For a decade, Lil Wayne has been hip-hop’s great unstoppable force, a 24-hour-a-day recording machine without an off button. But on February 9th, Lil Wayne will have to stop — for 12 months, when he reports to prison to serve a sentence for gun possession stemming from a 2007 arrest in New York City. Rolling Stone stays up all night with Weezy as he prepares to get locked down in our new issue, which is on sale at newsstands today.

“I don’t like to stop,” Wayne tells RS‘ Chris Norris. “I believe you stop when you die.” So in the weeks before he reports to Rikers Island, Wayne is keeping busy — recording tracks bound for Tha Carter IV (the album Cash Money staffers call “C4″ because it’ll be the bomb), shooting videos with his Young Money protégés, spending time with his growing family, and deliberately not asking anyone for advice about life on the inside. “This is Lil Wayne going to jail. Nobody I can talk to can tell me what that’s like,” he says. “I just say I’m looking forward to it.”

While Weezy’s away, his label is relocating to New York to be near him, and his manager Cortez Bryant is exploring ways to keep Wayne in his fans’ minds for the duration — from jailhouse Twitter accounts to endorsements. “I’ll have an iPod, and I”ll make sure they keep sending me beats,” Lil Wayne says. Tha Carter IV — which Norris is told features tougher, faster beats — is scheduled to arrive shortly after he gets out.

Read the full story in the new issue for Wayne’s comments on giving up drank, growing older and fearing God, plus a close-up look at one of his intense late-night recording sessions.

Source: Rolling Stone, and it looks like we will be getting Tha Carter IV shortly after Lil Wayne gets out from prison. I also like how Weezy will be using using Twitter from jail (if that’s what they mean).

Lil Wayne covers the front cover of Hip Hop Weekly in their new issue. Check out what Birdman, Wayne’s lawyer Stacy Richman, and a retired NYPD officer are saying about the case below:

“This had nothing to do with DNA at all, because the DNA prospects that they were trying to put on this case had very little to do with the facts of the case itself.” – Lil Wayne’s attorney explaining clarifying why her client copped a plea in his N.Y. gun case.

“We won’t miss a beat. We work hard and work a lot, so it ain’t nothin’.” – Cash Money CEO Baby commenting on how Weezy’s incarceration will affect their business.

“They wanted Wayne. The guy was on stage at the Beacon talking bad about cops who were ten feet from him. What did he expect to happen when he left?” – Retired NYPD officer who spoke anonymously on the Lil Wayne case.

Via HHW, and hit the jump below to see two interviews of QD3 speaking about “The Carter” Documentary:

Read More…

We posted Lil Wayne on the front cover of Billboard Magazine along with a preview of their interview last week… Now we have the full Lil Wayne interview with Billboard were Weezy speaks about his upcoming rock album Rebirth, Young Money, features, being on tour, Hot Boys reunion, Tha Carter 4, and more:

Lil Wayne always keeps it moving. That’s the one absolute you learn about the rapper after talking with him.

When Billboard caught up with Lil Wayne — real name Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. — it was a couple of days after he had finished a set of shows in London, Paris and Amsterdam — and a week before he pled guilty to attempted weapon possession for an incident that occurred in 2007. Having barnstormed his way through 68 stateside shows during his top-grossing I Am Music and America’s Most Wanted tours in 2008 and 2009, he deserved a few days off. Instead, the Miami-based rapper was busy completing his free “No Ceilings” mixtape — “A big thank you to fans for coming out and showing me love every single night” of the tours.

Several leaks from the Halloween release feature Wayne rapping over beats from Jay-Z’s “Run This Town” and Fabolous’ “Throw It in the Bag.” Slated for release just after the mixtape, on November 23, is the “Mr. Carter” EP, exclusive to Best Buy.

It’s all in anticipation of Wayne’s “Rebirth.” While his Universal Motown publicist didn’t respond to several requests for comment, another source at the label says that Wayne’s legal issues — the rapper faces a possible one-year sentence; his hearing takes place in February — will not impede the often-delayed album’s December 15 release. But one question looms: Can Lil Wayne keep it moving when it comes to maintaining his sales and touring success?

Read More…

Given earlier leaks from the project, did you make many changes to the final version?
As of now Rebirth is coming out as a double disc with a [disc of songs] by Young Money. I had to add new cuts because a lot of things leaked, making people think they had an idea of what I was doing with Rebirth and what it would sound like. And I hated that because I never want anybody to think they know what I’m doing until I present it. So what I did was make it totally different I flipped it.

Does the album still lean toward rock?
Yes, the album is still rock. I play guitar on 80% of the songs and there’s a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album. But I don’t want people to think I’m trying to do something I can’t do. Don’t think you’re going to put on the album and hear me screaming and singing . . . Don’t worry about that [laughs]. When people hear me say rock, they may get a little scared like, Oh, God. What is he going to do? When I said I was doing a rock album, it was about doing a freedom thing. This album isn’t hip-hop. When I do my Carter albums, I know I’ve got to rap, I know I’ve got to spit. I know the words I’ve got to say and the subjects I’ve got to talk about. I also know the things I shouldn’t say, the things I shouldn’t talk about. There’s none of those limits on this album. I say what I want, how I want. That’s what this album is: a freedom album. And rock is the avenue that gives you that freedom. I’m just having fun, that’s all. Trust me: People will like these songs. It’s my job to make them love them, but I know for a fact they’ll like them.

Shouts to Rap Radar via Billboard