The rapper’s Miami home was raided by police on Monday.
Photo: Local 10 via The Daily Mail
Lil Wayne’s Miami home was raided by police on Monday, who reportedly seized some of the rapper’s $30 million art collection to settle a $2 million debt to a private jet company.
No word on what kind of art the musician is partial to, but Lil Wayne isn’t the first rapper with an interest in the contemporary art world. Hip hop star Pharrell Williams has dabbled in collecting, curating, and even art-making, and Yung Jake is a rising star in both the art and rap worlds. Rap has also inspired artists such as Jay Shells, who has hung site-specific rap lyric street signs in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, lost a civil suit to Signature Group in September over an unpaid $55,000 a month lease for a Gulfstream II jet, the New York Daily News reported.
Because Lil Wayne hadn’t paid back the outstanding amount, Signature Group obtained a court order on October 30, allowing authorities to forcefully enter his home and confiscate some of his assets. Police were accompanied by an evaluator to help determine what items to seize.
The truck contains what appear to be paintings.
Photo: Local 10 via The Daily Mail
Officers were initially denied access to the $11 million home by the musician’s security personnel, but were eventually granted access after presenting the court order.
Sky 10 reported that Miami-Dade police loaded several items into a large truck parked outside the property, including what appeared to be wrapped artworks.
The rapper was reportedly not present when the raid took place. According to TMZ, the rapper was last seen at a Los Angeles strip club on Monday night.
Items including artworks were seized from the rapper’s home.
Photo: Local 10 via The Daily Mail
It’s unclear why the 33-year old hip-hop star didn’t repay the debt; far from being bankrupt, he is estimated to be worth around $150 million.
Lil Wayne has faced a host of legal troubles throughout the course of his critically-acclaimed music career, including arrests for gun possession and drug charges.
According to Inquisitr, during his incarceration at New York’s Riker’s Island prison, where he was serving a one-year sentence for illegal weapons possession in 2010, he was caught with contraband items including an MP3 player, a charger, and headphones.