NEW YORK (AP) – Lil Wayne has been freed from jail after serving eight months in a gun case, emerging with a hot new album, well-wishes from a former president and a deepened appreciation for his fans.

The city's Department of Correction website said yesterday the Grammy Award-winning rap star had been released from the Rikers Island jail complex.

"FREE AT LAST!!!!!!!" the rapper's longtime manager, Cortez Bryant, Tweeted.

His managers have said he planned to head for his home in Miami, where they're planning a welcome-home party on Sunday. "I was never scared, worried nor bothered by the situation" behind bars, Lil Wayne said on Tuesday through Weezythanxyou.com, a website he set up to give fans a glimpse of his life in jail.

Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Carter, Jr., pleaded guilty in October 2009 to attempted weapon possession, admitting he'd had a loaded, semi-automatic .40-calibre gun on his bus after a Manhattan concert.

He started a yearlong sentence in March but got time off for good behaviour, despite a disciplinary knock that sent him to solitary for the last month of his term. A charger and headphones for a digital music player were found in his cell in May, jail officials said. The items are considered contraband.

A few diehard fans huddled in the predawn rain yesterday outside Rikers Island complex, hoping to get a glimpse of him.

Anthony Smith, 19, and his twin sister, Jess, got in their car at 1 a.m. in the town of Woodbury, New York, north of the city, to drive down with a couple of friends. Smith said he's been listening to Lil Wayne for about a decade since his first album, 'Tha Block is Hot'.