As a solo artist, he wasn't critically acclaimed. But, you may know this or not, he was very hot when he was really big into CMM. When The Hot Boyz was coming through, he (they) were tearing shit up. Went straight to the top in 1999-2000, taking the place of Master P and No Limit. They stayed on top for about 3-4 years until Juvenile left and a few others had a bit of beef. Wayne went solo (with his BFF in tow) and became who is is today. I know all this from being heavy into it at the time. I was studying (yes literally studying) the No Limit/Cash Money come up when they started rising fast in 1997. Later, QD.
i was heavy into it also. CMR blowing up was more juvi than any of the other hot boys. they were good at the time to but wayne was not a steller lyrcist. none of them were. juvi carried the group. juvi's first album "soulja rags" is what gave them the buzz and got the distribution deal for CMR. Wayne was just a youngster and his voice was whiney sounding. he was not a good rapper at all. his bling bling lyrics sucked and after the hotboys broke up he did his solo thing. the first 2 albums did well but the other 3 sucked. thats when he contemplated quitting rap. he almost left the label. then the mixtape "prefix" came out. i heard that and i was like whoa; this kid just got serious all of a sudden. then the carter and the rest is history
the Hot Boyz were a lot better than you're giving them credit for. Wayne sound, back then, exactly as he does now. Just a hair bit older. But it wasn't only Juvy that carried them into the 2000s. It was the entire crew. Things started breaking down when Juvy left and then Turk got locked up. Part of UNLV left and started talking about shit. But from when Wayne nearly dipped out, I agree with you on the story from there. Later, QD.
i liked the hot boys. i bought a lot of the albums that they relased back then. im not taking away form them, i banged that cash money shit all the time. in retrospect i see that they were not that great. mannie fresh made hot beats and juvi was the leader of the group. bg, turk, and wayne were all just mediocore(spelling) rapper at that time. wayne wasnt but like 16, he hadnt mastered his craft yet. turk going to jail talking shit, unlv leaving talking shit, then bg beefing with wayne is what almost shut CMR down