Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. to Jacida "Cita" Carter and Dwayne Michael Turner, and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter was in the gifted program at Lafayette Elementary School, and was in the drama club in middle school. At age eleven, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Lil Wayne recorded freestyle raps on Williams' answering machine; Williams would eventually mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He dropped out of school at age 14, but later earned his GED. When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz. He also accidentally shot himself in the chest with a .44-caliber. Carter has a daughter named Reginae Carter with Antonia "Toya" Johnson, his high school sweetheart. The two were married on Valentines Day of 2004; they divorced in 2006. In an interview with Blender, Lil Wayne revealed one of his favorite b