Lil Wayne, who turns 30 Thursday, has never been accused of not loving his hometown. The Young Money rapper discussed why he decided to open up a skate park in New Orleans.
"First of all, I didn't think that skating was too popular in my city, so I wanted to do that. I wanted to make it something everybody loves like I do," he told the Associated Press. "After that I just wanted to help out my city, my people, the kids and give them something to do, something they haven't done before ... It's always good to learn something new."
Wayne, who mentions the skate park on his mixtape song "A Dedication," said he recently learned a lot about the sport. "It's a lifestyle," he added. "It's not just something to do. I thought it would just be a hobby. I thought only people with skill could do it, and when you finally get into it, you learn to like it, and you'll quickly learn to love it, and you'll find out that it's a lifestyle. It's more than just four wheels and a piece of wood."
The skate park is housed in a building that withstood 2005's hurricane Katrina.