Lil Wayne opens up on making music behind bars and the show that got him through

Lil Wayne detailed how he recorded music over the phone from his Rikers Island cell in 2010.

Lil Wayne is pulling back the curtain on one of the more unusual chapters of his career: the eight months he spent recording music from inside a jail cell. Speaking on the “Friends Keep Secrets” podcast Tuesday, July 21, the five-time Grammy winner recounted how he kept his creative output going while serving time at New York’s Rikers Island in 2010.

According to PEOPLE, the 43-year-old rapper said he treated his confinement like a nightly recording session, laying down tracks over the phone. “I went to the studio every night in jail,” he told the podcast, describing a setup that required cooperation from those around him. “In my cell. That meant everybody be quiet. I’m about to beat on this damn table.”

Wayne explained that his process involved working around a strict 10:45 p.m. lights-out policy, intentionally timing his phone calls to begin just before bedtime so he could keep recording uninterrupted. “That’s why everyone’s gotta lock in,” he said of his fellow inmates, per PEOPLE, adding that it was “just me on the phone” once the block went quiet. As for whether anyone tried to eavesdrop on his impromptu sessions, Wayne said most people simply weren’t paying attention to what he was doing.

Despite the circumstances, the “6 Foot 7 Foot” rapper pushed back on the idea that it was the lowest point of his life, crediting those around him for easing the experience. “I have to give all of that thanks and credit to the people that were around me in there,” he said, per PEOPLE. “They made it their job to make it easy for me.”

He also copped to a somewhat surprising coping mechanism. After initially trying to shorten his days, Wayne eventually joined the group in front of the TV, where the show of choice was Discovery Channel’s “Naked and Afraid.” He was quick to dispel any assumptions about why, insisting his fellow inmates were genuinely invested in the survival series rather than the nudity, joking, “They know the storyline, they know everything.”

Wayne was released in November 2010 after serving the sentence tied to weapon possession charges stemming from a 2007 arrest. Reflecting on the ordeal years ago, he framed it philosophically, saying he viewed the experience as something he was simply “meant to have.”