By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Rapper Lil’ Wayne is doing just fine incarcerated on Rikers Island, despite fellow rapper Drake not picking up his calls as often as he’d like.
The rapper spoke with Hot 97 radio host Funkmaster Flex via collect call from prison on Tuesday, telling him that he spends his days calling family and friends, including other rappers like Drake and Nicki Minaj, and reading and replying to the voluminous fan mail he receives behind bars.
“I talk to Drake at least once a week, but I actually call three or four times a week, but he only picks up for me once a week,” Lil’ Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, said with a chuckle.
Carter pleaded guilty last October to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to a year in prison on March 8. He will be released from Rikers in November, making his ultimate sentence eight months in length.
The rapper was arrested after Manhattan police found a .40-caliber handgun in his possession in a marijuana smoke-filled tour van after a Beacon Theater concert in 2007.
Lil’ Wayne said in the phone interview that he has been taking time to reflect on the crimes he committed that landed him in the big house.
“Everybody says that you’re here for a reason, so I promise you Flex, I search for that reason every day.”
Carter said he was displeased with the quality of the food in jail, but that he makes do.
“It’s not what I expected, it’s not what I want, it just isn’t good,” he told the radio host.
“But, you know, it is what it is.”
