In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group
Hot Boys along with rappers
Juvenile,
Turk, and
B.G.; at age 15, Wayne was the youngest member at that time. Hot Boys' debut album
Get It How U Live! was released the
same year, followed in 1999 by the group's major-label debut
Guerrilla Warfare, which reached #1 on the
Billboard
magazine Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #5 on the
Billboard 200. During their career, the Hot Boys had two charting
singles, "We On Fire" from
Get It How U Live! and "I Need a Hot Girl" from
Guerrilla Warfare. Lil Wayne was
also featured on Juvenile's single "
Back That Azz Up", which reached #18 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
Let 'Em Burn,
a compilation album of unreleased tracks recorded during 1999 and 2000, came out in 2003, several years after the group disbanded.
It reached #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #14 on the
Billboard 200
.
Lil Wayne's debut solo album Tha Block Is Hot at age 17 featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys and went double platinum, climbing to #3 on the Billboard album charts.The album earned him a 1999 Source magazine award nomination for "Best New Artist", and also became a Top Ten hit. The lead single was "Tha Block Is Hot". After the release of Tha Block is Hot, Lil Wayne was featured on the single, "Bling Bling", with B.G., Juvenile, Turk, and Big Tymers. His 2000 follow-up album Lights Out failed to attain the level of success achieved by his debut
