Lauricella and Alexander on Lil Wayne's Prison Blog

Sharon Lauricella (Faculty of Criminology, Justice and Policy Studies - University of Ontario Institute of Technology) and Matthew Alexander (University of Ontario Institute of Technology) have published Voice from Rikers: Spirituality in Hip Hop Artist Lil' Wayne's Prison Blog (Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2012, pp. 15-28).  Here is the abstract:


While incarcerated on Rikers Island, Grammy award-winning rapper Lil’ Wayne posted letters to a blog to maintain contact with fans.  The blog entries and comments from fans express gratitude, positivity, encouragement, and a pervasive sense of spirituality and religiousness.  This paper considers the content of Lil’ Wayne’s letters from Rikers, together with posted comments to the blog, in the context of spiritual communication and participatory media.


-- Nick J. Sciullo