Lil Wayne Covers Rolling Stone Magazine (2011)

Rapper also has some harsh words for the Miami Heat's LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.

By Andy Greene
January 19, 2011 6:45 AM EDT

In the new issue of Rolling Stone — on stands and online in the digital archives on January 21st (subscription required) — Lil Wayne opens up for the first time about his time in prison. (See video from his cover shoot below.) During his eight month stint in Building C-76, cell 23 at Rikers Island, Weezy worked as an SPA (suicide prevention aide), listened to a lot of music on the radio (oldies and Hot 97) and played countless games of Uno with his cellmates in the Protective Custody division.

"I'd bust a nigga's ass at Uno," he told writer Josh Eells. "We gamble for phone time. I'd take nigga's commissary: Lemme get them cookies, lemme get them chips, get that soup."

Lil Wayne: A History in Photos

Eventually his cellmates stopped inviting him to games. "They'd be like, 'Oh, we thought you were asleep,'" Wayne says. "Like you can't look inside my cell and see that I'm right there! We ain't got no doors!"

Lil Wayne Goes to Jail: Rolling Stone's February 2010 Cover Story

Other highlights from the piece:

- When Wayne sat court-side at a recent Miami Heat/New Orleans Hornets game he was upset that Lebron James and Dwyane Wade never came over to talk to him. "Them niggas never speak to a nigga," he says. "They don't chuck me the deuce or nothing. Nigga spent all that money on them fucking tickets ... Come holla at me. We sit right by them little bitch-ass niggas. At least come ask me why I'm not rooting for you."

Life on Planet Wayne: Rolling Stone's 2009 Lil Wayne Cover Story

- In prison he read biographies of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Joan Jett, Vince Lombardi and Anthony Kiedis. "[Kiedis'] Scar Tissue was really good," he says. "I also read the Bible for the first time. It was deep! I liked the parts where some character was once this, but he ended up being that. Like he'd be dissing Jesus, and then he ends up being a saint. That was cool."

Lil Wayne's 2009 Rolling Stone Cover Shoot

- He spent his final month in jail in solitary after he was caught with an iPod charger in his cell. It could have been worse: He also had a watch with an MP3 player on it, but another inmate took the rap. "He was a solid nigga," says Wayne. "Shout-out to Charles...Solitary was the worst. No TV. No radio. No commissary. Basically you're in there 23 hours a day." The only upside was he had a window where he could watch cars go by. "I used to sit at that motherfucker all day," he says.

"Straight outta Rikers, Weezy's back with the first tune from Tha Carter IV, which is expected to be the first album in history to sell 1 billion copies in its debut week" Rolling Stone