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Lil Wayne - Between the Super Bowl this week and Mardi Gras next, New Orleans has taken center stage. The city of jazz, beignets and plastic beads is also home to some of our favorite celebs. Lil Wayne may be a worldwide star, but his roots are firmly in NOLA. The rapper was raised in Hollygrove by a single mother and was an honor student until he dropped out of school at age 14 to focus on his music career. Though Weezy now lives in Miami, he still gives props to his hometown every chance he gets and is active in rebuilding the community ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. In 2012, Wayne built a skate park in the still-struggling Ninth Ward.  (Photo: Ben Rose/PictureGroup)

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Anthony Mackie - "No matter where I go, no matter who I talk to, the coolest thing about me is always the fact that I’m from New Orleans," says the Gangster Squad star. He recently returned to his 'hood for the filming of Captain America: Winter Soldier. But to play buff superhero the Falcon, the actor had to stay away from his favorite Southern dishes his hometown is known for.  (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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Tyler Perry - These days he's the King of Atlanta, but Perry was actually born in New Orleans. The media icon left Louisiana in his early twenties to flee the pain of his abusive childhood, he later admitted to Oprah. He got his fresh start in Atlanta, where he self-financed his first play, and never looked back.  (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

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Master P - The No Limit boss, who was born in NOLA, spent his early career in Oakland before relocating back to his hometown to start No Limit Records and restart his career. P. Miller even called out Lil Wayne when Weezy rooted against the Saints at the Super Bowl in 2010. "It's just disappointing," he said of Weezy's decision to back the opposing team. "It makes no sense to me as a New Orleans native."  (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

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Romeo Miller - Master P raised his son to be a NOLA man just like his daddy. Romeo spent his early years in the Big Easy before a basketball scholarship and acting career lured him to Los Angeles. (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Billabong)

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Dawn Richard - The former Danity Kane member has New Orleans running through her veins. The Louisiana-born singer enjoyed a life filled with music (her father was lead singer of popular soul funk group Chocolate Milk) and Southern fried food before her family was displaced to Baltimore after Hurricane Katrina.  (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

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Ellen DeGeneres - Before Ellen became America's sweetheart and an icon of the LGBT community, she was a humble girl working a host of odd jobs in New Orleans waiting for her big break. DeGeneres worked as an oyster shucker, a vacuum saleswoman and a waitress before her acting career took off.  (Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for PCA)

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Bryant Gumbel - The host of HBO's Real Sports grew up in the South Side of Chicago, but he was born in the Big Easy. The TV personality is of French Creole descent.  (Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

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Harry Connick Jr. - The original king of blue-eyed soul spends a lot of time crooning for his hometown. He has also been a huge part of the city's rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina. "It's been a great rebirth for that amazing city," he said. Harry has also done his part to maintain the historic city's cultural heritage through his Krewes of Orpheus music foundation.  (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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DJ Khaled - The crate king was born in New Orleans and has channeled his Southern upbringing into his music. The head of Def Jam South is working with fellow native Lil Wayne to host a charity weekend during the Super Bowl to raise money for community re-development and continued relief efforts.   (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

Photo By Photo: John Ricard / BET

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Juvenile - The "Slow Motion" rapper got his rhythm from New Orleans, so his relocation to Atlanta after Hurricane Katrina was understandably traumatizing. Though Juvenile's Slidell, Louisiana, home was severely damaged during the super storm, he returned in full force two years later with a vow to rebuild his hometown.  (Photo: Brad Barket/PictureGroup)

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Terence Blanchard - A leading figure in jazz and film scores, Blanchard became the voice of a grieving city after New Orleans nearly drowned in Hurricane Katrina. His album A Tale of God's Will used a trumpet to touch the emotions of his fellow Nolans in a way few words were able to do. Blanchard also appeared in Spike Lee's seminal documentary When the Levees Broke, in which he was filmed walking his mother through her storm-ravaged home.  (Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

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Fats Domino - The R&B legend's extraordinary career has taken him around the world, but it's clear from his music that New Orleans still rules his heart. After being rescued from flood waters during Hurricane Katrina, Domino walked his way back to his city three years later with a triumphant return to the stage at Jazz Fest.  (Photo: Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

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Mahalia Jackson - The Queen of Gospel, dubbed by Harry Belafonte to be "the single most powerful Black woman in the United States" in the 1970s, got her start in a New Orleans neighborhood appropriately called the Black Pearl. Though the internationally-renowned singer moved to Chicago at age 16, she's still celebrated in her native city with a state-of-the-art performance venue named in her honor.    (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Louis Armstrong - New Orleans holds Satchmo in such high regard, the city named its airport after him. Perhaps as a reminder that no matter how high NOLA's native sons fly, they always find a way home again. (Photo: Courtesy of Wikicommons)