Two days ago, we got the front cover of GQ magazine’s November issue with Lil Wayne, Eminem and Keith Richards on, and now we have Weezy‘s interview that will be featured in the magazine. In the interview, Tunechi speaks on selling over one million copies of Tha Carter IV in the first week, retiring at the age of 35, being locked up behind bars, syrup, weed, being sober, skateboarding, his relationship with his biological father, and more! You can read the full interview after the jump below, as well as view some behind the scenes footage from GQ‘s photo shoot with Tune.

For the past ten hours, I’ve been orbiting the world of Wayne, a bizarre realm of drivers, managers, assistants, skater buddies in knee socks, fellow rappers, and a terrifying horde of girls dressed like hookers. Amid all the chaos, Weezy himself is nowhere to be seen. Finally, at 1 a.m. at the Westin, where the hallways are thick with the smell of weed, I find Wayne relaxing in sweatpants in his penthouse suite. As usual, he’s watching ESPN. In deference to me (I think), he mutes the sound.

GQ: Congratulations on selling a million records this week. Are you surprised at all?
Lil Wayne: Yeah. Hell yeah, I’m surprised.

GQ: I was sure you were going to be like, “Absolutely not.”
Lil Wayne: No. I was very surprised. I did not think I was gonna do that. I mean, I already did that—I sold a million copies the first week of Tha Carter III. I never imagined it would happen again. I think we’d be some greedy motherfuckers to expect it to happen again, and I’m still shocked that it did.

GQ: I hear you plan to retire when you turn 35?
Lil Wayne: Basically, I have been doing this for eighteen years. That’s reason number one. I have accomplished all that I have set out to accomplish and more. Also, I have a label, and I’ve only put out two artists Drake and Nicki Minaj. I have a lot more work to do, and it’d be selfish to not focus on being the boss and focus on their projects.

But the main reason is my kids, my children. Now, if I thought I’d be selfish to my artists, imagine what I think I would be doing to my kids. I have enough money that they don’t have to ever do anything—which, they will do everything, ’cause they ain’t getting shit. [cackles wildly] Six more years, I can do this Lil Wayne thing, and my boys will be about 7 and 8 years old. And man, it’s all about them then. You know, whatever they’re doing. Sports. Whatever they’re into. That’s where I am. I’m at every game. I’m the dad with the hat on. The jersey. That’s me.

GQ: You’ll still be you without music?
Lil Wayne: I feel like I’ll be a new me, and how good is that? To actually be opening a brand-new door of life at 35? That’d be awesome. Totally awesome. I’m looking forward to it.

GQ: Did your time in jail slow you down or mellow you out a bit?
Lil Wayne: I don’t think life is about a pace, living slow or fast. I think you just live, y’know what I mean? You’re either living or you’re dead. So it just helped me on my way, helped me with life. Cleared me up, cleaned me up, opened my eyes to things. I definitely thank God for that moment instead of looking at it as a problem or a bad situation. I needed it.

GQ: You’re sober now? No more syrup?
Lil Wayne: I’m good. I ain’t tripping. I’m used to it now. But I was never on heroin or cocaine or Ecstasy or nothing like that. I drank syrup and smoked a lotta weed. I wish I could be back on it. That’s how it fucking feels. [cracking himself up] “How does it feel to be sober?” I’ll be like, “It feels fucked-up.” What you want me to say? “It feels great”? No. I was on something that the doctor prescribed. I was ill, and that was helping me.

GQ: So you aren’t going back on it?
Lil Wayne: I cannot wait until I get off probation, sweetheart. Not for syrup. No, not for syrup. I stopped syrup May 9 of 2009. But nobody knew. Because I still rapped about it. Because I respect the culture of where it came from. I still rep that shit.

GQ: What’s up with all the skateboarding?
Lil Wayne: You know, I don’t know. Everybody asks me that question, like, “What made you start skating?” Yeah, well, um…I don’t know. I’m still like a kid, because unfortunately my childhood was raped away from me because I became a star, a rapper, or whatever you want to call it, and you can’t be a kid and a rapper at the same time. So I watch television and I get real amped. Like, people watch commercials, and they’re like, “Who’s gonna buy that?” I’m the person they make the commercials for. I watch them, and I’m like, “Oh God, that’s awesome.” So I was just watching TV, and I was like, “Yeah. I want to do that!” And I called a guy and I said, “I want a ramp on my roof.” I have a pretty big roof at home. So I put a ramp on the roof about five months ago, and man, I’ve been skating ever since.

