NEW YORK -- Cash Money signature artist and crescent city superstar Lil Wayne brings the heat with his newest album, “Tha Carter II” - in stores now, with The New York Times already hailing the much anticipated album as a masterpiece, raving that Tha Carter II " ... is an impressive CD, and in some sense historic..."

The video for the debut single, "Fireman" is currently the most played video on MTV2 and BET. Accolades for “Tha Carter II” continues to pour in from taste making magazines such as Rolling Stone, which proclaims that Wayne's "... fifth solo CD finds him in excellent lyrical command ."

Other notable tracks include one of the New York Times' picks, the "woosey, bluesy" highlight, "Shooter." The song is a departure from Wayne's early musical formula, flexing a more complex lyrical delivery and rhyme scheme as he addresses the regionalism so pervasive in hip-hop.

Along with “Tha Carter II,” the 23-year old rapper also simultaneously released a deluxe package of “Tha Carter II” which contains the new CD and a chopped and screwed version of some of Lil Wayne's biggest songs including: "Go DJ," "Tha Block is Hot," "Get Off The Corner" as well as the new single, "Fireman."

Lil Wayne was born and raised in the infamous poverty-stricken section of New Orleans - the 17th Ward. His rise to stardom came in 1995 at the tender age of 12 when he made his debut on his former label mates' B.G's True Story CD.

Shortly thereafter, the rap prodigy garnered national attention as a member of the group, Hot Boys, which consisted of rappers Juvenile, Turk and B.G., with their 1997 debut album, “Get It How You Live,” followed by 1998's platinum certified “Guerilla Warfare” and 2003's “Let Em Burn.”

Success continued to follow Lil Wayne, as a solo artist, his debut CD, 1999's “Tha Block Is Hot” reached platinum status and was a #1 Billboard Album. He later released in 2000, “Lights Out,” “500Degreez” in 2002 and his defining album, 2004's gold certified, “Tha Carter,” which featured the hit single “Go DJ.”