Lil Wayne jailed, hopes for ‘soft’ protective custody

US rapper Lil Wayne was finally sentenced to a year in prison for possession of a weapon yesterday – after spending five months milking the attention the case has brought him.
 
A loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun was found on Grammy winner Wayne’s tour bus in August 2007. He was convicted in October and, knowing he would face a custodial sentence, has since been on a ‘farewell tour’ and released a series of goodbye videos on Ustream. He has also recorded new material to be released during the time he is in jail, which could be as little as eight months, if he is well-behaved.
 
Despite his ‘gangsta rap’ image, the diminutive Wayne, real name Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, expects to be kept in protective custody (PC) away from the real gangsters in Rikers Island jail in New York.
 
PC is normally referred to in derogative terms by rappers. 50 Cent used his song Piggy Bank to criticise fellow rapper Shyne when he went to jail and was awarded protective custody: “Shyne poppin off his mouth from a cell, he don't want it wit me, he in PC, I could have a nigga run up on him with a shank.”
 
And rap duo Mobb Deep, in Up North Trip, say: "Thought you could hack it, now you're requesting PC. You fragile it ain't hard to see.”
 
However, Wayne could yet be spared the barbs of his fellow rappers since the New York Correctional Department is yet to confirm he will be put in protective custody. ·