The album's lead single, "Bring It Back" was released on April 10, 2004, while its second single, "Go D.J." was released on October 5, 2004. Both songs were produced by and featured guest vocals from then-Cash Money's frequent record producerMannie Fresh.
The album's third single, "Earthquake" was released on March 27, 2005. The song was produced by and featured guest vocals from fellow record producer Jazze Pha.
Tha Carter debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies in its first week.[9] This became Wayne's third US top-ten debut.[7] As of November 2005, the album has sold 878,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[10] On September 25, 2020, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of a million units in the United States.[8]
If the album was purchased in Canada, "Walk In", "Inside" and "Walk Out" are recorded on a different instrumental, with slightly different lyrics. Also, "Earthquake" is replaced by the song "Crack Ya Bottle" by Lil Wayne featuring Reel, produced by the Architects. These changes are a result of sample clearance issues.