Musical schizophrenic Lil Wayne has announced he’s putting rapping on hold. No, it’s not so he can pursue his abysmal rock career or because he’s going to jail again. It's so he can pursue his newfound passion for skateboarding.
Though Wayne’s latest mixtape, The Dedication 4, is due Aug. 15, the rapper says he’ll soon after be taking a break from rapping, which he says has become "pretty boring." Wayne attributes his impending break both to a probably-too-late fear of overexposure and a realization that, while he initially thought skateboarding would just be a hobby, it’s suddenly become “a lifestyle.” In recent weeks, Wayne has told Atlanta radio station Hot 107.9 that “you have to be fully committed because it’s super scary,” and Vibe that “even at the studio I have ramps and shit” and “in the booth I literally have something I can boardslide on and a quarter pipe. So I get off the mic, drop the board down and skate.”
He’s also built a ramp on the roof of his Miami home, has released his own line of skate shoes, and appears on a skateboard in his new campaign for Mountain Dew. And on Aug. 29, he's even opening his very own DEWeezy Skatepark in New Orleans. No word on when Lil Wayne plans to put down the board and return to music full time, but the 30-year-old has previously said he plans to retire by the time he's 35.