Lil Wayne
Exclusive: Lil Wayne Talks Pre-Jail Dental Surgery In New Clip
by on Mar.02, 2010, under Lil Wayne
‘If I’m talking a little funny, I’m fresh out of the surgery,’ Weezy says before Tuesday’s sentencing.
By Shaheem Reid
Lil Wayne
Photo: MTV News
Nino Brown: Road to Rikers, Part Five
Seven more videos in one night — Lil Wayne was handling his business on Saturday. Early Sunday afternoon, while watching the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic, Weezy was taking a short break but had already mapped out his night.
The man you can find on Twitter as @liltunechi sent in another clip exclusively to MTV News before he is sentenced to prison for attempted gun possession on Tuesday and begins serving his time. In the new video, Weezy is at his Miami home laying out his Sunday night activities.
“I’m back, fresh out of the surgery,” says Wayne, whose sentencing was postponed last month due to dental surgery. “If I’m talking a little funny, I’m fresh out of the surgery. If I’m talking a little funny, I’m still days from the medicines. My words may slur, but my grill’s back, bi—! Still got two days left [before I go in]. I lost count. We shot seven videos last night. Tonight, we gonna eat, then go to the studio, then we gonna get some verses in and party with Stunna tonight at Liv [nightclub]. I still haven’t got no [sex]. This is becoming an America alert. This is a tragedy.”
In a previous online video, Wayne had addressed how his work schedule was interfering with him having sex: “You can tell I’ve been working hard. Sleeping alone. I’ve been sleeping with my clothes on.”
On Sunday night at Miami’s Liv nightclub, Wayne was supposed to attend yet another birthday party for the Birdman (the Cash Money CEO has been celebrating his b-day since around Valentine’s Day with parties across the country). The shindig turned into a surprise farewell party for the Birdman Jr.
Wayne was presented with a cake that read “Keep Your Head Up Weezy! We Love U.” Besides the Birdman — who debuted four new star tattoos on his head — Young Money artist Shanell also attended as the newest signee to Cash Money Records. Bow Wow, Mack Maine and Amber Rose were also there.
Wayne and DJ Scoob Doo are also filming the reality DVD “The Nino Brown Story Part 3.” The first two installments are available at DJ Scoob Doo’s Web site.
Check back with MTV News for more on Wayne’s “Road to Rikers.”
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Exclusive: Lil Wayne Films Videos, Holds Farewell Party Before Jail
by on Mar.02, 2010, under Lil Wayne
MC gives us a peek into some footage he shot during his pre-jail weekend in Miami.
By Shaheem Reid
Lil Wayne
Photo: MTV News
Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 4
In Lil Wayne’s world this past weekend, Saturday was bleeding into Sunday morning and the one constant was that Weezy was excited to be working. Wayne shot seven videos between those hours for himself, Rick Ross, Drake, Young Money artist Shanell, Travis from Gym Class Heroes and Diddy.
In the latest clip to come into MTV News from Wayne and his videographer DJ Scoob Doo, the Cash Money MC takes us on a trip to Miami, where he shot scenes for Diddy-Dirty Money’s new video “Strobe Lights.”
“I’m the hardest-working man in show business,” Wayne said on the way to the set. “Shout-out my n—a James Brown. Young Wayne Carter.
“Look at the attitude, though,” he continues with a buoyant swagger. “This is what you artists need to catch. Look at the attitude. No drugs, no nothing — I ain’t even get no p—-. I go away in two days, I ain’t even get no p—-.”
After Wayne goes in to shoot his video, we see him leave and go back to his Miami estate.
“There you have it. Nino. I don’t know how many videos we did,” he said. “But y’all saw it. Now I’m back where we started. I’m about to get my bottom grills and we party tonight. Nino! @liltunechi.”
Sunday night Wayne held a farewell party at Club Liv with his Cash Money/ Young Money family members such as Shanell, Mack Maine, Bow Wow and the #1 Stunna, Birdman.
