Lil Wayne has officially unveiled the cover art to the forthcoming Tha Carter VI – and the design pays homage to several previous covers from the legendary series.
Shared on Tuesday (April 22), the artwork features a smiling baby Weezy covered in his signature face tattoos, a la 2008’s Tha Carter III and 2012’s Tha Carter IV.
Along with the art, Wayne also launched the accompanying merch for the project, which includes vinyls and CDs (including autographed versions), as well as a tee and a hoodie. You can shop them here.
Tha Carter VI is due out on June 6.
In a new cover story for Rolling Stone, Lil Wayne confirmed a number of high-profile (and in some cases unlikely) guests on the new album, including Miley Cyrus, U2’s Bono and opera singer Andrea Bocelli.
The project will also feature Machine Gun Kelly, dancehall legend Elephant Man and Wayne’s 15-year-old son Kameron.
Behind the boards, the lineup of producers includes Wyclef Jean, Wheezy and possibly Kanye West.
Wyclef appears to be overseeing the album and has even started an “informal” supergroup with Wayne called the Gumbo, which also includes New Orleans musicians Jon Batiste, Ledisi, Trombone Shorty and PJ Morton.
Weezy says of the star-studded supporting cast: “If there’s one thing about this album that’s different, it’s me approaching it like, ‘Man, what would I sound like on something with such and such?’”
Elsewhere in the interview, the Young Money founder says he’s open to recording a sequel to his and Birdman‘s 2006 album Like Father, Like Son but with his teenage sons — Kameron, Dwayne III and Neal — who are all following in his footsteps as rappers.
Wayne also addresses Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans this past February — a hometown gig he had openly coveted and one which appeared to cause friction between the “Mona Lisa” collaborators.
“Wayne tells me things are fine between him and Lamar; Wayne called the L.A. rapper ahead of the Super Bowl to clear the air and to encourage him,” the article reads.
The 42-year-old also claims the NFL gave him the impression they were going to offer him the performance, and he received an apology from someone at the league saying: “We ain’t in charge [of the halftime show]” after Kendrick was announced as the headliner.
Wayne reveals that he has no ill will towards JAY-Z, who plays a key role in organizing the halftime show, but is no longer interested in performing at the Super Bowl: “They stole that feeling. I don’t want to do it. It was perfect.”
