Photo: @mixedkid210
Lil Novi isn't your average teenage rapper.
The 15-year-old artist, born Neal Carter, discovered his knack for making music at the young of 11 before he appeared on his first major song with his father Lil Wayne. Now, as he follows in the footsteps of his famous family, Novi is attracting his own fanbase with a unique sound all while trying to balance his normal life as a high school student. When he's not focused on school, the aspiring rapper is stuntin' like his dad in the studio and onstage. He recently turned up with a crowd of young rap fans at his debut performance during SXSW in Austin.
"It was lit," Novi tells iHeartRadio. "Everybody was messing with my s**t and the energy was there, vibe. That s**t was great."
"My first time being on stage, I was five years old," he adds. "Ever since then I was always on stage with my dad and I was just watching. Every time I get on there, I'll get less and less nervous and less scared. So now I'm just normal now."
Lil Novi's passion for the music industry runs through his veins. The rapper was born in 2009 to his talented parents Lil Wayne and Nivea. He's the youngest of four siblings including his eldest sister Reginae Carter and his brothers Dwayne and Kameron. Neal and Kam made their music debut on their dad's 2020 project No Ceilings 3. He appeared under his original stage name "Young Carter" on the song "Hollywood" — a freestyle over Lil Tecca's "When You Down" — while Kam appeared on Wayne's freestyle over Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode."
Novi began to take his craft more seriously after that. He cites La Flame, P'ierre Bourne and Playboi Carti as early influences on his sound, which is evident in his 2024 EP Vamp Life and his remix of Carti's latest hit "LIKE WEEZY." His catchy lyrics and melodic flows get better with every song he drops from his banger "Level Up" to his latest single "Take A Step." The song, produced by D.A. Got That Dope, truly got the Internet's attention, especially after he teamed up with Wayne for the official music video.
"It was just one night in LA," Novi says about making the track. "I was with my brother and it was like 3:00 a.m. We was in the studio and my dad had sent me the beat and I played it and I hopped on it. I was trying to make a hook at first and I couldn't find a hook, so I just kept redoing it and I got the right hook and I just started spazzing."
Novi says he and his dad shot the video the following day. It took about two days to shoot the video at their home. In it, Wayne is right next to his son, rapping his lyrics word for word. There are scenes where it's hard not to notice Novi's resemblance to his dad's look in early 2000s when Wayne began his reign in the music industry with his album series Tha Carter , his Young Money imprint, and his 2006 collaborative album with Birdman Like Father, Like Son. Two decades later, Wayne's son is the one shouting out "Young Mula" on his biggest track yet.
"Take A Step" is the third single Novi has released this year. He previously dropped "2 Kool 4 Skool" and "Level Up 2" at the beginning of 2025. The aforementioned songs may end up on Novi's debut album coming soon. There's no word on the release date, but for now, Novi's having fun perfecting his sound alongside his main producer Lucid. He also has a lot of other aspirations for the future. He plans to launch a clothing line, perform at Rolling Loud and expand his catalog. He's not focused on collaborating with any other artists at the moment, but he's down to make an EP with one of his favorite producers P'ierre Bourne.
"Right now, I'm not really focused on collabs, but I say in the future when I'm bigger and stuff — well, I can kind of do that soon — but I want to work with or make an EP like Pierre."
During our interview, Lil Novi talks about his creative process in the studio, the best advice his dad Lil Wayne gave him, his recent show at SXSW and more. Watch our conversation below.