According to a 2008 study, 1 in every 100 adults in the U.S. are behind bars. Of those individuals, we can probably count on one hand the number of people who essentially continued their lives uninterrupted; actually, we only need one digit: Lil Wayne.
The acclaimed MC was sentenced on March 8th, 2010 to one year in prison stemming from a weapons possession charge (though recent reports indicate he could be released in November). Yet, you wouldn’t know it. For one, just listen to a day in the life of Weezy, as detailed by the rapper himself during a recent radio interview from prison:
“I wake up around 11AM. Have some coffee. Call my kids, and my wonderful mother. I then shower up. Read fan mail. Have lunch. Back on the phone. Read a book or write some thoughts down. Have dinner. Phone. Pushups. Then I listen to ESPN on the radio. Read the bible, then sleep. That’s my day.”
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He couldn’t even bring an iPod in with him either.
But more than lazy days in cell block B, the most astonishing thing about Mr. Carter’s imprisonment has been his ability to continually dole out new tracks. While he’s notorious for constantly recording, a fact that was probably put into hyperdrive in the days just before his sentence began, no other artist has continued to be this relevant while being completely shut off from his or her public. The following is a timeline of Wayne’s musical offerings while he pays back society with decidedly not-so-hard time. Musicians take note, prison may be a career bump.
Image via Lilwayne.us.