USA TODAY International Edition
‘ Gone ’ Til November’ chronicles Lil Wayne’s time in prison
Lil Wayne is an open book — at least when it comes to one chapter in his life.
On Tuesday, the prolific rapper, who in 2010 was sentenced to eight months in New York’s Rikers Island on weapons charges, released the diary he kept during his incarceration. Gone ’ Til November: A Journal of Rikers Island ( Plume Books) was Wayne’s way of finding “joy in hell.” Now, it stands as a revelation to fans who get a peek behind the curtain of celebrity.
Here are seven things we learned from our sneak peek. 1HE WAS A SUICIDE PREVENTION AIDE ... BRIEFLY. After earning a perfect score on the pre- employment screening test, Wayne was tasked with monitoring the tier to ensure inmates didn’t try to commit suicide and to alert the on- duty officer about attempts. The rapper soon bowed out to focus on self- care. “It’s truly a new reality for me,” he wrote. “I was actually there when this kid that was in mental isolation tried to hang up. What’s really ( expletive) up is that it all could’ve been prevented if the COs ( correctional officers) would’ve just brought him some water.” But, as Wayne goes on to explain, officers are used to inmates banging on their cells — so much so that it doesn’t trigger alarms. 2HE HEARD HIS SON SAY ‘ DA- DA’ WHILE BEHIND BARS. Wayne’s first son was only a year old when he began serving his sentence. As such, the first time Wayne heard Dwayne Michael Carter III — fondly referred to as D. M. C. III — say “Da- da” was on the phone, a bittersweet moment. 3HE WAS ANXIOUS WHEN HE PLAYED IN PRISON. Wayne may have rocked stages in front of millions of people, but rapping in front of his fellow inmates was another story. “I was nervous as hell,” he admits of his performance for tier mates Charlie and Jamaica. 4HE
CONSIDERED CHRISTIAN RAP ... BRIEFLY. In addition to a landslide of fan mail, Wayne received a compelling letter from a church, urging him to use his artistry to spread the gospel. And for a moment, Wayne considered it. “I would truly have the power of having pop culture turn to God,” he wrote. “I would have straight killers in church every Sunday.” 5HE
MADE $ 20 MILLION WHILE IN PRISON. In the months preceding his sentence, Wayne recorded new music at a feverish pace to stagger releases throughout his sentence. As a result, the rapper outpaced his 2009 earnings, raking in an estimated $ 20 million, compared with 2009’ s $ 18 million. 6JAMAICA
WAS DEPORTED DURING HIS BID. Wayne may have been reluctant to use the “f” word in jail, but by all accounts, Jamaica was a friend. And when Wayne recounts how Jamaica was hauled away, you can sense his guilt. Wayne admits that Jamaica had repeatedly asked if he could connect him with a better lawyer, but the rapper didn’t take it seriously until it was too late. 7JAIL
MADE HIM REALIZE HIS CREATIVITY WASN’T DEPENDENT ON EXTERNAL INFLUENCES. For a book that mostly deals with the day- to- day and only occasionally scratches beyond the surface, Wayne gets particularly introspective at the close. The night before his release, he reflects on the crutches he used to lean on for inspiration: drugs, cars, women. “Once that was all taken away from me, my creativity was put to the ultimate test,” he writes. “And I passed that ( expletive)!”