GQ: Five months ago was the first time you got on a board?
Lil Wayne: First time I got on a board and was serious, yes. You know, of course, as a kid I have — you know, I had never owned my own skateboard. As a kid in the hood, people in the hood had boards.

I got on a board and saw what it does. But as far as taking it serious, nah, this is the first time. Shit, I had to be serious. I was on a ramp. I didn’t want to go out there and be busting my ass. But in order to stop busting my ass, I had to get smart and control everything.

GQ: It’s pretty hard, skating.
Lil Wayne: It’s pretty difficult. But when you’re having fun, and when you’re doing anything and having fun with it, it almost takes the complication out of it. It takes the difficult out of it. That’s what it is with my music. I have so much fun with it that I still do it every day, and people will be like, “What drives you? What makes him just…?” He’s not working. He’s having fun. So, why not have fun every day? I’m not tired of having fun yet, so that’s what it is. It is hard, but it is fun.

GQ: Where did you hurt yourself when you fell?
Lil Wayne: Right over the scar. [points to head]. It’s okay. It’s pretty fine. Nine stitches.

GQ: That’s a bad place to get hit, I would guess.
Lil Wayne: It wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t. It was real quick. Happened, and I was stitched up and went about my way. I told everybody. Everybody was like, “Oh, my God. You got nine stitches. You busted your head?” I was like, honestly, I fell so much harder in other places. Like, I wish you were there to see me really bust it. I busted my ass before, like, literally, this is nothing. These stitches are like—this is the first time I have seen blood shed, but I’ve fallen much harder than that.

GQ: Growing up, did you have an idea of what a skater was like?
Lil Wayne: No. Not one idea at all. Didn’t know why that thing was created. You know. I didn’t know. I thought it was something for the parents who didn’t want to buy their kid a bike. “Give ‘em a skateboard.” Thought that’s what it was. I wish there had been a skate culture, because I would be so much better. Now I’m into it. And I know I would have been interested in it then, just as interested as I am now, because I love it. I don’t know why, but I love it. I don’t like it a lot. I love it. So, I wish it was, man. I’m kinda mad that I had to wait 28 years to jump on a skateboard.

GQ: Is that culture something you’re getting into now?
Lil Wayne: I would say yeah. To be serious about it, you have to respect everything about it. And to respect everything about it, you have to respect the culture. And to respect the culture, you have to know the culture. So, I’ve set out to do, and am doing, and I did and done those things.

I’ve researched, and I know everything about the culture. I know everything about who’s who, what’s what, who won what, and who’s better than who, and who skates for what team, and I’m into it. I’m into it. And you know what, they respect me a whole lot. Everywhere we go, every city or state we go, we have a skate park booked for after the show. I go there, I skate till about sun-up, and seven times outta ten, there’s usually a pro there. Or they’re usually connected to some pro or on some pro team. And, you know, we take pictures, we skate, we session together. They respect me so much just musically, without skating, period. A guy told me the other day, he was like, “You know what’s so crazy is like, a lot of artists say they skate, or a lotta artists say they pick a skateboard. But, you know, for the best to do it, it makes you a person that skates, it refreshes you, to remember why you picked up a skateboard.”

And there’s also been people who told me, “To see you skate and to see you serious and having so much fun, it’s like, I’ve seen you on the Internet, and every time I see you on a clip, you’re smiling. You’re having the time of your life. Even when you fall. It makes us, the people that really skate, say, ‘Stop taking it so serious and enjoy what you’re doing, because there’s people that already got the world in their hands and is picking up this skateboard and enjoying it.’”

So you already know what to do with a skateboard, why don’t you enjoy it extra hard for them? And you know every time when I meet somebody that says that I feel good as a person for what I’m doing and they feel good—I mean, it feels good when they tell me that, you know. “You enlighten me on skateboarding, and I’ve been skating for 30 years, and to see you pick up a skateboard and be so happy and so motivated and dedicated to it, it makes me want to do it that much more.” And I’m glad I could do that.

GQ: Do you get that from other young rappers, kids just starting out?
Lil Wayne: Of course I get that. Especially when I was locked up. Like, that was basically all the letters. “You’re the reason why I started rapping” and “You’re the reason why I started singing” or “You’re the reason why I don’t give up” or “I never gave up!” or you know, and, it’s just, as people say, there’s something about my confidence. There’s something that says, this is my thing and I’m gonna do it how I wanna do it, and the hell what you think.

And that draws them, especially when you mean it and you prove it and you do it, and you be successful. And I’ve done that. It’s strong. It’s strong when you stand for that and you make progress on that situation, meaning you go to jail, you get knocked down, and you come right out of jail, and you put out the number-one album, and you sell a million records in one weekend. And you know, you talk to Katie Couric and you tell Katie Couric, “I’m a gangsta.” You know? And you’re looking her in the eye, and you’re saying, “I am a gangster, Miss”—you know?

