Getty Lil Wayne during a concert.
The road to Tha Carter V has been a bumpy one. After its September 21 release date came and went, fans were concerned whether the album would ever see the light of day. Fortunately, Lil Wayne took to social media to announce that the album will be out tonight at midnight Eastern. There is a release countdown on Tha Carter V website, which you can check out here.
Generally, albums become available around midnight Eastern on streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify. This was the case for Wayne’s previous studio albums, 2011’s Tha Carter IV and 2013’s I Am Not a Human Being II, and has been confirmed by Young Money president Mack Maine on Instagram. On occasion, however, these platforms will throw a curveball at listeners.
‘Tha Carter V’ Will Come Out on Wayne’s 36th Birthday
Take Kanye West’s album ye for example. It was originally scheduled for release at midnight on June 1, but it wasn’t made available until the following afternoon. A similar thing happened with Drake’s recent double album Scorpion. While it was released at the right time on Apple Music, the album wasn’t made available until 3 a.m. Eastern for Spotify users.
Wayne announced that the album’s release would coincide with his 36th birthday on September 27. In a video posted to his social media accounts, the rapper spoke to his fans about the album’s confusing rollout. “I will be releasing Tha Carter V on my birthday,” he said. “If you don’t know when my birthday is, Wikipedia does.” He also says that the album will be giving fans “more” than past entries in Tha Carter series. Watch the full video below.
The Album Is Currently Available for Pre-Order on Wayne’s Site
“I heard there was a misunderstanding about the release date of the C5,” Weezy added. “I heard y’all got mixed up and thought it was gonna get release like last week or something. Well, I would like for you to know that since y’all stuck with me and hung in there anyway for like the past four or five years through all of this but uh on my birthday, I actually have something special.”
Towards the end of the video, Wayne revealed the official artwork for the album, which shows him as child standing next to his mother Jacida Carter. “Honestly, my fans, my supporters, the world, you know, of course, it’s God and my family first, and I am nothing, absolutely nothing,” he said. The rapper also included a link to the Carter V website where you can pre-order the album.
September 28 is latest in a long line of Carter V release dates. According to Pitchfork, the album was initially set for release on May 5, 2014. After that date passed, it was pushed back to October 28 and then to December 9, both of which came and went with no new music. December 9 was the last concrete date that Wayne gave, despite the confusion over the recent September 21 rollout.
As reported by TMZ, the buzz surrounding the September 21 release date was generated by online speculation and the fact that Young Money teased the artwork on their social media accounts. Neither Young Money nor Wayne ever confirmed this date. To learn how to stream the album, check out the article below.