On 2008's Tha Carter III -- the last album to go platinum in one week -- Lil Wayne raps briefly about a court date on "Mr. Carter," his collaboration with Jay-Z. "I heard somebody say judge, I'mma need a suit," Wayne jokes. Many saw the song as a symbolic torch passing, from the aging Sean Carter to the unstoppable Dwayne Carter -- the Greatest Rappers Alive. Today, the younger, more unpredictable and insolent of the pair was supposed to put on a suit and appear in front of a judge who would hand down his New York state prison sentence stemming from a gun possession charge -- instead it got pushed back to March 2 for oral surgery. Apparently, Rikers Island dentists can't handle mouths of platinum and diamonds.

Still, despite this brief reprieve, Wayne could serve up to a year in prison, which he spoke about -- obstinate as usual -- in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. (He can be seen throwing up a gang sign for the Bloods on the issue's cover.) On his impending punishment, the rapper insists, "This is Lil Wayne going to jail. Nobody can tell me what that's like." He's both defiant and childish: "I just say I'm looking forward to it." The rapper's fans, on the other hand, aren't really thrilled about a hiatus from the constant flow of leaked tracks they've become accustomed to. But to anyone paying attention, Wayne's ruminations on jail over the last few years, illuminated in his lyrics, have ranged from cheeky to impudent. Below, we recount Weezy's top 5 lines about prison, but first, his sincere goodbye to the fans, recorded last night:

"I’m out this bitch. To all my fans, my real fans, I really, really, really truly love you. I love you with all of me, for real. I’ll probably be loving everything else because I love you so much. Thank you from the bottom [of my heart]. Do not forget about me ’cause I will forever think about you, and I cannot wait for you to see me again. I’m out.”

As for prison wisdom from Wayne, he's weighed in on a few occasions. Here are five of the most memorable:

5. "You lookin' at Jordan/ From the side, like Spike at the Garden/ I got the hardest bars, call me the warden, haha/ Yeah, excuse me, pardon/ I break a bitch down like Tonya Harding"

Here, on "Put Some Keys On That" from the 2007 mixtape Da Drought 3, Wayne is at his most giddy, throwing pop cultural free associations with ease and giggles, hopping from Michael Jordan to Spike Lee to Tonya Harding, but finding a second to pun on "bars." He sounds invincible.

4. "I'd rather be pushin' flowers/ Than to be in the pen sharing showers"

On Tha Carter III's "A Milli," in the midst of his rapid-fire chorus-less assault, Wayne takes a moment to reflect honestly on the prospect of doing time; in his own words, he'd rather die.

3. "I say T.I. hold your head/ And Mack hold your head/ Wish I could but I can’t say some other names cause of the Feds"

Last year's mixtape No Ceilings found Wayne shouting out his locked up friends on "Swag Surf," most notably T.I., who was serving time at the height of his popularity for weapons charges. No stranger to the system through friends and family, Wayne sounds solemn, but removed.

2. "Lock the CEO up/ And I'm the CEO, fuck/ Prison in February and I ain't in no rush/ Drink til I throw up"

After pleading guilty to his own charges, Wayne addressed his predicament for the first time on "Oh Let's Do It." Making the most of his time before sentencing, he has reportedly recorded about 40 songs for his next album, Tha Carter IV. He also, apparently, drank until he was sick, but as he's reminded us before, "I don't like beer, I like champagne, so cheers to Lil Wayne."

1. Not a line in the truest sense, Wayne's most direct thoughts on the American penal system came in the spoken outro to Tha Carter III, "Don't Get It (Misunderstood)," alongside a Nina Simone sample:

"I was watching T.V. the other day, right? Got this white guy up there talking about black guys. Talking about how young black guys are targeted. Targeted by who? America. You see one in every 100 americans are locked up. One in every nine black Americans are locked up. And see what the white guy was trying to stress was that the money we spend on sending a motherfucka to jail, a young motherfucka to jail, would be less to send his or her young ass to college." See you soon, Dwayne.