And when you do those things, you show people that come from nothing, that, man—people that come from everything—you just show them that “I can be.” You know. “And I can do.” Because that kid, he isn’t perfect. You know? But he is. He’s doing what he does. And, I mean, that’s what it is. That’s what’s the glory of it.

GQ: You have 31 million fans on Facebook. That’s a lot of power.
Lil Wayne: I was told one time—crazy story—I was condo shopping one day. There was a guy doing the condo shopping, and we come downstairs. We walked through the lobby. And there’s people in the lobby, there’s security, or whatever. There’s a female with a baby stroller. We walked to another condo building. It’s like, a block away. We looked at two spots in there. Now mind you, that probably took every bit of an hour and a half. And as we’re walking back, he’s like, “Um, y’know, I wanted to tell you that your power that you have over kids is crazy.” And I was like, “Excuse me?” Because he was appropriate and businesslike the whole time. I didn’t even think he knew who I was. I thought he thought I was just some guy looking for a condo. He’s like, “Your music, man. I believe if you had 3,500 people on the top of a building and you told them to jump,” he said, “I believe that 3,000 of them would jump before you.” He said, “I didn’t say I believe all of them were going to jump, but I believe 3,000 of ‘em would jump before you.” He said, “Then the other five hundred would jump after.” And he was like, “And you know what’s crazy? My daughter would be one of those 3500 people.” He’s like, “If you don’t mind, would you please say hi to her?” I was like, “Yeah. I don’t mind.” He’s like, “Okay, well, when we get back to the building, she’s the girl with the baby stroller.” I’m like, “She been sitting there for two hours?” “Yeah. She just wanted to say hi. You mean that much to her.” He was like, “And as a father, to look at your daughter and see that another human being means that much more to her than I actually do as her father, that is something.” So he was like, “I want to tell you, young man: You have power, and I just want you to know of the power you have, and take heed to that.”

GQ: What are you going to do with that power?
Lil Wayne: I do exactly what I should. I be me. And that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. You’re not supposed to say, “Okay. Now I got the power. Let me do things this way.” No. Because obviously I got the power, doing what I do, and I ain’t gonna stop doing what I do. I’m gonna be exactly who I am. So, if that dies one day, so be it.

GQ: That’s pretty wise. Do you have some inner guidance that tells you that?
Lil Wayne: Yeah. My momma. My mom keeps me grounded, keeps me humble, and that’s just the person I am, honestly. Thank God. I was just born to be who I am. I am very humble, and I am very gracious and very grateful for everything that happens to me and about me and around me. So with that said, I wouldn’t be any other way anyways. So, whether this was music, sports, technician, electrician, whatever. This is me.

GQ: Your relationship with your biological father seems complicated.
Lil Wayne: He don’t give a shit about me. And I don’t give a shit about him. I know his friends be like, “Damn, nigga. That is not your son. Stop lying. Nigga, you could be living in a motherfucking ranch right now, nigga.” You know, whatever your father’s into, if you’re rich, you’re gonna get him that shit. I would’ve got that nigga all kinda harnesses, ranches—you know what I mean? I saw the nigga recently—I had a show in New Orleans. And I ain’t afraid to put this out there, ’cause this is just how much I don’t give a fuck about a nigga, and I want people to see how you’re not supposed to be. I was parked at the hotel, and I saw him walking outside the hotel. Just walking back and forth. I’m like, “Look at this nigga! You gotta be looking for me.” If Lil Wayne got a show in New Orleans, the whole of New Orleans knows. Basically, you’re not there for nothing else but me. So I call my man on the bus. I’m like, “Nigga, that’s my daddy.” He’s like, “Word? Oh shit. That nigga looks just like you!” So I tell my man, “Go see what’s up.” So my man goes to holla at him. He tells my man, “Oh. I didn’t know y’all was here. I’m here waiting for this little ho to get off. Get off work from the hotel.” For real? That’s when I was like, “Typical Dwayne Carter.” So that’s what’s up with me and my real father. I don’t want to look like his ass, but I do.

GQ: Are the tattoos a way of not looking like your dad?
Lil Wayne: Tattoos are just a way of expressing myself. Me being me. I just went crazy. I don’t know what happened. I think somebody slipped something in my drink, like a drug that’ll make you get, like, a bunch of tattoos.