Wayne and DJ Scoob Doo are also filming the reality DVD “The Nino Brown Story Part 3.” The first two installments are available at DJ Scoob Doo’s Web site. Check back with MTV News for more of Wayne’s “Road to Rikers.”
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Exclusive: Lil Wayne On The Videos He Shot Last Weekend
by on Mar.02, 2010, under Lil Wayne
After a postponement for dental surgery, the Cash Money MC is expected to turn himself in.
By Shaheem Reid
Lil Wayne
Photo: MTV News
Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 3
In the latest video he’s sent to MTV News, Lil Wayne (a.k.a. @liltunechi)
gave fans a little bit more insight to his work schedule over last weekend. With the clock ticking before he’s expected to begin his jail sentence on weapons charges Tuesday, Weezy filmed seven videos in one night
— on the heels of shooting between nine and 10 videos in two days last month. In his latest video clip, Wayne says he shot footage for videos by Young Money artist Shanell (whom he recently denied rumors that having a child with, Diddy, Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes, Rick Ross — and of course we already know about the videos he shot for Drake and for himself.
“Show these artists how to do it,” Wayne says on his tour bus in a clip shot by DJ Scoob Doo and sent to MTV News on Monday afternoon (March 1). “Seven videos in one night. Follow me, artists!”
In the Drake video, “Afrika Boombata,” Weezy wears a Marilyn Monroe T-shirt. He had vaccilated between wearing that or one of his @liltunechi tees. We also know that the McCoy video is called “Tattoo Girl,” and the video for Diddy-Dirty Money is titled “Strobe Lights.”
A early version of the Dirty Money song leaked weeks ago and features everyone performing over a techno-type beat. “When the ceiling hits the floor, I’m gonna find my way to the door,” Diddy sings on the leaked version of the record. Later, Weezy raps, “The strobe lights are dancing/ We’ve taken all the chances.”
“I’mma show y’all the [work] ethic of a true artist,” Wayne said in one of the clips he sent to MTV News over the weekend. “You know what I’m talkin’ about? Seven videos. I shot 10 in two days before. Now we about to do seven in one night!”
MTV News will have more videos from Wayne — check back for the latest!
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As Lil Wayne’s Jail Sentence Approaches, A Look Back At Snoop’s, T.I.’s, Shyne’s Comments On Prison
by on Mar.02, 2010, under Lil Wayne
These MCs and others have talked about their feelings as they faced prison.
By James Montgomery
T.I.
Photo: Moses Robinson/ Getty Images
On Tuesday, Lil Wayne is scheduled to surrender to New York authorities and is expected to begin serving a one-year prison sentence, stemming from a July 2007 attempted gun possession arrest.
Wayne is certainly not the first artist to go down this path, especially not in recent years. And, much like those before him, he’s addressed the situation, in the form of a Web video last month (when he was originally expected to begin his term, before the sentencing was delayed due to dental surgery), in which he thanked his fans for their support and asked them not to forget about him while he serves his sentence, “because I will forever think about you. I cannot wait for you to see me again.” More recently, he’s been sending MTV News videos that document his activities leading up to his court date on Tuesday.
As in the past, MTV News has been following Wayne’s legal situation every step of the way. And over the years, we’ve managed to speak to many of his fellow artists as they faced the prospects of jail time, or breathed a sigh of relief after being acquitted of very serious charges. Two of the most famous instances were a 1996 interview with Snoop Dogg, one day after he was found not guilty on a murder charge, and an in-depth conversation with Sean “Diddy” Combs, following his acquittal on bribery and gun-possession charges.
In our 1996 conversation with Snoop, he told us what was going through his mind as he stood waiting for his verdict to be read.
“I left it in God’s hands. That’s why I looked it, so stone-faced. I was just, I didn’t have no expressions. You know what I’m sayin’? It was all inner. I prayed on it. My family prayed on it,” Snoop said. “[My attorneys] did what they were supposed to do, and they gave the baton to the jury, and I couldn’t do nothin’ but just bank on them and worry about what the outcome was gonna be, as far as to just sit there and hold my position, and to keep my head up high. And just, you know, wait for the outcome.”
