On the roughly two-month anniversary of Lil Wayne's stint at Riker's, Young Money's teen rapper Lil Twist speaks on life without the head honcho.
When I first heard [Lil Wayne] was getting locked up, it felt like how you or anyone else would feel if they were losing a family member. I’ve been knowing him for three to four years now. He took me in as his brother because I don’t have any real brothers [and] with my dad being in jail we developed a big relationship as far as me staying with him and as far as him teaching me the game. That’s how we built our whole bond. He saw my work ethic and it reminded me of him, and from that point he knew that’s what it was.
I’ve only seen him once since he’s been [locked up] but everything is good. I talk to him on the phone a lot [but] I miss being with him because it’s always fun. We talk about everything. [Wayne] taught me to stay grounded and to pay attention to what’s going on in my surroundings. He also taught me on the music side to work hard at all times, don’t ever let up, and to follow his lead but don’t do what he does. He taught me a lot of what he knows from what he learned when he was my age, like how to break up everything in a song, how to start off a verse and what specific word to use to catch everybody’s ear.
I’m working on my album right now [and] I’m almost done. I’m using what he taught me and I’ve gotten better. Now, I know I have to work 10 times harder to make [Wayne] and everybody proud. Young Money is doing great right now. Uncle Stunna [Birdman] makes sure everything is straight with us while my bro is gone, helping us keep our brand out there. We’ll be fine because [Wayne] has such a big name and now we have three of the hottest stars in the world, including Drake and Nicki, so we can’t lose. We’re gonna continue to run this game.
This whole experience has taught me to stay humble and not to get in trouble. I don’t even think my bro did anything wrong. With him being who he is and doing what he does, he needs protection, but there’s different rules in every spot so we’re gonna just make it through. I can’t wait until we can put this behind us.
I’m looking forward to working with him again. I’m looking forward to fun and games. I’m looking forward to talking to him about everything like I used to. I just want him to be proud when he sees me. I love my bro. ⎯As Told To Starrene Rhett
Stay tuned as Lil' Twist drops his Official New Mixtape "The Takeover" (Carte Blanche Edition) alongside DJ ill Will & DJ Rockstar next week EXCLUSIVELY on HotNewHipHop.com!!!