What does Nirvana [ tickets ] have to do with hip-hop? Ask Lil Wayne [ tickets ]. In an interview with Blender Magazine, he admitted the grunge band was a major influence for him musically.

The New Orleans native was born Dwayne Carter Jr., and at the age of 15 formed his first group, Hot Boys, along with Juvenile [ tickets ], Turk [ tickets ], and B.G. [ tickets ] Two years later, Lil Wayne decided to go solo.

Since then he's delivered a slew of underground mixtapes and six
official studio albums, garnering the most success from his "Tha Carter" series. Next year will see the release of the saga's next chapter, "Tha Carter III: Rebirth."

Now on tour through the end of January, Lil Wayne passed through Oakland, CA, last week (12/23) and LiveDaily photographer Tim Mosendfelder was there to catch the action.