Lil Wayne surprised his pal and protege Drake  on live TV in America on Monday, September 27 when he phoned into a news show from prison. The incarcerated rapper used up his phone allocation on his 31st birthday by chatting to MTV  presenter Kevin Manno on the first episode of news show "The Seven", and the two hatched a plan to thrill Drake, who was a guest on the show.

The hip-hop sensation was stunned to hear his record label boss' voice and wished him a happy birthday. He added, "We miss you, man... It's great to hear your voice. It always makes it a great day when you get to hear your big brother's voice."

And Wayne showed he's kept his sense of humor behind bars, joking, "What's this about you marrying (Jersey Shore reality TV star) Snooki or something like that?" And he also poked fun at Drake for landing his face on a new Virgin Canada airplane, quipping, "I'm not getting on that plane!"

Lil Wayne also used his phone time to explain the title of his upcoming album "I Am Not a Human Being" explaining it was inspired by the time he has spent trying to figure out his life from behind bars. He explained, "I just looked in the mirror, plain and simple... I'm still looking in the mirror trying to figure that out for myself."

He revealed the bulk of the album was recorded before he began his eight month sentence on illegal weapons possession charges. Wayne added, "This is what I love to do, next to breathing so I made sure I had some material before I came in here to release while I was in here."

And he admitted that fanmail is keeping his spirits up as he serves the last weeks of his sentence: "When I read those letters... and I see what they say, what my music do for them and how it helped them through situations... To read that, that helps me take my words (and) my whole outlook on what I'm doing a lot more seriously... I await the mail every day."

He told Manno he receives on average 150 pieces of mail a day and he gets through 30, but during the course of his stay he estimated he has been sent over a million letters and cards from fans.