You can call him Weezy, Young Carter, Birdman Jr. or simply just Wayne. But no matter what you call him, the famous 27-year old rapper Lil Wayne is, as thousands of people exclaimed around the country on Nov. 4, “Free at last.”

Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Carter Jr., was sentenced to a year in prison for illegal gun possession on Feb. 9, 2010. The native New Orleans rapper became a huge star back in 2004 for his album “The Carter.”

His unique voice and look have helped him run the rap industry for the past seven years, which is why all of his fans were devastated when they heard that he was going to jail.

Although he was not physically around, he most certainly was not forgotten. In fact, Lil Wayne’s album sales went up on iTunes while he was in jail. One could walk around Clayton High School and see probably one or two people  wearing “Free Weezy” t-shirts. The t-shirts have his mug shot on it, and under the picture, it reads in bright red, “Free Weezy.”

The t-shirts weren’t the only type of object being sold for the Free Weezy campaign; there were also hats, mugs, bracelets and even playing cards.

If the Free Weezy goods weren’t enough, in September of 2010, Lil Wayne’s much anticipated album “I am not a human being” was released. Additionally, music videos like Eminem’s song featuring Lil Wayne, “No Love” were released.

“Reps” for Lil Wayne said that he shot seven music videos before being sentenced. In other words, it was nearly impossible for Lil Wayne to not be on fans’ minds.

Senior Kevin Brockmann said he has been a fan of Weezy for four years.

“He shouldn’t have gone to jail,” Brockmann said.  “Rappers in the industry are targeted because of what they put in their songs, by gangs and other rappers. It’s not like Lil Wayne shot anyone, it was for self defense.”

Sophomore Meg Sutter agrees.

“I love Lil Wayne,” Sutter said.  “He didn’t deserve to go to jail. I mean he’s famous and you never know what will happen. But in a way it’s good that he went to jail because now he will have a crazy good album coming out.”

But not every CHS student feels the love for Weezy.

“All of my friends listen to him, but I really don’t. I just don’t care,” sophomore Rosie Kopman said.
Junior Michaela Idleburg likes Lil Wayne, but thinks his punishment is fair.

“I do think he deserved to go to jail because he did have a loaded weapon when he shouldn’t have,” Idleburg said.

Fan or not, Nov. 4 was a big day. Wayne’s supporters were definitely excited when the rapper was finally released, evidenced by the multiple facebook statuses, entertainment magazines and online gossip websites which reported, “WEEZY IS FREE.”

The rapper intended on wasting no time. Just three days after getting out of jail, he surprised his fellow rapper Drake on stage at a concert in Las Vegas.

For now, Lil Wayne is on probation, and the terms are that he may not consume or drink any substance containing alcohol for the next 36 months, and is prohibited from associating with anyone engaged in criminal activity, anyone with a criminal record, and must submit to random drug and alcohol testing.

But in his fans’ minds, he is totally and completely free. As he tweeted only a couple hours after being released, “aaaaaaahhhhhhmmmmm baaaaakkk!”