Drake has said rappers will have to “work a lot harder to keep hip-hop exciting” while Lil' Wayne is in prison.

Wayne, real name Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr, is expected to be sentenced to eight months behind bars for gun possession later this month.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Drake, one of the rapper's mentors, paid tribute to the star, describing his talent as unique.

“I think you’ll miss everything about Wayne. I don’t think there will be anybody like Lil Wayne ever again in hip-hop,” he said.

“He paralyzes a room when he walks into it, his wordplay, the excitement that he brings to his music.”

The rapper added: “I think that for eight months a lot of us will have to work a lot harder to keep hip-hop as exciting as it’s been for the last two years.”

Meanwhile, Lil' Wayne revealed earlier this week that he was “looking forward” to beginning his prison sentence.

The rapper pleaded guilty to attempted gun possession last October.

He was arrested in July 2007 when police allegedly found him trying to conceal a .40 caliber semi-automatic loaded handgun on his tour bus.

(by Jason Gregory)