Lil Wayne announces Tha Carter V release date

The record was originally set to drop last week

Lil Wayne has announced the release of his long-awaited album Tha Carter V after it failed to surface online last week.

The rapper posted on Twitter that the new record will drop on Friday 28 September. Thanking fans for their patience, he released a three-minute clip that detailed his path to the new release.

"I heard there was a misunderstanding about the release date of Tha CV," he said. "I heard y'all got a little mixed up and y'all thought it was going to be released like last week or something. Well, I would like for you to know that since y'all stuck with me and hung in there anyway for like the past four, five years, through all of this – you got me feeling like Tiger Woods with this comeback – but on my birthday, I actually have something special. I will be releasing Tha Carter V."

Towards the end of the video, Wayne posted the cover art for CV, which continues the ongoing childhood theme of earlier albums, and shows a younger version of Weezy standing next to his mother.

"Honestly, my fans, my supporters, the world, you know, of course, it's God and my family first, and I am nothing, absolutely nothing," he added.

Since his announcement, billboards have begun to pop up around the Manhattan area of New York City, according to Hot New Hip Hop. The posters feature a large red 'V' on a black background with a white goat in the corner, alluding to Lil Wayne being the "Greatest Of All Time".

Wayne has also installed a countdown to the album on his website which will run until Tha Carter V's release date on 28 September.