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Live Blog: Lil Wayne's Prison Release

Posted 11/4/10 12:06 am EST by in Live Blog

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Rahman Dukes and Jayson Rodriguez

11:33 Young Money insider posts first photo of a free Lil Wayne, while Nicki Minaj, Mack Maine and Cortez Bryant share their thoughts. "FREE AT LAST!" Bryant tweeted. "Ya heard me yea!"

10:47 Young Money/Cash Money crew spotted entering Manhattan hotel.

8:35 A spokesperson for inmate information at Rikers Island confirmed to MTV News that Lil Wayne has been discharged. We are currently tailing a Department of Corrections bus headed into Manhattan.

8:00 A caravan of some eight vehicle (Maybachs, Phantoms and Escalades) left a Manhattan hotel where other members of the Young Money/Cash Money camp -- including Nicki Minaj -- have been spotted.

Lil Wayne had been scheduled to be released early Thursday morning (November 4) after an eight month sentence stemming from a 2007 gun arrest after a concert at Manhattan's Beacon Theater.

"Between the hours of 1 - 2 a.m. ... WEEZY IS COMING HOME," Drake tweeted. Sources close to Wayne had also maintained that the rapper will be released early Thursday.

MTV News was one the scene outside Rikers Island, delivering up-to-the-minute coverage of Lil Wayne's release throughout the night, and into this morning.

7:20 Most of the reporters and paparazzi have long since left, along with all of the fans who showed up to welcome Weezy home. After we were told "He's not getting out tonight," most stayed, but by now have long since left.

Another guard said, "Not today. Maybe tomorrow. But definitely not today".

Then he called over another guard to corroborate his story.

For now, we're going to continue to wait. When Wayne does actually get out, we want to be here.

6:07 "I'm here until ... he gets out," on rain-soaked fan, Alex Cirio, told us. "I'm here."

Likewise, Alex.

Read More...

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Lil Wayne To Visit Miami After Prison Release

Posted 11/4/10 12:02 am EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Sway Calloway

As tweeted, 'RapFix Live' host Sway Calloway spoke to Young Money's Mack Maine on Wednesday (November 3). Between juggling calls from Wayne's immediate family and the Birdman himself,  Mack shared his expectations for the first 72 hours of Lil Wayne's release from prison. And like any good rap scenario, Lil Tunechi is headed straight to the land of debauchery—the strip club.

"It's gonna be crazy. We have a private party first and then we going to King of Diamonds after, which is a strip club. It's going to be crazy, it's going to be real elegant, extravagant, we gonna party like when Frank came home, like [the movie] 'King of New York,' " Maine explained. "It should be a lot of beautiful women, just ... beautiful scenery. Just treat him like a king, like the royalty that he is and make him feel like we really missed him and welcome him back to the family, basically."

Lil Wayne will be returning home following an eight month sentence at New York's Rikers Island facility, which has also housed MCs Shyne, Foxy Brown and Remy Ma in the past. Read More...

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Meet Our Lil Wayne Breaking News 'Tracker'

Posted 11/3/10 8:27 pm EST by in Music News

It's "Welcome Home Weezy" week here at RapFix, and every day we're going to be on WeezyWatch, telling you everything Lil Wayne is doing, from his prison release in New York on Thursday—1 or 2 a.m. according to Drake—to the Cash Money superstar's scheduled travels across the country in the days immediately afterward.

Don't be afraid of the map up top, it's simple really. You are looking at a Lil Wayne "Tracker" that places our RapFix and MTVNews.com pieces in different locations on the map over the next week.

The MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust is spreading out across the country, from Miami to Las Vegas and everywhere in between. Check back here and here, around the clock, for constantly updated coverage on Lil Wayne across MTV News' multimedia platforms, including articles, blog posts and TV segments on RapFix, MTVNews.com and MTV. Read More...

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'RapFix Live' To Air 'Welcome Home Weezy' Special

Posted 11/3/10 6:52 pm EST by in RapFix Live

It's Welcome Home Weezy Week and RapFix has you covered with a special edition of "RapFix Live."

On November 4, following an eight month sentence, Lil Wayne is scheduled to leave New York’s Rikers Island sometime tomorrow.

RapFix will continue our breaking news coverage during Weezy Watch during “RapFix Live,” which will stream here on RapFix and MTV.com at 4 p.m. ET this Thursday (November 4).

In celebration of the Young Money chief returning to the free world, several guests from inside the Cash Money and Young Money families will stop by and share bits on Wayne’s jail departure, if he's really leaving Rikers for a remote studio and just how soon we can really expect a new mixtape like No Ceilings part two. Read More...

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Jay-Z Says MC Hammer Took His Lyrics 'The Wrong Way'

Posted 11/3/10 2:16 pm EST by in Music News

On October 31, MC Hammer delivered a dis clip aimed at Jay-Z entitled "Better Run Run." The 90s MC's sudden return to hip-hop came after Jay-Z referenced the California showman during his feature on Kanye West's "So Appalled." Though the war of words began weeks ago, the battle's been mostly Hammer, however today (November 3) Jay-Z spoke about the incident with BBC 1Xtra's DJ Semtex in London.

Semtex began the conversation by offering that MC Hammer must've misunderstood Jay's G.O.O.D. Friday line, where he rhymes “Hammer went broke, so you know I'm more focused ... I lost 30 mil, so I spent another 30/ Cos unlike Hammer, 30 million can't hurt me."

