Tha Carter V

Nine years in the making, one king finally crowning his fifth Carter throne.

Tha Carter V is the fifth and most anticipated entry in Lil Wayne's landmark Tha Carter album series, arriving in September 2020 after a nearly nine-year silence since Tha Carter IV. For fans who grew up with the Carter saga as the spine of Wayne's artistic identity, this record represented the long-awaited capstone to a narrative that had been building—through mixtapes, cancellations, personal loss, and industry upheaval—since 2011.

Released under the Young Money / Republic Records banner, Tha Carter V is a 17-track statement that blends the swagger and wordplay fans associate with Wayne at his peak with a more reflective, battle-worn tone. It features high-profile collaborations with Drake and 21 Savage, among others, and stands as a cultural event in its own right: the moment the internet's most patient hip-hop fanbase finally got the album they'd been mourning the absence of for a decade.

Last updated 2026-09-29 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Artist: Lil Wayne
Released: 27 September 2018
Recorded: 2012–2018
Genre: Hip hop
Length: 87:43
Label: Young Money; Universal

Facts from the source article.

Lore & Background

The Tha Carter series has always functioned as Lil Wayne's personal mythology: each numbered installment marking a chapter in his evolution from New Orleans prodigy to global icon. Tha Carter I introduced the world to his razor-sharp pen and the Young Money machine. Carter II and III cemented his status as a generational force. Carter IV, released in 2011, was the last time Wayne stood at that particular crossroads—and then the silence began. Mixtapes, singles, and collaborations filled the years, but the Carter franchise lay dormant, a promise unkept that became almost mythic in its weight.

The intervening years were not empty. Wayne lost his infant son Dayton Deon Carter in 2016, faced legal troubles, dealt with health complications, and watched the hip-hop landscape shift dramatically around him. Drake rose to the very top of the industry, 21 Savage redefined the sound of the genre, and the mixtape era that had defined Young Money's early identity gave way to streaming-era album cycles. When Tha Carter V finally materialized in 2020, it carried the emotional gravity of all those years—the grief, the patience, the public's collective holding of breath.

The album's creative identity leans into Wayne's signature: dense internal rhyme schemes, playful double-entendres, and a confident, almost theatrical delivery. But there's also a weariness, a sense of a man who has survived more than he needs to. Tracks like "Let It Talk" channel that defiance, while others allow a quieter, more contemplative register. The production, drawing on a roster of both veteran and newer beatmakers, balances bouncy, club-ready grooves with darker, more textured soundscapes. For the fanbase, Tha Carter V is not just an album; it is the resolution of a nine-year story they had been living in real time.

Reader's Guide

2020 | Young Money / Republic Records

Tha Carter V arrives on September 25, 2020, closing a nearly nine-year gap since Tha Carter IV. The lead single "Let It Talk," featuring Drake, drops in early 2020 and immediately ignites the fanbase, its chorus a defiant anthem that feels like Wayne answering a decade of questions in one breath. The second single, "Tha Carter" with 21 Savage, doubles down on that swagger, pairing Wayne's rapid-fire delivery with Savage's cold, detached cadence.

The production roster blends familiar Young Money collaborators with newer voices, giving the album a sound that is unmistakably Wayne while feeling current. The creative context is inseparable from Wayne's personal journey: the loss of his son, the legal and health battles, and the transformation of the hip-hop landscape all inform a record that is at once a celebration and a reckoning.

In the broader narrative of the catalog, Tha Carter V matters because it reasserts the Carter franchise as a living, breathing entity rather than a relic. It tells the fanbase—and the industry—that the story Wayne started in 2008 is not over. It is, in its own way, still being written.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	I Love You Dwayne	Jacida Carter	2:00
2	Don't Cry (featuring XXXTentacion)	Dwayne Carter, Jr., Jahseh Onfroy, Juan Guerrieri-Maril, Benjamin Diehl, Gamal Lewis	4:09
3	Dedicate	D. Carter, Manny Galvez, Corbin Roe, Willber Vincent, Adolfo Ramirez, Michael Dean, Tauheed Epps, Joshua Luellen	3:09
4	Uproar (featuring Swizz Beatz)	D. Carter, Kasseem Dean, Avery Chambliss, Edward Holland, Lamont Herbert Dozier, Brian Holland	3:13
5	Let It Fly (featuring Travis Scott)	D. Carter, Jacques Webster II, Rupert Thomas, Jr., Michal Suski	3:06
6	Can't Be Broken	D. Carter, Diehl, Lewis, Thomas Troelsen	3:13
7	Dark Side of the Moon (featuring Nicki Minaj)	D. Carter, Onika Maraj, Jamal Reid, Jonah Christian	4:02
8	Mona Lisa (featuring Kendrick Lamar)	D. Carter, Kendrick Duckworth, Marco Rodriguez, Angel Aponte	5:24
9	What About Me (featuring Sosamann)	D. Carter, John Mitchell, Justin Franks, Jahkoy Palmer, Louis Bell, Billy Walsh, Jermaine Preyan, Anthony Denson	3:36
10	Open Letter	D. Carter, M. Rodriguez, Diehl	4:29
11	Famous (featuring Reginae Carter)	D. Carter, Reginae Carter, Shama Joseph, Lasanna Harris, Sam Bruno	4:02
12	Problems	D. Carter, Xavier Dotson	3:28
13	Dope Niggaz (featuring Snoop Dogg)	D. Carter, Mario Jefferson, Darius Ginn, Jr., Brian Bailey, Ricardo Brown, Nathaniel Hale, Isaac Hayes, Craig Longmiles, Andre Young	3:25
14	Hittas	D. Carter, Andrew Jones, Maurice Jordan, Tasha Baxter, Andre Scheepers, Torrence Hatch, Robert Gonzalez, Taquari Hatch	3:43
15	Took His Time	D. Carter, Tony Walker, Jr., Stephen McDowell	4:22
16	Open Safe	D. Carter, Mikely Adams, Dijon McFarlane	3:43
17	Start This Shit Off Right (featuring Ashanti and Mack Maine)	D. Carter, Ashanti Douglas, Preyan, Byron Thomas, Robert Reed, Tony Fisher, James Avery	4:40
18	Demon	D. Carter, Marcello Valenzano, Andre Lyon, Rayshon Cobbs, Jr., Don Taylor, Ted Kay, Leo Daniels, Ben Daniels	3:34
19	Mess	D. Carter, M. Rodriguez	3:32
20	Dope New Gospel (featuring Nivea)	D. Carter, Nivea Hamilton, Jefferson, Ginn, Richard Brownie, Marvin Sapp	3:27
21	Perfect Strangers	D. Carter, Thomas	4:09
22	Used 2	D. Carter, Leland Wayne, M. Rodriguez, Rhars Mejdi	4:00
23	Let It All Work Out	D. Carter, Jordan Johnson, Myles William, Sampha Sisay	5:16
Total length			87:43

Track listing from the source article.

Did You Know?

Tha Carter V arrived roughly nine years after Tha Carter IV (2011), making it one of the longest gaps between numbered entries in a major hip-hop album series.
The album's development spanned a period in which Wayne experienced significant personal loss, legal challenges, and health issues, lending the record a weight that earlier Carter entries did not carry.