child rapper to a rap contender. On Tha Carter II, Wayne puffed out his chest and asserted that he was the best rapper alive.

On Tha Carter III, his most commercially successful album out of the series, Wayne made good on his proclamation. His popularity soared with this project, notching him his first two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Lollipop" and "A Milli." With Tha Carter IV and Tha Carter V albums, the rap veteran manages to stay relevant to fans despite those projects having musical and lyrical shortcomings.

After releasing five Carter albums altogether, Wayne is far from done with the series. In a July 3 interview with Variety, the rap veteran hinted that he is working on the next installment of Tha Carter series, Tha Carter VI. When the interviewer asked Weezy what's his favorite Carter project, he replied, "My favorite Carter album is the next one."

So with the possibility that another Carter album is in the works, XXL decided to rank Lil Wayne's Tha Carter album series below from worst to best. Which one is your favorite Carter album?