In 2001, MTV News’ Sway Calloway sat down with Combs, who had just been cleared of all charges after a six-week trial (and 15-month media firestorm) that stemmed from his then protégé Shyne firing a gun at a New York nightclub in 1999. And in our conversation, the rapper/producer made it clear that he relied on his faith to make it through the ordeal.
“Man, I just feel blessed. [That's] the first word that comes to mind. I was in a situation where the only way I could come out of it was by putting my faith in God. No matter how good my lawyers were, no matter how much celebrity I had, everything was just stacked up against me,” Combs said. “I was innocent, but all the things that were coming out was just … it just felt like … oh, man, my worst nightmare. All the things personally [that] I was going through at the same time. God just really blessed me and got me sitting here with you today. … It’s been like a year and a half, life being on hold, just waiting to get this over with.”
Of course, MTV News has also spoken with artists in prison, particularly Shyne, who was found guilty on two counts of assault for his involvement in the 1999 shooting in which Diddy was implicated before being cleared.
“You die in here, you know,” Shyne told MTV News in 2004, three years into his sentence (he was released late last year and is currently in his native country of Belize). “Just like you could die on the [outside], you could die in here. They probably won’t find your body for a couple days. This is just like the [outside], even worse. You got people that ain’t going home ever, so their life is over. Being here is like being dead. And when you’ve got a dude who’s got life, he don’t care. He’ll rip your heart out.”
Of course, in 2008 MTV produced a series around T.I.’s then-impending prison sentence called “T.I.’s Road to Redemption,” and we also spent time with the MC before he began his 366-day jail sentence following felony gun charges. As he did in the series, T.I. remained upbeat about his prospects.
“At the end of the day I’m not going to be gone long enough to have any long-lasting effects,” he said. “Of course, the initial emotion will be one of somber grief. But by the time they get over it, I’ll be getting home. Compared to how bad it could have been, I think I made out all right.”
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Lil Wayne’s Jail Time: A Prison Guard Breaks Down His Routine
by on Mar.02, 2010, under Lil Wayne
Rapper is expected to start one-year prison sentence Tuesday.
By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Sway Calloway and Rahman Dukes
Lil Wayne
Photo: Thaddeus
Now that Lil Wayne’s teeth are in order, the superstar MC is expected once again to turn himself in to authorities, this time on Tuesday, to finally begin his one-year prison sentence stemming from a 2007 arrest on gun charges.
The rapper will be formally sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom by Judge Charles H. Solomon after last month’s postponement due to Wayne’s dental surgery. Wayne is scheduled to enter his plea, and authorities will then whisk him away for processing at New York’s Rikers Island.
There, Weezy’s world will be unlike anything he’s experienced before in his life.
According to a prison guard who spoke with MTV News, the Cash Money lyricist’s hectic life of recording, touring and performing will be replaced by a regimented routine that features wakeup calls at 4 a.m. and dinner at 3 p.m. The guard, who declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information, said Wayne should be treated like a regular inmate for the most part, obvious safety concerns aside.
“He’ll be housed with inmates who are classified in his category, and he’ll be able to be a regular inmate,” the guard said. “He’ll be able to watch television, go into the day room and congregate with people of his classification.”
Wayne’s classification, however, will most likely be decided based in part on his fame, the guard said. The guard also suggested Wayne would be placed in the Eric M. Taylor Center at Rikers, on the north side of the facility in East Elmhurst, New York.
“It’s a high-class area where he will be segregated from [the general] population,” the guard explained.
The rapper, though, won’t be in a dormitory setting, as a retired corrections officer told MTV News last month. He’ll likely have his own 10-by-15-foot cell with a toilet, sink, bed and one window. “He’ll be able to see another wall [outside the window],” the guard said.
Wayne also will not be able to make many of his own decisions during his incarceration, including what recreation he participates in and the option to work. “He probably won’t be assigned a job, just to keep things quiet,” the guard said, alluding to the rapper’s safety and the overall safety of the unit he’s placed in.
