The 2009 Grammy Award nominations were just as shocking as the performances from “The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night,” and leading the way for this year's nominations is none other than Southern rapper Lil Wayne, whose 2008 album and multi-platinum success Tha Carter III has soared through hoops in becoming one of the most highly praised releases of the year. Lil Wayne chalked up more Grammy nominations than any other artists, garnering eight nods for Best Rap Performance by Duo or Group (for “Mr. Carter” featuring Jay-Z), Best Rap Solo Performance (“A Milli”), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (“Got Money” featuring T-Pain), Best Rap Song (“Lollipop”), Best Rap Album (Tha Carter III), Best Rap Performance by Duo or Group (“Swagga Like Us”) and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (“Swagga Like Us”), along with two nominations as a featured artist.

While musicians like the talented teens Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus are busy licking their ego wounds after failing to accumulate any Grammy nominations, Lil Wayne is taking his chariot right to the door of the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, where he is expected to be a frontrunner in taking home the most gramophone statuettes. The Grammys will commence on Sunday, February 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast on CBS, as well.

With all this success poured into the life and career of Lil Wayne, it's hard to remember this magnanimous rapper is still in his mid-twenties. Born with the name Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., the Southern rapper grew up in New Orleans, where he was recruited as one of the Cash Money Records Hot Boys at age 18. The Hot Boys, which also featured Juvenile, B.G. and Turk, released red-hot albums such as 1997's Get It How U Live! before scattering when Lil Wayne hit the scene solo with his 1999 debut Tha Block Is Hot. Lil Wayne's debut album soared up the Billboard charts, landing at number three while going double platinum. Toying around with his music until the monumental Tha Carter was released in 2004, Lil Wayne took his maturity to a whole new level while becoming a respected act on the rap scene thereafter.

By the mid-2000s, Lil Wayne's reputation as a rapper was enormous, and Tha Carter, Vol. 2 further illuminated his stature, tacking up more singles on the Billboard charts while readying himself for the massive success of his 2008 album Tha Carter III, which sold more than one million copies during its first week of release. Catapulted into smash success by singles “A Milli” and “Lollipop,” Wayne and Tha Carter III enjoyed massive amounts of fame, pushing Lil Wayne further into the hip-hop spotlight. The New Orleans rapper struck gold with songs like “A Milli,” a catchy track that debuted at number one on the rap, hip-hop and Rhythmic Top 40 charts while establishing Lil Wayne as one of the biggest and best hip-hop artists on the scene. If you haven't experienced the blowout epidemic of Lil Wayne for yourself, hop on board the Lil Wayne train and get Lil Wayne tickets to one of his live performances from http://www.stubhub.com/lil-wayne-tickets.