Rapper Jadakiss recently visited New York City’s Rikers Island to show support to inmates there. The prison island in New York is one of America’s most notorious jail facilities and is one of the largest in the world with a staff of over 9000 as well as an inmate population of over 10,000.
Since its opening in 1932, Rikers Island has been the subject of concern as it’s been characterized by violence, corruption, dangerous conditions, inadequate services, and overcrowding.
In an Instagram post, the popular rapper explained why he visited the facility, saying, “We broke bread with the brothers, we ordered a plethora of cuts and slices, pies for the inmates to enjoy themselves and have some exotic pizzas. We played ball with em, had a mind building session with em. Ya’ll dudes talk about it, we here man. We come in, we didn’t get paid, this ain’t from the White House, this is from the heart. We came in and did it real.”
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Foxy Brown, DMX, Lil Wayne, 2Pac, Ol Dirty Bastard, and other prominent hip-hop figures have all been detained at Rikers Island.
While at Rikers Island, Lil Wayne recorded a verse for a remix of Drake’s “Light Up”.
“Tez [Cortez Bryant] was like, ‘We want you to be on Drake‘s remix.’ I was like, ‘How?’ And he was like, ‘We’re going to do it over the phone.’ I’m like, ‘Shit … I don’t have anything else better to do up in this bitch, so let’s go!’” Lil Wayne said of the verse.
“After I finished running it, I was kinda nervous on how it was going to be received. This was the first time that I haven’t been in the studio to hear the playback before a song goes out.”
