NEW YORK — Outside the courthouse this morning there were no screaming fans, no camera crews (aside from our own) and not a single paparazzo in sight — which was surprising, considering that the biggest name in hip-hop, Lil Wayne, was in court, appearing before a judge facing charges of gun possession.
Lil Wayne arrived at 9:15 a.m. with no entourage, accompanied only by his usual bodyguard and his attorney, Stacey Richman. With our cameras rolling, Wayne, dressed casually in dark jeans, black-framed glasses, black sweater, black sneakers and a grey jacket, made his way from his blacked-out Escalade across the street and up the steps of the courthouse. The streets were bustling with people heading to work, and not one single person noticed that the famous rapper was amongst them. Even a group of kids late to school walked right past Wayne without noticing — and by the time they saw the cameras and turned around, it was too late. Lil Wayne had enetered the building.
It was a busy day at the courthouse, with a steady flow of people going in and out of the building. There was a class of young kids from a local school who were spending the day taking a tour — even they didn't notice Wayne as he walked past them and ducked into the courtroom. Which was probably a good thing: seeing Lil Wayne on a class trip to the courthouse might have been a bit much for them!
Inside, Wayne sat silently as his attorney spoke with the judge. Outside, Cash Money Records heads Bryan "Baby" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams arrived 10 minutes late. But by the time Baby had gone through the metal detectors, the proceeding had adjourned and Wayne and company walked out of the courthouse. There was just a nod of recognition from Weezy and a few words with his attorney, and he crossed the street and jumped into his Escalade. No one except us knew they were near one of the biggest names in hip-hop as Wayne drove off.