Lil Wayne Interview: His Experience With NYPD & Life As A Rikers Island Inmate

Lil Wayne had an intervew about his run-ins with New York City police. He explains how different the system is in the city. Also, Wayne briefs his time at Rikers Island.

If you don’t know, Lil Wayne was charged with loaded-gun possession while on a tour bus. He actually accepted a plea deal for a year’s term. This was back in 2010. Fast forward to post-prison.

During an interview while at SXSW, in a brief elaboration, he talked about how things actually happened.

“It’s New York. They don’t play with dem n***as, man. Pssh. Rappers too, with dem pistols?? My n****, it was 13 of us on the bus. You know what I mean. They literally came to us and was blatant, talking to each other right in front of us like, ‘Which one Lil Wayne? Which one of’m is Lil Wayne? I think it’s that one.’ Then, they moved me to the side and was like, ‘Yeah. We’re putting the gun on you.'”

“Once my lawyer explained to me, how s**t works out there — that ‘maybe’, ‘probably’ we won’t win — I told him that’s too much for me. That ‘probably’ is too much. So, I was like, I’ll go ahead and sit down for dem lil’ eight months. Ain’t tripping.”

After stating that he was framed, then, Lil Wayne adds a light statement.

“I’ve been through a lot worse. Yeah… I was married before. (sighs) That was a joke, my n****. That was a joke. That was the most beautiful experience ever. I’m talking about the marriage. You know I’m joking. Toya would kick my mother f*****g a**.”

While incarcerated, Lil Wayne wrote about the experiences he had at Rikers Island. During the interview, he talked about the jail journal itself. Wayne stated that it wasn’t really much to it, just everyday life that he experienced.

“What happened was that I kept a ‘journal’ while I was in there. I did that for myself, only because I wanted to. I didn’t have s*** to do. You’d be so bored in there, you’d do all kinds of s*** you didn’t think you’d do. So, I started writing s*** down everyday…”

“…Honestly…I didn’t do nothing. Literally, it’d be like, ‘I went to the dayroom today, played cards…whooped a n****’s a** in Uno’, you know? S*** like that.”

Contrary to popular belief, Lil Wayne said that his time at Rikers Island was “cool.” Could that have been because of preferential treatment due to his celebrity status? Whatever the case, he says that he didn’t receive accosted treatment like so many other Rikers inmates — whether from correctional officers or inmates.

“Dem dudes cool as h***, man. Life wasn’t rough at all. Dem dudes cool. Everybody was cool. I didn’t meet one sour C.O. or nothing. It didn’t feel like home, but they made it cool.”

Do you think Lil Wayne’s journal includes more than he may have led on during the interview? Certainly, there’s a reason why Rikers Island’s sign says that it’s the “home of New York’s boldest.” There is a “code of silence” of which those within the facility adhere. What are your thoughts? Feel free to share in the comments below.

[Photo Credits: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Entertainment]