GQ: How does life look right now through Lil Wayne’s glasses?
Lil Wayne: I can describe it like this: Today I was riding up to the venue. I had just woken up, and I looked out the window, and there was like a billion cars in the parking lot. I turned to my girl, and I said, “Isn’t it crazy how all those cars and all those people are there to see me?” And the craziest part was I still could get that feeling. All this time, after all those albums, videos, all those awards and money and groupies and homeys and gangbanging and friends and no-longer friends. That I can still get that feeling, like, “Wow. This is amazing.” That’s what it is to be me. Yeah.

Lil Wayne, Eminem and Rolling Stones member Keith Richards make the front cover of GQ magazine’s November issue, which will hit newsstands on October 25th.

Hit the jump to view a picture of Weezy from the photo shoot as well as some behind the scenes footage from the shoot with a bunch of other music artists.

Tunechi only appears at the beginning of this video.

In the video above, you can watch some short behind the scenes footage from Lil Wayne‘s VIBE Magazine photo shoot. I don’t know exactly what date the magazine will be available on newsstands, but it will be around early October. You can view the front cover for the October/November issue here!

As a bonus, I have also included a photo of Weezy‘s birthday cake that Divine Delicacies created for his 29th birthday. Hit the jump to view the pic and read some info about the cake.

A 7:00pm phone call got the rolling pins turning at Divine Delicacies, when word hit that Lil Wayne needed a four-tier treasure from which to blow out his candles in just under three hours. Not only did the request come in at the tail end of the day, but Weezy specifically requested the cake be a Divine Delicacies creation. Perhaps that’s because he knew these purveyors of edible art would deliver big.

And big they did.

Custom Swarovski crystal signage was created by Miami Cake Monogram and the verbiage read like an homage to the birthday boy: WEEZY F. BABY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY and YMCMB, were neatly stacked on each tier.

The vanilla rum cake rolled in red fondant also donned four crystal ropes and a special sugar skateboard with Lil Wayne airbrushed on it as a tribute to his recent sidewalk hobby—sounds delicious. – HL

Lil Wayne graces the front cover of VIBE Magazine‘s October/November issue, which will hit newsstands soon. You can read some excerpts from Weezy‘s interview in the magazine here (talks about maybe doing a collabo project with Rick Ross) and here (speaks on dissing Jay-Z). Below, you can read a couple more parts from his interview were he talks about looking at Drake as competition and if hip hop influenced the riots in England back in August.

VIBE: You mentioned how humbled you were at the success of “She Will.” Drake, who wrote and performs the song’s chorus, has now become a platinum star in his own right. Do you look at the guy and say, “Wow, I helped create a monster, I have to stay on my toes”?

LIL WAYNE: I don’t look at it like that. Drake is my artist. If he wasn’t my artist, then yeah maybe. But that’s my artist. He’s not just a friend. We’re more than friends. It’s business. It would be impossible for it to be a competition. I mean, I’m the guy’s boss.

VIBE: Given that Cash Money artist Jay Sean is a native of the U.K., you probably have some strong feelings about the London riots and how some talking heads blamed it on hip-hop culture.

LIL WAYNE: All you could do is pray for the people that were dealing with the situation and hope for the best. As far as them blaming hip-hop, you can blame Jesus for things, so you can’t really fault anybody for blaming someone or something. All you can do is hope for the best.

Via VIBE

Remember back during Memorial Day Weekend in May when Drake brought out Lil Wayne at the Rehab Pool Party in Las Vegas Well some dope footage of the two performing “Miss Me” has just surfaced on the net. You can check out the footage above, and view some pics here and here!

After the jump, you can check out a photo of Tunechi on a billboard in Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard (most popular street in Hollywood) that Detail spotted. Detail sent the photo to Weezy who was really happy about it and told Detail: “Dats real!!! My nigga thank you a billion for ‘How To Love’”.

Lil Wayne graces the front cover of XXL Magazine‘s July/August 2011 issue, which will hit newsstands on July 12th. You can view the front cover above, and after the jump you can read some excerpts from the issue were Wayne speaks on Tha Carter IV, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Justin Timberlake, why he won’t record with Justin Bieber, and planning to retire in a couple of years

Writer Shaheem Reid, chopped it up with Weezy in Miami about how a rapper as prolific as himself, was able to actually select tracks for Tha Carter IV. Asked, when he knew that the album was ready, Wayne said: “You don’t. When they tell you. When manager Cortez Bryant call me and tell me and say, ‘You got such and such date is your deadline to stop,’ I be like, ‘Aight.’ ’Cause I never stop recording, obviously. So it’s just on him to say, “Okay, stop. We’re gonna pick these songs, and that’s the album.’ That’s how we do it.”