When Wayne graced the cover of Rolling Stone recently, he said he would bring an iPod loaded with music he could write to; the guard, however, emphasized that an mp3 player would be classified as contraband, meaning the rapper would not be permitted to have one.
Weezy will have plenty of downtime, though, of which he can choose how he passes the time. In between the rapper’s 4 a.m. wakeup calls for breakfast, 11 a.m. lunchtimes, 3 p.m. dinners and evening lights out, he has a number of options. He’s allowed to receive two visits per week, which can be any day of the week or weekends at various times.
With his commissary money, he can purchase a transistor radio. It’s unlikely that he’ll visit the law library, as he has no appeal to make for his case; he’s widely expected to be released after eight months if he serves with good behavior. If he wishes to participate in religious activity, he can be excused to visit the places of worship within the prison.
Throughout Wayne’s sentence, he’ll have an intermittent amount of time to interact with fellow inmates. According to the guard, that decision is one that is made by the governing officers of the facility to keep things orderly. For the most part, Wayne will be isolated and treated like any other numbered prisoner at Rikers Island.
“He’ll have no preferable treatment at all. He’ll be treated like a regular inmate,” the guard said, with one added caveat: “He may have heightened security. A guard will walk with him when he moves from location to location.”
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Lil Wayne Talks Seven New Videos, Including One For Drake, In Pre-Jail Clip
by on Feb.28, 2010, under Lil Wayne
Rapper also shows off his awards and Twitter T-shirts in exclusive video.
By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes
Lil Wayne in “Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers” part 2
Photo: Courtesy Nino Brown
Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 2
On Saturday night, Lil Wayne and DJ Scoob Doo sent in a video clip featuring footage they shot that afternoon. Among other things, Wayne said it was time to party before he begins his expected one-year prison term at New York’s Rikers Island.
But in fact he was doing the exact opposite. Wayne was back at work, filming several more music videos before his sentencing on gun charges on Tuesday.
“I’m shooting seven videos today,” Wayne said in an exclusive new clip, shot in his trailer on the Miami video set.
One of the videos of the night was for the Rebirth track “Runnin’.”
“I’mma show y’all the [work] ethic of a true artist,” Wayne says in the clip. “You know what I’m talkin’ about? Seven videos. I shot 10 in two days before. Now we about to do seven in one night. ['Runnin' '] was one. Next we about to do Drake’s song called ‘Afrika Boombatta.’ ”
The New Orleans Fireman then began mulling over his wardrobe for Drake’s shoot. He was deciding between one of his brand-new tees promoting his Twitter account, @liltunechi, or a funky interpretation of deceased legend Marilyn Monroe.
“Gotta wear one of my @liltunechi shirts on there,” Wayne said. ” ‘Cause that song is a fun song. So I could wear that. Then again it’s Drake, so you might wanna get a little fly for his sh–.”
Wayne then pulled out a T-shirt featuring Monroe with tattoos all over her arm.
“Yeah, that’s stupid,” the Birdman Jr. said of the Monroe shirt. “I might have to rock that.”
This latest clip of Wayne starts with the acclaimed performer showing off all the BET Hip-Hop Awards in his house. Later he says he needs more VMAs.
“I got a house full of BET Awards,” Wayne said with a grin. “I got one MTV award. MTV, holla atcha boy now. I’m not gonna mess up your function. I’m just gonna come get my award, thank God, thank my ‘hood, thank my fam. I ain’t gotta perform.
“Give me an award for nothin’,” he continued with a chuckle. ” ‘The award for nothin’ goes to Lil Wayne.’ That’s all I need. MTV award for nothin’, man.”
Wayne and DJ Scoob Doo are also filming the reality DVD “The Nino Brown Story Part 3.” The first two installments are available at DJ Scoob Doo’s Web site.
Check back with MTV News for more of Wayne’s “Road to Rikers.”
