Lil Wayne Doesn’t Sleep, or Even Own a Bed

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Lil Wayne Doesn’t Sleep, or Even Own a Bed

Lil, but BIG money Wayne, signed his first record deal at 11. Decades later, he says he still doesn’t sleep because the work never stops: he’s recording around the clock.

Lil Wayne says he has no set bedtime and never actually tries to lay down and go to sleep. Asked directly if he’s working around the clock, he confirmed it, though he made one thing clear about how that work happens.

Young Lil' Wayne in a white tee, Lakers cap, and Gucci pants standing in front of an indoor pool, making a hand gesture.
A teenage Lil’ Wayne poses poolside in New Orleans in March 2003, wearing a Lakers cap and cross pendant — just years after signing his first record deal. Photo by Gregory Bojorquez / Archive Photos via Getty Images.

On the Friends Keep Secrets podcast, he cut off the interviewer mid-question. “I don’t write,” he said. Someone in the room backed him up: he doesn’t write anything down. What he does is record.

Lil' Wayne with long blonde locs and a black beanie, dressed in plaid, standing indoors near houseplants and a shelf of vinyl records.
Lil’ Wayne, wearing a plaid set and beanie, stands in a cozy room filled with plants and records as he speaks — a picture of an artist still deep in the creative grind. Credit: Friends Keep Secrets.

He traces the drive all the way back to childhood. “I signed my first contract at 11,” he said. “Started doing this around 7 or 8. There’s not one second has it been a job. There’s still a kid in the toy store. That kid does not go to sleep. That’s the last thing that kid wants.”

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About the author

January Nelson

January Nelson

January Nelson is a writer, editor, and dreamer. She writes about astrology, games, love, relationships, and entertainment. January graduated with an English and Literature degree from Columbia University.