"Yeah, I didn't know that wasn't on the table for discussion," said Jay-Z of his MC Hammer mention. "I didn't know I was the first person to ever say that ... am I?" Read More...

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Lil Wayne's Bloggers Say Fan Site Has Been 'Wonderful'

Posted 11/3/10 1:05 pm EST by in Music News

 

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Jayson Rodriguez

On Tuesday (November 2), MTV News spoke to the women behind Lil Wayne's fan site WeezyThanxYou.com but there's more. Bloggers Karen Civil and Karla Moy say the site did wonders for them as well as Wayne, but sometimes it was just all too much.

"The site usually goes down," says Civil of the days she posts communication from Weezy. We had a little trouble ourselves accessing the site this morning to bring you Weezy's letter highlights. "We try not to post on Facebook and Twitter as the same time, it crashes the site because his fans just love him. He loves hearing things like that."

Moy, an 18 year-old Toronto native, says the fan site became the official voice for Lil Wayne during 2010.

"I'm so proud to be able to take part in such a phenomenal project," said Moy, the mind behind HustleGrl, Drake's official fan site, Allthings-Fresh and WeezyThanxYou.com. "Karen and I literally made WeezyThanxYou the only form of communication between Lil Wayne and his fans. It made me happy because it made the fans as well as Lil Wayne happy. Imagine being imprisoned for eight months with the same routine every day? That's no fun at all. So besides Wayne's phone calls and visits, these fan letters brought life to him. I also believe it motivated him to stay positive throughout his sentence!" Read More...

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Remembering Lil Wayne's Letters From Riker's Island

Posted 11/3/10 9:00 am EST by in Music News

On Tuesday (November 2), Lil Wayne wrote his final letter from Riker's Island to his fans via Weezythanxyou. The MC's correspondence was humble and grateful toward people who have supported him during his eight month journey.

"As I greet you all in my last days on this island, I must reflect," Wayne began his letter. "I think back to when I first arrived and I had no clue what I'd be experiencing. I was never scared, worried, nor bothered by the situation. For that, I thank God, my family, and you, my amazing fans. I prayed for you all every night, as I'm now aware that I as in y'alls prayers as well."

Now Weezy has less than 24 hours until his scheduled release and RapFix thought it was the perfect time to take a look back at Wayne's correspondence from the last eight months and highlight our favorite moments. Ready?

Oct. 13

"I’m guessing that you all have heard about my .... punitive segregation. Basically, no T.V., no radio, no snacks/junkfood, and one phone call a week. This punishment has been handed to me for my earlier MP3 incident. I admit, I f---ed up and now I must deal with the consequences ... Obviously, this gives me a lot of time to myself and a lot of alone time with my thoughts, which can be creatively dangerous." Read More...

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50 Cent Heads To Las Vegas

Posted 11/3/10 7:00 am EST by in Spotted!

Looks like Drake—and maybe a soon-to-be freed Lil Wayne?—aren't the only ones heading to Las Vegas. 50 Cent is apparently heading to Sin City with his buddy boxer Floyd Mayweather soon.

"This is the life baby I'm going to Vegas to gamble with Floyd, I'll double this quick," tweeted the MC on November 2.

Um, can we borrow a dollar? (c) Common.

Elsewhere, a new cut from R&B veteran El Debarge entitled "Switch Up The Format" featuring 50 hit the web.

"Shorty all that ... yeah, yeah, she all that/ Gotta go hard, yeah watch me switch up the format," rhymes 50 Cent on the song. "Bus, train or plane, exotic spot on a yacht/ I spare no expense, I want you here on top." Read More...

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Justin Bieber Says Rap Alias Shawty Mane Might 'Come Back'

Posted 11/2/10 12:00 pm EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley with reporting by Kelly Marino

Remember our surprise when Justin Bieber rhymed over Cam'ron and Vado's "Speaking in Tungs" as his rap alter-ego Shawty Mane in October? Well, MTV News caught up with the well-coiffed teen star about the origin of his hip-hop persona.

"Shawty Mane, I don't know, me and my friends were just messing around and they were like 'Shawty Mane' and I was like 'Yeah, that'll be my nickname,' " said Bieber at an L.A. signing for his book "Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story."

Rather than beginning a second career as an MC, Bieber said his lines were all in jest.

"Shawty Mane is just like a funny character," explains Bieber. "You know Justin Bieber is not a rapper, and it would just be lame if I came out rapping. It's lame anyway because I'm like a pop singer, but I thought it was funny, I just did it as a joke. It wasn't like anything serious." Read More...

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50 Cent And Chelsea Handler Meet In Malibu

Posted 11/2/10 7:00 am EST by in Music News

While 50 Cent and Chelsea "Chelsea Lately" Handler keep saying they're not dating ... the two keep popping up on what look to be "dates." Lunch in Malibu (as shown above), holding a conversation in a dark corner in a New Orleans club right before 50 performs ... you be the judge.

According to Us Weekly, the pair had lunch and then departed in Fif's Rolls Royce. While Fif flirts with the possibility that the two might be a couple, Chelsea ... not so much.

"I'm not banging ... I'm not banging," Handler confirmed on her E! show last month. "He wasn't singing to me," she added. "He was singing and I saw it ... When I have something to say, I will say it on this show. There's nothing to talk about. Seriously." Read More...

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