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Exclusive: Lil Wayne’s New Pre-Jail Video — Check It Out Here!
by on Feb.28, 2010, under Lil Wayne
Wayne plans to release lots of videos before he goes to jail on Tuesday — check out ‘Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 1.’
By Shaheem Reid
Lil Wayne in “Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 1″
Photo: Courtesy of Nino Brown
Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 1
“Three days, y’all — let’s party!” Lil Wayne said on Saturday (February 27). Now that his dental surgery is done, Weezy is expected to begin serving his year in jail on weapons charges Tuesday, but he’s making sure he’s seen and heard before his departure. Of late, Weezy has taken to Twitter (much more on that in a minute) and Ustream to communicate with fans. On Saturday evening, Weezy and his favorite videographer, DJ Scoob Doo, sent MTV News a clip we’re going to call “Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 1″ (as in Rikers Island, the New York jail that Wayne’s heading to).
In the clip, Wayne promises to grant fans a look at what his life is like as he prepares to go to jail.
Shot Saturday afternoon in the guest house of his Miami home, Wayne had the Tennessee vs. Kentucky NCAA basketball game playing in the background on his big-screen TV.
“This is for my real fans,” Wayne said. “People who wanna know what I be doin’. I’mma let y’all in.”
From there, Wayne, who recently tweeted that he was giving up Twitter (although he’s tweeted since then), urged his fans to follow him at his page, “@liltunechi.”
“I just opened that up,” Weezy said. “I got almost 200,000 followers. I need more followers. I saw Drake had like 400,000 followers. I need more followers than Drake.”
Wayne then gave background on his nickname.
“My nickname is Lil Tune — my grandmother named me that,” he explained. “She’s passed. My grandmother, her name was Mercedes Carter. She named me Lil Tune. We just threw the ‘Chi’ on there. Like Gucci, I say ‘Tunechi!’ ”
The clip ends with Weezy shouting out all his children, their mothers and his own mom.
Wayne will be shooting footage right up until he goes to court on Tuesday — check back with MTV News for more!
Wayne and Scoob Doo recently released the DVD “The Nino Brown Story, Part 2.” It can be found on djscoobdoo.com.
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Bow Wow, Forest Whitaker Upset ‘Hurricane Season’ Never Hit Theaters
by on Feb.27, 2010, under Lil Wayne
Film, also featuring Lil Wayne and Taraji P. Henson, went straight to DVD.
By Shaheem Reid
Bow Wow
Photo: Jerritt Clark/ Getty Images
Bow Wow and Forest Whitaker have both said they’re upset about the way the straight-to-DVD film, “Hurricane Season,” also featuring Lil Wayne, was handled.
Shot in New Orleans in 2008, the movie focused on a local high school basketball team shortly after Hurricane Katrina. The picture, also featuring Isaiah Washington, Taraji P. Henson, Courtney B. Vance and Jackie Long, had a strong initial buzz, and the song Lil Wayne performed at the 2009 Grammy Awards, “Tie My Hands,” was slated to be featured in the drama.
“My character’s name is Lamont,” Lil Wayne explained while sitting on the set in the middle of a gymnasium back in 2008. “The character is, I would say, a hustler. He goes to the school. He always bets against the school. He’s trying to make the best bet. Anything to get money. He sells shoes. … Towards the end of the movie, he makes his way to becoming a full-blown Patriots fan and representing the school he’s with. He enjoys the Patriots as much as everybody else at the end of the day.”
Bow was excited during the filming as well. “It’s about believing,” he said on the set two years ago. “We were a bad team. Forest comes in, gives his guidance … we come together. That’s what’s important to us: come together as a unit and never give up hope. I play a kid named Gary who lost everything in the hurricane. I grew up with no father: just me, my little brother and my mom. I’m forced to hurry up and mature very fast. I have no choice, being that I am the second oldest in the house. I feel it is my job to also take care of the family and provide and, when times get tough, try to take that pain and stress way from my mom. And keep my little brother occupied so he has a clear conscience too.”
