Well Wayne did go from being a 16 year old trading bars with Juvenile in his prime to a mixtape rapper with a devout following with no critical praise (Sqad Up Vol. 1-7, Suffix, Prefix, first Dedication). And he definitely got better over that time.
Wayne built a ton of hype with his SqadUp mixtapes and my friends at school were already calling him the best rapper in game during that time. Try and find a review of his SqadUp mixtapes by any critic and you will almost undoubtedly fail.
When tha Carter first came out every one of my friends had it. I remember during the summer of 2004 going to summer basketball tourneys with my teammates and being forced to listen to Tha Carter all day everyday by whoever was driving. I don't even think Pitchfork reviewed Tha Carter and most critics paid no mind to it as well. But that was easily THE summer album of 2004 for everyone around me.
As time went on Wayne kept building more and more hype and finally when Dedication 2 came out critics really started to notice him, though fans had been noticing him for years already and Wayne already had quite a following (as a respected lyricist). From the Drought Is Over 2 and Da Drought 3 onward Wayne became a critical darling and the "cool" thing to listen to... but thats if you get your only input from website reviews. Most of my friends don't read website reviews and he was already popular and respected by word of mouth on the strength of his mixtapes. I have other friends who I know just hopped on once Pitchfork started reviewing his mixtapes, but these were the same people whose favorite artists included the likes of Animal Collective, the Arcade Fire, Belle & Sebastian and Bright Eyes. I don't think you can generalize his entire fanbase into that category when it isn't. Sure, more people started saying he was the best rapper alive once critics started giving him high scores, but Wayne's real fanbase was already saying it when Wayne said it himself on tha Carter II in 05.
PS. and where's the love for Lil B being the best person signed to Soulja Boy's label:P
Orlando_Magic
I will always hold this position. Hurricane Katrina was the best thing that happened to Wayne's career. Here in Houston,the large influx of New Orleans kids forced Lil' Wayne on us.
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