Fans might ask what fills the contents of such songs? Weezy explains: “What is good about me is that I’m an interesting muthafucka. I’m Dwayne Michael Carter period! Whether I’m a rapper or not, I’m interesting. And that’s what my album’s gonna be about: me and how interesting I am.”

The Young Money leader also revealed to XXL that he plans to retire soon and hints at C4 possibly being his last offering. “I’m bowing out still on top,” he says. “I’ma make y’all want me when I retire. I’ma make y’all be like, ‘Nooo!’ I ain’t leaving out this bitch when y’all be like, ‘Yeah, it’s about time, dawg.’ Carter IV might be my last one. I’ma make y’all be like, ‘Fuck!’ Yeah, nigga, I’m gone.”

Wayne saying being a good father to his children would be the cause for an retirement. “Honestly, this is the real truth,” he says. “I honestly think it’s unfair to my kids. I’m super dedicated into what I do. Like, it’s no questions—it’s hands down, I do this. I live this. I don’t have a day out my week that I do something else. I do this every day of my life, and I’m not about to stop, ’cause that’s the only way you can succeed in this business, is to do it the way I do it. I want to succeed the way I want to succeed. You can succeed. You can put out a hit… But to do it the way I want to do it, to be comfortable to do what the fuck I want to do, you’ve got to work like no other. Like I said, it’s unfair to my kids. So about 30, 31, 32, I gotta get ready.

Luckily for Wayne his superstar Young Money signees, Drake and Nicki Minaj, are sure to keep his pockets fat in his absence. In fact, Birdman, Jr. counts on it. “You already know what I expect,” Weezy says of Drizzy and Nick’s imminent success. “I expect to eat, and eat well. I expect Drake to be a lot more successful than he has ever been. I mean, this guy’s a superstar. He is the definition. That’s what I told y’all before he was: ‘That’s the definition of a superstar.’ And like Nicki, he’s only breaking ice. He has yet to be who he’s going to be. I’m banking on them.”

While fans can expect to hear both Heartbreak Drake and Ms. Minaj on Tha Carter IV, it’s the two Justin’s that Weezy F. also talks about. “That’s my little homie now,” Wayne says of The Biebs. “He texts me every night asking me to do his damn song. That’s my nigga, but I can’t do it. Like I said, I don’t want to fuck his shit up. But like I said, I want to work with Justin Timberlake. That boy got a voice; that boy can sing. He needs to come back right there on Tha Carter IV.”

Via XXL

Above, you can watch some footage of Lil Wayne, Birdman, Mack Maine, and Marley G at Nicki Minaj’s official “I Am Still Music Tour” after party in Detroit last Saturday (April 2). The after party took place at Kingdom Nightclub, and it’s cool to see Weezy rap to his older songs like “Beat Without Bass“. Hit the jump to watch more footage from the after party!

Lil Wayne spent some quality time with his family at the weekend, before he gets ready to start the “I Am Still Music” tour tomorrow! In the photo above, you can see Weezy having some photo booth fun with his daughter Reginae and his son Dwayne Carter III.

Hit the jump to watch some videos of Tunechi performing at Club Cameo with Busta Rhymes, and Nicki Minaj saying she has handed her verse in officially for Tha Carter IV and excited about going on tour with him.

Nicki Minaj says she’s very excited to tour with Lil Wayne:

Nicki Minaj says she’s handed in a verse for Weezy’s Tha Carter IV officially:

Tune Performs “Look At Me Now”, “6 Foot, 7 Foot”, “Every Girl”, and “Bill Gates”:

PREVIOUSLY: Pictures: Busta Rhymes Brings Out Lil Wayne At Club Cameo In Miami

Birdman has handed over the tentative album release dates for YMCMB this year to the CEO of Blu Division Music (Glasses Malone label). As you can see in the photo above, they are looking to release Lil Wayne‘s Tha Carter IV album on May 24th this year! Other artists on the Young Money, Cash Money label dropping in 2011 are: Bow Wow, Glasses Malone, Brisco, Lil Twist, DJ Khaled, Birdman, Jay Sean, and Drake. I hope all of this is true, but we all know what YMCMB are like when it comes to release dates.

Shouts to HHNM!

KC just released Mike Posner‘s official “Bow Chicka Wow Wow” remix featuring Lil Wayne. These two shot a music video for this single in Los Angeles last week, and you can view a short video of them on the set after the jump! You can listen and download this track below:

Download: Mike Posner – Bow Chicka Wow Wow (Remix) (Feat Lil Wayne)