However, despite its seeming box-office appeal, the film never hit theaters and went straight to DVD (it was released earlier this month), and was widely available on the Internet before its release.
“I was so disappointed with the Weinstein company,” Bow told MTV News recently. “That’s the film company studio that actually funded the film. I felt they did a poor job of not letting people know whatever move was. For me to look up and there’s a 30-minute clip on [the Internet], that’s embarrassing. I felt embarrassed, not only for myself but for my castmates too. A lot of them cats, it was their first movie. For us to do a film, it doesn’t make sense to have me in it, Wayne in it, and Oscar-award winner [Forest Whitaker], it doesn’t make sense for that movie to be passed around like that. And for people to go to a hip-hop Web site and view our movie? It’s so disrespectful.”
Whitaker recently told The Playlist that he thought the film not going to theaters was “a travesty.
“It’s not just about me, the fact that they didn’t do what they said they were going to do is amazing to me,” he said. “I think that is modus operandi. But a lot of people are telling me they saw the video on DVD and really responded to it and don’t understand why it wasn’t released and I say, ‘You’ll have to talk to the Weinsteins [about that], I can’t help you.’ ”
Bow said he’ll never appear in another Weinstein film.
“I know I will never work with them again,” he said. “Never again. It was very unprofessional how they went about it. They didn’t call us — nobody — and tell us, ‘We’re gonna put it out on a DVD release.’ The only way were getting information about it was on the Internet. That’s messed up.”
At press time, representatives for the Weinstein Company had not responded to MTV News’ request for comment.
Bow Wow does have a movie named “Lottery Ticket” which is being produced by Ice Cube, due in theaters later this year. He also said he was in talks with Martin Lawrence to commence filming on a separate movie in March.
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by on Feb.26, 2010, under Lil Wayne
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Is Lil Wayne Leaving Twitter Already?
by on Feb.26, 2010, under Lil Wayne
Rapper threatens to quit after negative feedback on his philosophical tweets.
By Jayson Rodriguez
Lil Wayne
Photo: James Crump/Getty Images
Less than a week after officially joining Twitter, it looks like Lil Wayne may now give up on the micro-blogging service. He sent word on Thursday (February 25) that he’s going to stop using Twitter because the feedback led him to believe his messages weren’t wanted.
“Gunna stop with the tweets now that I see they’re so unliked,” Wayne wrote. “It’s a mirror of my thoughts, and obviously my thoughts aren’t [welcome]. Sorry.”
The rapper has only posted 18 times so far, but the sporadic tweets have been a mix of testing the waters and cryptic dispatches that are as loaded as his rhymes.
“Love is a road without signs, yet we still drive bekuz we kan only imagine what’s ahead,” he wrote on Wednesday.
While the Cash Money Records superstar’s presence on Twitter has been supported by many — he already has over 172,000 followers — it appears he’s been reading responses to his tweets that aren’t very flattering.
Comedian Lil Duval has joked about the rapper’s philosophical tweets at Wayne’s expense. “I just found out Lil Wayne has a Twitter,” he wrote. “I just read his page, and I don’t have a clue bout what he’s talking ’bout.”
Duval then started the hash tag #LilWayneDeepTweets.
“When walking thru a path we see…………….the road,” the comedian wrote, mocking Wayne’s style.
Other Twitter members then followed with an array of imitated Lil Wayne tweets. “I stood outside,” the 305 wrote. “Does that make me outstanding?”
But Wayne’s fans have rallied with #weezydontleave. “You got me up at 3.30AM,” DorinaFbaby, a fan from Australia, wrote. “Barely awake beggin you to stay!”
Next week, the rapper is expected to be sentenced to one year in prison after reaching a plead deal in his 2007 gun case. Wayne pleaded guilty to attempted gun possession and was set to begin his incarceration earlier this month, but a judge allowed a postponement due to dental surgery Wayne needed. Last week, he underwent
eight root canals in one day.
What do you think of Lil Wayne’s tweets? Should he stay on Twitter? Let us know in the comments below!
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